Off-grid float cabin: retirement tiny dream home in BC wilderness

Margy and Wayne Lutz were camping in Coastal British Columbia when they discovered their dream home: the float cabins of Powell Lake. They're not houseboats, but "float cabins", that is, they're permanently anchored to shore.

Float cabins were first built on Powell Lake as inexpensive and portable homes for loggers and fishermen. Since then they've become regulated and the 200 float cabin owners here these days lease their water lots from the BC government for $500 per year.

The Lutz's bought their retirement home in 2001 for 35,000 Canadian dollars (about $25,000 USD, at the time), what they considered worth the risk if their experiment in off-grid living didn't workout.

A few years later they retired early from their school district jobs in Los Angeles, anxious to start living their dream, and moved into their small (420 square feet, plus a 200-square-foot sleeping loft) floating home. At the time it didn't have indoor plumbing so they hiked 4 flights of stairs up the granite cliff to an outhouse (they've since installed a composting toilet indoors).

Today, the Lutzs live completely off-the-grid. There's no water heater (they boil it on the wood stove as a luxury) and no plumbing. They hand-pump water from the lake (for washing dishes, they remove most food first and use only biodegradable soap and the water is returned to the lake).

There's no trash pickup. They compost nearly everything. For their energy uses, the Lutzs rely on solar, wind, and thermoelectric power. For heat, they rely on a wood stove (fueled mostly with driftwood) that has been rigged with an experimental thermoelectric system generating a trickle charge to their batteries.

Their buoyant home doesn't make gardening easy, but Margy has found a way to provide much of the summertime produce. In addition to a hillside potato garden, she created a floating vegetable garden.

More info on original story: http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/...

The Lutzs' blog: http://powellriverbooks.blogspot.com.es/
"Coastal British Columbia Stories" by Wayne Lutz: http://www.powellriverbooks.com/

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[WorldTruthSociety]

wow you guys are lucky and that's fucked up

[WorldTruthSociety]

fuck it i'd die there whoever is left makes the decision to stay or die in peace and happiness there too. Come on bro this is how life should be and has been for thousands of years

[Clive Sinclair]

I know of a few people who have decided to live off grid, or in remote places - after selling their city/town properties.

All well and good... until you are too old to maintain that lifestyle. Even if you are financially able to buy another city property as you get older, it would be such heartache to have to leave such a nice place once used to living their.

[hagbard72]

Wow. Americans get to live year round in Canada whereas Canadians can only stay six months in the US.

[Stevie SRV I WISH]

Like any boat, the toilet becomes a major part of life - at least thiis film shows you the truth - you better be an engineer before embarking on "this life". You better hope nobody dies and your partner is a "perfect companion". That's seems rare to me. Otherwise there would be no divorce lawyers or funeral homes? Again, things to think about. This writer is on the internet right now!but dismisses it?

[Stevie SRV I WISH]

where are the eye surgeons and vets for the pets? Discuss those facts.

[MB031]

Beatifull..but little scarry.You can't get drunk, otherwise you will be swimming with the bears..LOL..

[billy bob]

how often do you fall in the water? lol

[R Tirado]

Very beautiful life and people.