Life in a Little House

Design Inspiration for Spring 2010

Is the McMansion Dead?

It must be true. According to the Wall Street Journal, the McMansion is fading fast. It can't happen too soon to suit us!

Looking for land?

Read this wonderful little article over at the Small Living Journal. It's a great outline for what you need to consider before you start looking. Or just stay caught up with the urbanrancher.

FOUND in N Portland

Boise neighborhood - tiny house I know, I know. The Portland Garden Cottages have already had their day in the sun. This tiny house (right) is one of a pair of little hand-built cottages on Albina in North Portland. Aside from adding to the neighborhood's charm, they also allow the owners to have another revenue stream. They're available for rent should you wish to visit our fair burg.

Yasuhiro Yamashita's Penguin House

There are three useful techniques for giving small spaces maximum space, light, and beauty without compromising privacy and security even in fairly dense areas. We really like the new expression even though the concepts are fairly old ... all of them were used to one extent or another during the hey-day of the bungalow craze during the early 20th century.

Volume and light together increase the overall sense of space. Relatively small square footage combined with strategically planned room height expands the perception of the room. Volume alone can prevent claustrophobia, but if windows are added, natural light expands the space further.

A line of sight—that is, being able to see across and "through" boundaries—also increases a sense of spaciousness. This technique was revolutionary in many of the modern bungalows built from 1905 to 1930. By using colonnades to define rooms without enclosing them, early 20th century architects were able to expand interior space in a fairly small footprint.

By adding 360° of light on four sides, as shown in Yamashita's "light box," there is an expansive, bright space AND the security of feeling as though you are living in a tree house or watch tower. This technique is reminiscent of the airplane bungalow.

The marvelous little Penguin House is just 322 square feet with 899 square feet in all. The following National Geographic YouTube video explains how the design concepts work for vintage and modern designs. We think it's only deficiency might be the lack of easily accessible outdoor space ... a balcony would appease us.

The Aladdinette Homes

In researching Aladdin kit homes from the first half of the 20th century, I came across a small catalog produced as a supplement to the regular catalog. Called New Colonial Bungalows and New Aladdinette Homes, the supplement shows a series of the small Colonials that were incredibly popular in the decade following World War I as well as Aladdin's solution to the post-War recession that bogged down the economy through about 1923.

The solution was really tiny houses that were described as "an apartment that separated itself from the other apartments and became a house by itself." It combined the efficiency and economy of the apartment with the benefits of home ownership, a yard and garden, and building equity.

Though most have a small bedroom, almost all of them have a closet for storing a concealed bed. The kitchens were called kitchenettes and dining rooms were reduced to alcoves.

We'll be publishing the whole booklet here in the next few days, but for now we'll whet your appetite with one of our favorites, the Mayview.

Cabin in the Woods

The following home was featured in American Home magazine in 1941. Built of cedar logs mortared together, the walls are a full 15 inches thick. We are building a new "inspiration" directory of articles and pictures from various sources, so we're happy to present this first full article.

Coming Soon