Thoreauvian simple living: unelectrified, timeless tiny home

Seven years ago Diana and Michael Lorence moved to a 12-foot-square home without electricity in the coastal mountains of Northern California. 
They're not back-to-the-land types- they're not growing their own food, nor raising animals-, but, like Thoreau, they were looking for a place where they could get away from the noise of society and focus on their inner lives.
For nearly 30 years they have lived in tiny houses, often in guest homes, though their current abode is the smallest and most fitting their needs. It was designed by Michael based on their experiences living in nearly 20 tiny homes across the country before finally settling here. 
They don't have electricity nor any other type of alternative energy (i.e. solar power). They don't have a refrigerator so they eat a lot of vegetables, fruits, grains and nuts. 
There's also no oven, but Diana says she doesn't bake anyway and she cooks their meals with their one cast iron pot over the fire. The fire is also their source of hot water, heat and light (in addition to candles).
The Lorences are a private couple, but recently they have begun to speak out more about their lives in hopes of showing others that options such as theirs exist.
Until now, the couple has turned down requests appear on video, not wanting to be categorized as simply another couple choosing to live in a tiny space. So I was pleasantly surprised when Diana and Michael agreed to let me visit their home with my camera.

Original story here: http://www.faircompanies.com/videos/v...

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[pad padmadfan]

I felt my blood pressure lower as I watched her house...somehow it just seemed apparent to me that the things we think are indispensable, like our entertainment, our computers, our T.V....are really not our lives, they're distractions that keep you from real life. It seems so evident when you hear her speak. Life is about this one moment and being content with it...everything else is just a distraction.

[Christopher H]

I bet you that if more people started living this way the government would make it illegal because companies would be losing money. 

[Loren Montespino]

I should add, she can live her life just as she likes and if her spouse wants his privacy that's fine with me. I just felt this nun-like vibe throughout the stuff I've seen about this place. Doesn't change the fact that it's beautiful and I think quite doable, though I couldn't live on the kind of veggie stew day after day - but then again, maybe that's why she is so thin!

[Loren Montespino]

That thing with the husband puzzles me too. It's like, she was going to be a sot of pseudo nun, and constructed this miniature monastary, and then fell in love with a guy, but keeps some part of her contemplative self to herself. That part of the(ir) vibe is a little weird to me. She and he must have a good income to be able to afford all that we see AND renting a normal office...But I will say I LOVE that house.

[Loren Montespino]

She is wearing a modern knit turtleneck shirt, and a drapey looking ankle length skirt that looks likely also to be some type of knit fabric. A very plain warm black shirt and skirt - what's wrong with that? It happens to be an aesthetic some women like. I've always preferred all black, cotton pants and tunics. MY personal second choice would be an ankle length belted t-tunic dress/gown. Something loose and flowing and comfy. I like that; she appears to also. Eternal comfort is eternal.

[Loren Montespino]

You could not be more wrong; these people are well known in the "Tiny House" community. They are quite "for real". My family had a fireplace when I was a child - it made the house SO hot we could use it for one (small) fire and still feel heat coming off the brickwork the next day. We had to stop using the thing for heat because it OVER heated us too much! You don't have the information to be making such an allegation as to claim this is "staged". Some people just ARE calm, focused and serene.

[Loren Montespino]

Who says they HAVE blogs or websites to keep up with? Even if they do, a few hours at the nearest public Library with a laptop should cover it. I HAVE washed my clothes by hand in a tub - doable, but why not use the Laundromat while you are in town to go to the library? With the large thermal mass of that brick/stone FP, I think a quite small amount of wood would be needed for heat, especially if the FP also used for one pot cooking. Some folks prefer to be cool rather than toasty warm, too.

[Loren Montespino]

Believe it or not, you CAN keep a stainless sink clean and new lookin esp. if you only wash one pot and a couple of plates a day in it. And she is NOT wearing period clothing - she is wearing a modern knit turtleneck shirt (I have one just like it) and an ankle length skirt that looks to also be some type of drapey knit material. There is an obvious build up of ash in the FP and a well insulated space with a thermal mass like that brickwork FP doesn't need TONS of wood to keep it warm. Jealous?

[UmmSchooling]

I enjoyed this...I have something inside of me that finds rest in this type of living. How do I do it, where do I start? I don't yet know.

[Joxxer36]

the fire place has been used. the walls were black and it was filled with ash why do people have to piss on someones parade?

[Joxxer36]

and I bet that villa is still too small for the ego that lives in it. glad ya have what you have but don't brag. Thank God for it, use it to bless others and dot be a fucking DICK no one not even those you Pay at your said wonderful villa likes a fucking dickhead!

[lagogrey12]

all very pretty. contemplative. and nothing like living in the woods. where is the wood that brings them through the winter, or even a week of cooking? how do they do their laundry? Hot water in a tub and a washing board, and how do they keep up with their blogs and web sites, when there is no electricity? living like that is bloody hard work, is romanticism is misleading. A wonderful weekend retreat, sure, but not a way of living.