I came across this link surfing the interweb: Tumbleweed Homes. I came across Tumbleweed in this thread on the Zombie Squad forums.
Tumbleweed sells tiny, tiny houses. Like 100 square feet. Many of the houses are built onto trailers for easy moving around the country. The selling idea is simplicity and lower environmental impact.
Sometimes I feel jammed inside my 2 bedroom apartment...can't imagine trying to live in one of these places. They are quite cleverly designed and make good use of the little space available...but I think most people would go nuts from lack of space. Definitely only enough room for a single person...putting a couple in one of those things would strain any marriage. Add kids to the mix and you could kiss sanity goodbye.
Aside the cramped feeling, there's not a lot of storage room. No room for food, water storage, guns, ammo, the wife's pile of shoes, clothes, and all the other crap we end up piling in closets and attics. You could resolve that with a separate storage area--an insulated cargo container, perhaps. Some of the designs don't have bathrooms, though you could dig an outhouse at your BOL.
So say you're a single guy, don't have a lot of stuff, and set up a cargo container or similar set up for added storage (if you need it). A tiny house would have a low electricity needs, so solar power would be relatively easy, I'd imagine. So, it could, I suppose, make some sense.
The price of buying one of these "tiny homes" ruins the idea, though. Most of them ring in at about $50k. Yep. $50k for a 100 square foot home. You can buy the plans for a couple hundred bucks, but if you're going to build a house on your own, why not build a normal house/cabin?
If you want a small, mobile living space, why not buy a trailer for quite a bit less?
There are built-it yourself cabin kits out on the market as well that provide more living space; I'm not sure how difficult they are to assemble, though, or have professionally put together. I would guess that you'd end up with a larger, equal-quality home for about equal or less than a "tiny home."
There's also the current favorite in retreat building, the cargo container. You can do-it yourself; there are also companies specializing in converting containers into living spaces, offices, etc. Here's an example. You'll have much more space to work with and a solid, steel structure built to withstand hurricane force winds and crashing waves.
These tiny homes are definitely interesting and quirky, but not a good option for a survival retreat. Too small and expensive, but a unique idea in terms of design, use-of-space, and alternative housing.
What do you guys think?
