I filmed this short video in a small town in Ohio to show what new accessory dwelling units can be like when the local authorities permit them. My friend Kirsten Dirksen here did a great job editing the story and I encourage people to check out her site for many similar videos. Alex and his wife are … Continue reading Ohio Accessory Dwelling Unit
Earlier this year I got to know a woman who was in the process of building a tiny off-grid shop she’s calling the Locastore. See here. Back in May she was working with local authorities to meet all the necessary regulations and code compliance parameters in order to make the building legal. A couple of … Continue reading Locastore Follow Up
I recently interviewed Alex Melamed and Andrew Kline of Green Generation Building in Yellow Springs, Ohio Here for an upcoming video story. They design and build highly insulated homes that meet the Passive House standard. A Passive House uses innovative construction techniques to keep itself warm in winter and cool in summer with almost no fuel. The initial cost … Continue reading The Passive House Movement: Super Insulation and Radically lower Energy Bills
Back when I was younger and a lot poorer I built a small cottage in rural Hawaii. At the time I didn’t qualify for any sort of mortgage or construction loan so I built incrementally and paid for things over a period of several years on a cash basis. In the end the house cost … Continue reading Building Codes and the Self Built Mortgage Free Home
Meet Alek and Anjali and their self-built mortgage-free Tiny House. They built their home while they were still living in Iowa and then relocated to northern California. They now live quite comfortably in the large back garden of a conventional home in exchange for maintaining the landscape. Anjali was determined to attend graduate school and … Continue reading Alek and Anjali’s Tiny House
When I was a freshman in high school many years ago I had a part time job as a draftsman at a local design firm. My boss owned a modest home in a quiet part of town composed mostly of old Victorians. He explained that as a young first time buyer he was able to … Continue reading Affordable Housing by Other Means
I filmed this interview and my friend Kirsten Dirksen in Barcelona edited and posted the story to her web site Fair Companies. Also check out Ann and Darren’s site: Protohaus. For more stories on the Tiny House movement check out Tiny House Blog. Continue reading Protohaus: High Quality Self Built Mortgage Free Home
Granola Shotgun 