Tiny House Philly 2009

[masm60]

Call it what it is, a hippie house. No running water, flush toilet or shower, no privacy unless you live alone. A normal person would go insane living in one of these after a few days of steady rain.

[TroijanSkinhead]

stupid this isnt new its called a club house i built my son one on stilts with an outdoor patio across the bridge

[johnnyfarnham]

I don't think they are saying these are for everyone and as regards to tornado areas, well it is horses for courses. Igloos are fantastic, but not in Florida lol

[MonkeySpecs301]

I agree with reducing space, as i observe when there is too much, people find shit to buy to fill that space and you end up going crazy with all the belongings; however, having a small space cramped up in a small lot isn't a good long term solution either. I prefer land to grow food to be self sufficient, and have space for projects.

[TheHauptsturmfuhrer]

and when the wolf huffs and puffs-your just another homeless little piggy-again.

[kannbrown65]

Tons of people live in apartments where, as far as doors are concerned, there's only ONE exit, then a hallway with stairs (since you can't use the elevators). Last I checked, this thing has WINDOWS, and if there's a fire, I'm pretty darn sure I'd have no problem breaking one out and jumping out of it. Its a TINY house, you're, what, no more than ten feet from the ground even in the loft? I mean, geez, guys.

[wunderbarmom]

I would live in one of these after the electricity bills I receive for a 1200 sq foot home. Life is simple we need to live more simpily. get out of debt.

[inkey2]

a little small.......i definately think 500 sq foot would be just right

[charlamain2209]

@BestofDaveRamsey uh insurance isn't much good if you die in a house fire in one of these things. The only people who will benifit is your family.

[onenervygirl]

I would live in that!

[charlamain2209]

uh where would you go in a tornado? Imagine if everyone in Alabama and Missippi lived in one of these. The death toll would be a whole lot Bigger. Can you have a basement with one of these houses? you can stil be conservative and environmentally conscience in a normal size house. My family totals up to be five, have we lived in that small of a house when we were kids I'm sure my brothers and I would have killed eachother by now. It's a good idea but people need to make sure it's what they want.

[taur561]

I love this concept !!. I have just sold a lodging house which we sub divided into smaller rooms as that is what the market wanted . I then picked up endless drama with the cities building codes so I sold out . Only problem is land is very expensive to buy or hire . But I think this is a great idea !!

[LuckiRat]

is there a bathroomq

[N89J00X]

I can imagine communities of tiny houses with a large community garden area, a clean water source, and a new form of sewage disposal that doesn't involve water or perhaps only a small amount of water. These communities would have at least one entertainment area where musicians could play, art could be displayed, and classes could be given for the benefit of everyone in the community.  Maybe one day school could be taught in an outdoor setting for the children in the community.

[charlamain2209]

@N89J00X So sort of a futuristic midevil type village ? Will you be king/queen and then all us lowly women can serve our husbands barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen? I'm sorry but I want some niceities, maybe not a big house but at lease a fairly decent size cottage, not a claustraphobic prision cell. I assume people like you will try and make legislation that dictates how big of a house people can live in?

[EtaoinShrdlu17]

My mom and her husband retired and lived in a converted Bread Truck for close to 20 years, traveling from state park to state park in Califonia. She lived there until she was about 70 yrs. old, when her husband passed away and she moved into a 1 bedroom efficiency apartment nearer to my sister and I.

She thinks she is livin' high. At her age, 79, she does admit that she doesn't miss sleeping on the floor of a truck!

I used to tease her, Mom, you weren't retired, you were homeless!

[xxNilumxx]

Big houses are like Credit Cards, many people get into something they can't pay, and spend many years in debtors prisons. I am so getting a small house.

[inkey2]

@xxNilumxx LOL.....debtors prisons????? what country do "you" live in????

[nanino09]

When you show up with this home, everybody in the trailerpark will be jealous.

[bananian]

getting away from consumerism? there's no getting away from it. Look at the nice clothes this lady is wearing. Even the tiny house itself is consumerism b/c it's somebody's blueprint she's buying. It's just a different type of consumerism, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[porpoisefathom]

@bananian hmm consumerism..the media has taught you and I, that we are not human that our purpose is to "consume" - we are taught that happiness comes from "buying things" and consuming!..in order to feed the "establishment"

I dont know about you- but im much more than that....we can escape consumerism..if we choose to re-label who we are and stop letting media define us. for me this house becomes a solution..i own a houseboat about this size. Its awesome!

[N89J00X]

@porpoisefathom - I totally agree and I've always resented being labeled a "consumer" in the media. I love these tiny houses because it gives me a chance to think about community in different ways.

[1UnstableMind]

i cant wait until i build mine :) ill trade you a 30+ year mortgage, headaches, debt etc and raise u a simple life with more free time and more of your hard earn money going in your pocket :) o how we've been decieved :( lol live in one of these for a couple of year and with all the money u would have saved you can pay of your car in full buy a cozy house cash!! and take that dream vacation :) ohh the possibilities are endless...

[ForeverGoth]

this idea is great and all but I guess the only thing that seperates this from an RV trailer is the way it looks, , ,costs are roughly the same. . .anywhere from 20k-40k depending on how much space you want. . .Im probably going to buy an RV trailer seems like these tiny houses are a bit expensive, just my take on it

[MycoSandman]

@ForeverGoth Actually you can build one yourself for about $5k or even less. Compared to a dingy RV style trailer youd get for $5k, these things are total pwnage. RV trailers arent built very quality as well. The insulation in them is crap etc.

[853phile]

I'm seriously considering doing this. The thought of a 30 year mortgage scares the living crap out of me. at the same time the thought of owning my own home in less than 3-5 years or outright sounds really attractive. I rent a room in a home, but I practically live in my 120sqft room. I can totally see myself living in one of these. This also makes the prospect of traveling the world or at least traveling more a whole lot better.

[Cstrife234]

It's really no different than living in a trailer, aside from cosmetics. I'd much rather live in one of these than a trailer.

[Forsure3333]

How much would it cost if you have other people to do all the work?

[cchanderson]

@Forsure3333 Dude materials to build a 400 square foot house but you'd only be taxed on 400... with a full basement is around 20K... That house up there only looks like 200 square feet. A 400 sq foot house doesn't include basement 400sq plus loft 200 square that's 1000 total).

[yumyumluckycharms]

@Forsure3333 Thats a question I want answered also lol

[Forsure3333]

I'm sure I would live in one like these. As soon as I think about what relatives and friends would say, I'm not sure anymore.

[mydogbanjo]

I bought a used old travel trailer about ten years ago and I'm going to strip it down to the frame and build one of these small houses. I've been wondering what to do with the thing and now I know! Very cool.

[GarthW2]

I hope this tiny-house movement really takes off. It's not just about saving money. I'm really tired of society telling me I have to own so much. On a similar video, 1 comment said why not get a used double-wide mobile home for that price. That partly defeats the purpose. Double-wides are not really mobile, & I partly want to have too little room for family members to give me stuff I don't want. I want a simple life and still own the house and a tiny lot, and still have very little to maintain.

[jjhhhaaa]

i would love to build and live in one of these small homes. to day with the current economy with the rising taxes and money hungry utility com. it would be smarter and more economical to live in one of these. and for the people that think that less then 120 square feet is too small, well there is more space outside to enjoy.

[Markohoppis]

It would require a lot of money to build one of these as most people would have to hire contractors since no instructions are given to build it as most people would probably kill themselves trying it.

On the website, it says it would take about a quarter to 2/5's of a year to build.

Don't know if it's affordable or not.

[ryuuseicha]

@Markohoppis I dunno, basic carpentry is really hard to fuck up unless you're a complete retard. I took a semester of wood shop in high school a decade ago and I helped 2 of my friends (with similar levels of knowledge) build their house last year. We did hire out for the plumbing and electric, though, since that stuff's harder to work with.

[MycoSandman]

@Markohoppis Thats all baloney and inflated. A couple of guys with some carpentry skills could EASILY build one of these in a week. You can make it as complicated or simple as you want. Its really nothing more than framing, insulating, roofing, trim, electric, plumbing and thats about it. All of which would be very easy on such a tiny thing.

[charlamain2209]

@MycoSandman It's also a death trap. only one entry that's a fire hazzard, on wheel's there is no room for a basement and it lacks an interior room for incase of tornado's or turbulant weather. What about floods, one would have to be very cautious of where they park their house wagon. I'm not trying to knock down the idea I just want to make people aware that if they do decide to build and live in one of these homes they need to consider safety.

[1meanieface1]

sweet, love the bonobo soundtrack in the background :)

[ToriSanaa1]

I love it! Yeah, its not for everybody. It would sure help the homeless. Maybe, even someone who wants to downgrade. And even just travel the world. Some people live out of a backpack. I agree some people have missed the point. I know you could save alot of money. Maybe, even buy some land and put it on the land.

[bananian]

@ToriSanaa1

dude, this thing costs 18,000 minimum, I don't think a homeless has that much money.

[dtmbcorp]

@bananian you can build your own for 4k or less if you do it right. You can save that much in a year working at McDonald's.

[Re1Rasta]

@ToriSanaa1 How much is land in los angeles area or just so cal in general id wanna build a small home on my own land off grid makes the most sense to me

[SidneyBou]

@ToriSanaa1 Helping the homeless is not that simple. You cannot separate and many can tear up a place faster then you can build it. Go look at a project a few years old. Something like this takes care by the owner

[thadea]

Boy...quality of living sure has increased since the 50s and 60s...LOL. Before one income could buy a solid, well built house of stone, heat it, feed a big family...and live comfortably. Now? People resort to this for either a lack of money/save money, or the ability to say they are trendy while restricting themselves to 89 sqft. It takes away from quality of life. Im sure there will be people disagreeing with the last part, but at home, you do need a bit more room to move around.

[xvnukervx2]

@thadea I somewhat disagree. Even in a golden economy there would be people in tiny houses. I have a 20 acre plot of land, and have no plan on building a "large" house here, but these tiny homes are perfect. In terms of sustainability and cost, they simply cannot be matched. I think that most of the dislike for small houses is psychological, it really has nothing to do with whether or not they are nice places to live.

[PROFILESophiaYates]

This is what we r all heading to in the future because everyone's loosing their homes. A band of Gypsy's. Or better yet like the wagon caravans of the pioneer days but we can't go west we can't go east or north or south just round & round we go. I do love these tiny homes though.

[1too3fore]

I'd be afraid someone might steal it... :o

[SUPERPHANTAZM]

Look up solarcabin on youtube. 2k got him the entire setup including land.

This is an enormous rippoff.

[SUPERPHANTAZM]

Ridiculously priced and unpractical, cute.

With the amount you'd spend, you could build a castle yourself.

[christocr]

You've missed the point. Some of us don't want a castle to heat, power, maintain, pay taxes on, mortgage, and otherwise fuss with. Of course, some people want or need all that space, but truthfully, if I don't need or want any more than, say, 300 sq ft, why would I build a 5000 sq ft barn just because I could?

[thadea]

@christocr I agree..to each their own. This is a very economical place instead of throwing money out the window...literally with heating costs and taxes. The sacrifice is luxury and to some, standard of living. I wonder how the school taxes hit a person living like this...

[westkan]

LOL that's 1 TV reporter NOT taken over by vanity. No doubt the most reasonable home size is somewhere between the 2 extremes.

[deezynar]

This really is a very attractive home. 

It's a shame tho that nobody is telling the whole story on these things.

They are built on a trailer so they don't have to meet the same building codes that houses have to. Since they're classified as a mobile home, they may not be legal where you live because zoning laws restrict where "trailers" can go.

If you want a house on a foundation for your site, hire someone who knows your local building codes & zoning laws to design something for you.

[TheTinyLifedotcom]

This is actually a big topic of discussion in The Tiny House Community. We are working to change the view of local government and zoning laws.  The laws as they stand right now are a roadblock for sure and they are tied to taxes, which the city wants to maximize.

[christocr]

There are communities without the discriminatory laws and in some places, the 'authorities' are willing to help find ways around them. For now, the best thing to do is seek these places out and decide if the area is 'liveable' as far as employment, recreation, etc...

[nguyentousant]

@TheTinyLifedotcom I love it. It's a leftist catch 22. Some of the same people that feel entitled to "free" public everything also want to be free riders in that same system. I'd love it if everything I wanted were free too. I'd also like to be able to pee rainbows, but that isn't going to happen either.

[robertabramson]

@nguyentousant Good point......peeing rainbows that is.....

[nguyentousant]

@deezynar Moonbats usually only sell the fantasy and not the reality.

[earlymusicus]

I'd need just 20 more feet so I could fit my piano and harpsichord in one of these. Or an open floor plan might work even better. These houses are awesome - wonderful quality, very comfortable and cozy.