#owner-built

The modest house has an L-shaped floor plan with a shed-roofed living pavilion running across the site and a lower bedroom wing extending into the backyard. The kitchen and dining spaces feature banks of tall, slender windows on three sides, making for constantly shifting light patterns as the sun arcs across the sky. Even the kitchen cabinets on the north wall are translucent to allow light through. The living room at the other end is more enclosed with a translucent window for privacy from the neighbor to the south.

The family lived on site in an old portable classroom during the home’s construction, which allowed O’Sullivan to devote long hours to the project — essentially all his free time for nearly two years. Neighbors also lent their assistance, with some putting in many hours of work as well. With no labor costs to cover and by making creative use of building materials, the architect was able to complete the 115 m2 (1,240 ft2) house for NZD 152,000.

To keep costs in check, O’Sullivan made extensive use of plywood as a finish material, putting it on the walls and the bedroom ceilings. But he splurged in key places, using materials that enrich the whole house and give it a Mid-Century Modern sophistication.

The living area ceiling is finished with cedar siding boards, fastened with an overlapping step pattern that adds texture to the room. A scattering of triangular cutouts conceal the recessed low-energy light fixtures. The centerpiece of the room is the kitchen island, wrapped in brass with a mirror-like sheen. Over in the bedroom wing, the home’s only bathroom is eye-popping, finished entirely with a green marble.

There are two bedrooms, one of which is a large bunkroom shared by all the children. However, O’Sullivan did design the floor plan to allow for the later addition of more bedrooms. Not only does that kind of phased approach make the house more affordable to start with, it also keeps the project down to a more manageable size for an owner-builder who doesn’t have prior building experience.

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small cottages

Photographs courtesy of Bull/O’Sullivan Architecture. Via Dwell.

Text copyright 2015 SmallHouseBliss. All Rights Reserved.

Ben Mitchell-Anyon, Sally Ogle and Tim Gittos spent months searching property listings for affordable land before finding a cheap section in Wanganui on the North Island. The property was steep, requiring that the building materials be carried up to the small buildable area at the top. Because the three did most of the work themselves with the help of friends, the extra effort to move materials lengthened the project’s timeline but did not add much extra expense.

They also searched for low-cost and recycled building materials, designing the house around their finds — several rusty iron trusses and a stack of pine poles. The house appears complex but at its core it is just a straightforward two-storey rectangular box. Half the roof covers the 88 m2 (947 ft2) interior of the house while the other half extends forward to shelter a series of decks and verandahs that jog in and out from under the roofline. Twinwall polycarbonate panels screening the upper verandah add a layer of semi-transparency, hinting at the structure behind and glowing like a lantern at night.

The polycarbonate panels screen off outdoor rooms on the upper verandah, including an outdoor bathing area (there is an inside bathroom too). Some of the panels slide or flip open, allowing for adjustment based on desired levels of sunlight, shade and breeze. A daring design decision was too not have any inside hallway upstairs, so the only circulation path from the top of the stairs to the two bedrooms and bathroom is via the verandah.

To keep finishing costs down, some materials were left in their raw state with no or minimal finishing. In other cases, cheap materials were used but were detailed well and carefully combined with other materials for an overall appearance that is greater than the sum of the parts. The concrete retaining wall along the back of the lower level was left exposed, while the floor is polished concrete. Most of the other walls and ceilings were finished with sanded construction-grade plywood, and the deck railing is simple chain-link fencing.

Have a great weekend!

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small cottages

Photographs courtesy of Patch Work Architecture.

Text copyright 2014 SmallHouseBliss. All Rights Reserved.

Hello,

This is our small house near the city of Leuven in Belgium, we call it ‘The Tipi’. We built it temporarily, until we save enough money to built our definitive house. Rent in Leuven is very high and this way we don’t have to pay anything as long as we live in it. (You can’t do this randomly, you have to ask permission at City Hall and follow lots of regulations, but our plan was approved.)

reconstruction

We bought it from people who did the same, but it needed some fixing up. In about two months time and with the help of some friends and family we dismantled it entirely, built it up again and fixed it up with pretty much all recycled materials. After we are done with it, we hope someone else does the same.

We were a little scared that it would be too small and that we wouldn’t get all of our stuff in. I sew, Vincent plays guitar and we adopted a three-month old puppy just before we moved in in February. But it works! The two of us and dachshund Hank love living in our small wooden castle. It’s cozy, easy to clean and we have everything we need. I love my walk-in closet, Vincent loves sitting in the couch and being able to reach the fridge for a drink. It was also a good occasion to get rid of stuff we didn’t really need but had been moving along with us for several years.

In our city we are slowly getting known as ‘the couple who lives in the tipi’. Vincent has lived here all his life but I am new, so people always have something to talk about to me. I like that. We also love the reactions we get. Because we started building it in December, people initially thought we were building Santa’s Village. Till today we see cars drive by slowly when they pass and pretty much every day there are people who stop to ask us about the Tipi. So you can say it’s a very ‘social’ way of living.

alternating tread stairs

If there’s something we don’t like, it must be that it can get very warm in our little house, especially on the top floor where we sleep. We got a mobile air conditioner from a neighbor (as a housewarming present), but we don’t like putting it on when we are home because it’s a bit noisy and we easily get a cold from it. Luckily the summers in Belgium are short and not that extreme, so it’s only for a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile we are planning to start building our permanent house, but we don’t have any stress about it. We love living in our Tipi, so we don’t need to hurry. We can take our time to plan, compare and choose materials and ways of building. That’s a great extra. The city allows us to live like this for 5 years. We would recommend this to everyone.

Inne

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small cottages

Photographs by Inne Van Engeland and by Dorien Buys for Louvintage.

Text copyright 2014 SmallHouseBliss. All Rights Reserved.

Nestled in central Ohio, amongst the largest Amish community in the world, is our “Rudolph Cottage.” We are Ron and Sue Corl, and have lived in our 520 sqft tiny since 2007. It’s based on Sue’s childhood dream of having the little cottage that Rudolph, Hermey, & Yukon Cornelius stayed in on their journey. Our storybook cottage design shows that the small lifestyle need not be lived in a tiny box, bereft of color and personality. In 1998, we purchased 30 acres of steep woodland. By 2000, we had no money and were living in a 200 sqft 1968 camper. That lasted 7 years! It leaked and got so cold in the winter, an ice dam would form on the door overnight. We would use a blow-dryer in the morning to get out. Sue would say – “Yeah, good times! And don’t forget about our 3 cats and big dog in there, too!” (There’s a joke in here somewhere about a “3 cat – 1 dog night!”)

Moving up to a “huge” 520 sqft cottage felt like moving into a mansion. It took over 2 years to gather all the materials including cutting some trees on the land and having them dried and cut into posts. By collecting materials first, you can design around window & door sizes instead of buying costly new materials to fit your predetermined plan. Be flexible! Our windows were brand new overstock, and I paid $5 each at auction! I designed around them for the overall look. If you can search Craig’s List and go to auctions and yard sales, you can source almost everything for pennies on the dollar, but it takes time and often you don’t have that luxury – like the luxury of living in a leaky camper!

I hand built the cottage over a 5 year period. The land is hilly, so the easiest foundation to do was simply posts. I’m a furniture designer so my approach was to build the largest cabinet I had ever built! Every piece of wood was custom cut and molded to fit, from the live-edge siding to the striped hardwood interior walls & floors. The total raw material & utility hook up costs were around $18,000, but that doesn’t include over 1300 hours of labor or the travel & fuel costs in the project. It’s insured for $110,000 replacement cost, but that’s still too low to have all this hand work duplicated.

The main living space is 16’x12’ with a loft bedroom above. The cabinets and bed are built-in to utilize every inch. We could have used a ladder up to the loft, but we knew that wouldn’t work as we grew older. I still designed the steps to save space though. They look like an experiment gone awry, but Sue painted a clue on the risers, “It’s Left up to you.” If you start with your left foot, you can walk straight up, just like regular stairs. The Blue Diamond & Fern ceiling simply had to be that way! We are both artists and decided that the cottage should be our palette. That’s another benefit of living small – if a creative idea doesn’t work out, it doesn’t take long or cost much to change it.

Coming from that teeny, tiny camper bathroom, we splurged on a 9’x9’ bathroom with a 4’x4’ tiled shower – pure luxury. The walls are all sided with 100 year old boards we pulled out of a demolition project. I wanted it to have the feel of an old back porch that had been turned into a bathroom long ago, complete with a 1940’s sink. Yes, that’s my custom designed composting toilet!

We have learned how to do the “kitchen dance” in our 7’X8’ foyer/kitchen. It’s a balance for Sue to cook every night, but the fridge and pantry cupboard are in the living room, so I can pop through for a beer whilst she is getting a can of beans. On the sink cabinet I used an old Porcelain Coke sign that was almost rusted through. We call the Coke girl Judy for no reason whatsoever!

We are working on a book, “The Little Book of Living Small”, and starting a new online venture, Shiny Tiny Mansion. Our tag line is “Small Lifestyle Amplified”. We will have a small living reality blog, how-to videos, floor plans, multi-function furniture & accessories, and if the desire is there, custom small home plans and workshops. Email me directly at [email protected] or go to the site and sign up, and we will notify you when we are fully up and running.

Thanks for looking!!! – Ron Corl

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small cottages

Photographs by Randy Fath, courtesy of Ron Corl.

Text copyright 2014 SmallHouseBliss. All Rights Reserved.

The house has thick walls made of cob. Cob construction is inexpensive and sustainable, using a mix of clay, sand and straw, an agricultural waste product. It is easy to learn but very labor-intensive. One of the advantages of cob building is that it is easy to create curved and sculptural forms. The thick walls give cob houses a lot of thermal mass, moderating indoor temperatures and making the house easier to heat and cool.

The floor plan has two bedrooms in 1,000 ft2 (92.9 m2) of interior room. The kitchen, living and dining rooms are open to each other but each is its own distinct space. Salvaged old growth posts and beams set off the kitchen, and the living room is defined by a curving cob bench. The highlight of the space is the Rumford fireplace faced with compacted layers of colored soil. The floors look like concrete but they are actually compacted earth which has been sealed with natural oils and waxes. In the bathroom, the custom shower with cob seat was waterproofed with a natural lime plaster.

west bedroom

As Stoltz Bluff Eco-Retreat is off-grid, it relies on solar panels for electricity and gets its water from a well, with the roof designed for a future rainwater collection system. Waste water is treated in a constructed wetland, which removes contaminants using the same principles as natural wetlands.

Stoltz Bluff Eco-Retreat is available for vacation rentals. To book a stay, visit HomeAway.com. Have a great weekend!

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small cottages

Photographs courtesy of Stoltz Bluff Eco-Retreat and by David Stanley (made available under a Creative Commons license).

Text copyright 2014 SmallHouseBliss. All Rights Reserved.

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Sea and Sky Cottage on Cape Breton updates the traditional Maritime gabled and shingled house with an open interior.

photo by Stewart Applegath

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