Tiny house!
As if I needed another hobby - I'm about to pick up a big one! In about a month, I'm off to Austin to attend a workshop by the Tumbleweed homes company on how to build your own tiny house.
For those who don't know, the tiny house movement is a new-but-not-so-new movement that's gaining steam both in the U.S. and across the world. Of course, people have been building small houses for a long time - mostly out of neccessity - but this is a coordinated movement of folks interested in building an industry out of the idea.
What is a tiny house? Well, there's no agreement about that of course, but in general, a tiny house is about 200 square feet or less. Most of them are intended for at most 2 people, although there are people who raise families in them. They come in one of two main types: mobile or stationary. I'm going to build a mobile one, I think. They cost around $30k if you build one yourself, or more if you buy it premade (and, yes, you can buy them premade). They are variously classified as trailers or permanent homes depending on where you live. Tumbleweed, the company, has a rustic Colorado-esque design aesthetic, but I prefer a more modern look, so I'm looking at the hOMe (yes, cheesy name) at www.tinyhousebuild.com.
Why a tiny house? Well, there's a few reasons:
1) First and foremost, it's about downsizing my life. The same way meditation and yoga have showed me how to clean out my brain, I think - as do many others - that living more simply will help me organize my life.
2) Financial. I've both owned and rented in my life, and they're both a pain in the butt. Imagine owning your own home, having no debt, and paying almost no taxes.
3) Mobility. A movable house makes it a lot easier to, well, move.
4) Self-determination. Learning how to build my own house, and doing it with my own two hands, sounds like an amazing learning experience and a great confidence builder.
I'm not on a fast timeline for this particular project; I'm thinking 4-5 years for the final product, with the actual construction taking about a year.
