House on wheels

Recommendation points

• Trailer market overview
• Homes Martin House-To-GoTM and Tumbleweed Tiny House
• How to make a mobile home yourself
• Projects of the members of the Society of Lovers of Small Houses
• Conclusion

Mini-houses or Tiny-House are a new concept of living space. The Small House Lovers Society is a growing movement of people who promote a lifestyle with minimal needs and a high level of comfort.

The members of this society mostly belong to various organizations for the protection of nature, they show by their example that human needs for comfort are completely small. This is true when you look at these amazing mini-house designs that have everything you need to live with a high level of comfort. The Tiny-House society already has more than two hundred members, and the number of members is constantly growing. The Small House Lovers Society was founded by architect Jay Schaefer in 1997, and he embodied his experience in applied design in a house built in the spirit of minimalism, measuring 3 m long and 2 m wide..

Fresh Start mobile home by Martin House-To-Go

A little later, the followers of Jay Schaefer founded the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company and Martin House-To-Go. These companies sell blueprints for houses for those who want to build them on their own, and also make ready-made houses..

The Russian experience in the construction of wooden residential buildings implies that such mini-houses can be independently designed and built in Russian conditions. It is advisable to use them as mobile summer cottages during travel, to build without a wheelbase as stationary eco-constructions. This is a real independent budgetary construction, which will allow you to enjoy life and reduce the cost of installing residential buildings in summer cottages, in villages, build a comfortable and functional guest house.

Trailer market overview

Traveling in comfort is not a new idea, but a well forgotten old idea. The first trailers were a common modern version of the old covered wagons used by nomads..

VARIO Perfect Platinum – an exclusive mobile home

Modern versions of trailers had a kitchen, sleeping accommodations, storage cabinets, and eventually household appliances, bathrooms, toilets and even garages. Attention to this type of “residential” transport began to revive in the United States with the development of the automotive industry, primarily in areas where tornadoes and hurricanes occur. In order to protect their families during bad weather, virtually every American family living in hazardous areas has purchased a mobile home. In this regard, a separate area of ​​”residential” transport has developed on the American market, namely the trailer market..

Mobile home “Buffalino” by German designer Cornelius Comons

With the improvement in living conditions, trailers have become popular with both wealthy and disadvantaged Americans. Trailers were used while traveling around the country, as well as full-fledged mini-houses that do not require special building and parking permits. A little later, the experience of building trailers was borrowed from other areas, for example, full-featured houseboats appeared..

There are numerous trailer options on the market today, from the most expensive and luxurious to the most budgetary. Travel homes can be implemented as autonomous vehicles or as small mobile homes for tourists based on a moped or bicycle. The main requirement for such mobile “residential houses” is that they are equipped with all the necessary elements responsible for a comfortable civilized living of a person.

Luxury mobile home Ketterer Continental by Mercedes Benz

Undoubtedly, the trailer direction attracted the attention of designers and architects, and also formed an additional segment of the designer models market. Most of the big car companies have luxury mobile homes in their fleets. An interesting version of the exclusive trailer, offered by Air stream in cooperation with the Republic of Fritz Hansen ™ design bureau, is focused on the class of cars for the city. The luxury Ketterer Continental mobile homes by Mercedes and VARIO Perfect Platinum are complete, exclusive vehicle-based housing.

On the basis of trailers, futuristic concepts of mobile homes, as well as original solutions that allow a person to enjoy the benefits of civilization and, at the same time, taste all the delights of life in nature.

A futuristic transformable mobile home by French designer Stephanie Belange, this “home” in the installed state has several rooms

At the moment, the trailer market is quite diverse, but mobile homes are of practical interest, which are as similar to traditional housing as possible and have an adequate cost. Most of the exclusive offers are not available due to the high cost, and traditional trailers do not offer a sufficiently high level of comfort.

Homes Martin House-To-Go^TM and Tumbleweed Tiny House

In our opinion, the most viable and affordable mobile home concept is being developed by members of the Tiny-House movement. The offered caravans are most similar to real houses, they have all the elements necessary for a comfortable life. Martin House-To-Go and Tumbleweed Tiny House are trademarks of two members of the movement affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Fresh Start mobile home by Martin House-To-Go

Owner MartinHouse-To-Go^TM Julie Martin lost not only her oldest home on the Gulf Coast, built in 1787, during the devastating Hurricane Katrina, but also her business of restoring and restoring old houses. For the first four months after the hurricane, she relieved the stress on a cruise ship that was rented for the victims. Due to the minimum amount of funds available, she had to make the best purchase – she joined the Tiny House community and bought a small house from Jay Schaefer. The 3×2 m house includes a dining room, bathroom, kitchen, bed, it is completely autonomous and comfortable even for long stays. As an architect, Julie significantly modernized the idea of ​​the Schaefer house, bought the production license and registered the Martin House-To-Go trademark.^TM. Since then, her business has been selling small mobile homes, the most popular version of Fresh Start costing $ 30,000..

The Fresh Start house has a ceiling height of 3.3 m, there are several sleeping places, 11 windows, a bathroom and a toilet. The house is completely autonomous and electrified, there is a stove for cooking, a refrigerator, a microwave oven, and a kitchen sink. Fresh Start was created in accordance with the charter of the Society of Small Home Lovers, that is, no toxic materials were used during the construction, but only natural raw materials. This is an excellent solution for country houses, guest or hunting lodges. The main advantage of these houses is that they can be made independently and with almost minimal cost, using the drawings and ideas of the authors..

Tumbleweed Tiny House

In the United States, an alternative version of Tiny-House houses is also presented, they are offered by the owner of the Tumbleweed Tiny House company and a member of the Tiny-House movement Greg Johnson, who suggests looking at the idea of ​​small houses much more broadly, since the construction technology involves the independent construction of full-fledged houses. Thanks to modern materials and technologies, houses built in this way will be warm, comfortable and as functional as possible..

Tumbleweed Tiny House Garden House

How to make a mobile home yourself

What attracts people to the Small House Lovers Society? First of all, the opportunity to improve the quality of your life on your own. Most of the exhibitors build their homes on their own and also work on projects for houses for sale, with demand constantly growing. Jay Schaefer’s concept most closely matches the idea of ​​human life in harmony with nature, without denying oneself the benefits of civilization. At the moment, modern technologies make it possible to provide individual heating and electricity almost anywhere in the world..

Tiny-House houses can be made mobile and stationary, the main idea is that the house should not be large, then it will need less energy to heat it, and, accordingly, the atmosphere will not be excessively polluted. We want to show you the process of building a mobile home on a trailer by one of the participants in this movement. Bill Brooks shows the construction process in detail.

At the first stage, the platform of the future house is being prepared, installed on a trailer. It is made of solid solid wooden beams connected to each other and thick insulation, the cracks are filled with polyurethane foam. It is imperative to make a thermal, hydro and vapor barrier.

At the next stage, the wooden frame of the house is mounted. Beams must be securely fastened, space must be provided for window openings.

The frame is installed on the base and securely attached to each other.

It looks like the frame of the house in assembled form.

The structure is sheathed with sheet material – plywood, chipboard, fiberboard, insulation of the inner and outer walls is carried out.

At the next stage, the windows are installed, the roof is made, the mini-house is revetted in any available way.

This is what Bill Brooks’ finished mobile home looks like.

Tiny-House houses impress with their simplicity of manufacture, availability of building materials and the ability for each person to build a cozy and beautiful home for themselves anywhere. It is a convenient and cost effective solution with excellent results.

Projects of the members of the Society of Lovers of Small Houses

Anyone can join the society of lovers of small houses. Each member of the society receives a tutorial on building a Tiny-House for little money and can post photos showing the result of their work on the official community blog. For the majority of participants, Tiny-House houses become not only a way of life, but also a business that is successfully developing in different countries of the world..

The Society of Small Home Lovers has its own charter, where the main points are devoted to the creation of ecological housing. Members of the Tiny-House society exchange experiences, conduct master classes. Many interesting models and ideas proposed.

Guest house

The creators of Tiny-House versions do not limit their imagination. If buying a large-capacity trailer is a rather expensive pleasure, then it is quite possible to get by with an ordinary car trailer, which will provide a convenient place for outdoor recreation. The idea for a tiny mobile home belongs to Don Vardo and strongly resembles a mini-stagecoach. Despite its size, this mini-house also has everything you need to live on a tourist trip: sleeping places, a kitchen table with a washbasin, the house is fully electrified..

Don Vardo mobile home

Conclusion

For most participants in the movement, life in harmony with nature is a life concept that is reflected in all aspects of their lives. Tiny-House is a demonstration of the possibility of living with a high level of comfort at any level of income. It all depends on the desire and imagination of the person. Alternative housing in the context of Tiny-House can find its adherents in Russia, as it is available to everyone. Of course, the construction of such a house will bring you a lot of impressions and happy minutes..