A well-designed small house makes life much simpler!

Denise, yes, it id birch. Ground freezes 1,5 feet deep here. Normally we have a couple of feet of snow, which isolates the ground so it does not freeze more than rhat.

For 8 months a year, outside temps are low enough to have the foyer as a refridgerator. I am building a root cellar this summer.

Planting has been pretty laborious, since first I have to build the beds before being able to sprinkle a single seed. I am almost finished with the root garden.

The photos show a lot of very well-thought-out uses of space. Use and efficiency is the key, rather than absolute size.

I raised 3 kids in a 16 x 20 ft log cabin. We slept up in the attic, under the peak of the roof, reached by a ladder and a trap door. We had no plumbing or electricity. We were also 15 miles from the nearest road and could only get to our home by boat or float plane.  It was wonderful and I loved it, particularly the part about having no electric lights. Song and story flourish when you can't keep your daytime activities going until bedtime.

As an older person, who lives in a very tiny space, I would caution that extremely small size can be very limiting and counterproductive for a homesteader. There was a reason that traditional farmhouses had some size to them--not McMansion size, but enough space to get work done and keep essential tools and stored food under cover. In our current space, we mostly just read when we aren't outside, because there is no space for projects. Skills and projects require tools, and a place to use and store them. Food preservation and storage take equipment and space. Even if you sun-dry your produce rather than, say, canning it, you'll need racks, and rodent-proof storage and lots of it. I'm not saying you need the kind of big house that has become the norm--you don't., But I do know from experience that a homesteader needs more space than an urban tiny-home dweller does.

You also need to plan for more space as you age, because of mobility issues and the equipment needs that age might bring. At 45, I slept on the floor and folded my bed up in the morning. 72, I prefer a bed, and not to climb a ladder to it. I don't want to have to move if I need a walker or a wheelchair, so there need to be clear spaces.

So yes, keep it small and simple. But plan for all the things you will need to do, want to do, and may have to do.

Kaarina Kreus wrote:As I have no electricity, wood storage is important.

Last spring, I got a huge amount of firewood when an area of the farm was cleared. However, the firewood was dumped in a pile and I had nowhere to store it.

We just finished the wood hut yeasterday. I will be carrying wood to the hut for the next two weeks!

That is the most beautiful AND clever wood shed I've ever seen.  I'd love to know how the notches are made to nest each "log" together.

There are some threads on permies that I find myself revisiting again and again.
This is one of them. I never tire of seeing Kaarina's lovely and well organized tiny house.
Anyone else here for a 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 11th look?

Perfect. I just stumbled upon this thread and it's the kind of thing I'm building, semi underground.
I've just posted it up on here.
Thanks for sharing

Kaarina,
Your place is beautiful. I aspire to live like this in the future. In Wisconsin, building code states we must build at least 400 sq ft. Though a 400 sq ft worked well for me in the past, I have never understood the size requirement here. A single person or couple should be able to go smaller if they choose.
Well done on your place.

Katrina,

I believe the same way as you. Go smaller. But boy howdy, you really sized down to a tiny home! Very nice looking place you have.

Myself, I would like to have a 700 - 900 sq ft house that Icanput on a basement. I would to get a super fancy soaking tub with jets 😁😁😁 and a nice shower. I'm not married and at my current pace I never will be so I will be the one having to take care of & clean the house. That is one of the big reason's why I want to go small. Plus, by going small,  I'm better able to get a bigger garage with a shop! LOL!

I don't understand why people have to get these $500/$800/$1 million homes. You just have to clean it! 🤣🤣🤣

A couple considerations about the soaking and or jetted tub.

I chose an acrylic tub (maybe appropriate use of technology).  I had the option to have it insulated, which I did.

When I filled the tub with hot water, and got in, it stayed hot for more than an hour.  That is something I really liked.  I added epsom salts, and sent the post bath water to water the garden.  So it absolved my concerns about “wasting water”

Some folks really like the jets.  I will choose the jetless tub again as soon as  I get the chance, two reasons… with the jets and bubbles, the water will cool much faster, and I think about the surfaces inside the tubes that are part of the jets… do they ever dry out? What is growing in there where I can’t see or clean it?  And would epsom salts corrode the small parts in the pump and tubes?

I guess it’s an individual thing.  I easily and regularly took 1-2 hour soaks, which some people would never do, others might not use salts, herbs or oils in their baths, and so the workings of jets and pumps would not be a concern.

🌞

These tiny homes look great for a single person or couple, perhaps. They do seem practical to heat and maintain. However, please explain how a FAMILY with children will live comfortably and not be on top of each other. It seems like you need on average 150-200 sqft per person, to not be at each other’s throats. I lived in a 300 sqft 5th wheel with my husband, young son, 2 dogs and 2 cats for 2.5 years in the Idaho woods. It was refreshing and liberating the first year. There were many problems, one being a camper in Idaho winter is NOT ideal, even though we got a small woodstove, waterlines freeze, etc. A house would be much better , of course. Needless to say, by the time that we left we were fed up with the small space and moved to a 1200 ft farmhouse in SWMO. MUCH better, thank you. I have room to move around, a decent sized kitchen and separate bedrooms. Now if we could make this place off-grid (we are still renting, unfortunately) , that would be excellent! Looking for land where we can build a compromise house between modern living (no electricity in sleeping and living areas, off grid with wood heat) and living like it is 1860.