The structure of the house on the Two Acre Wood is officially finished! I mean...it only took a week to build, so it's been finished for a minute but I've been busy so haven't gotten the post up (sorry).
It's 512 square feet, so it's not technically a tiny house (which is <400 sq. ft), but it'll be a nice little cottage in the woods.
A lot of different options were considered in deciding what type of house to build. I've long liked the idea of an owner built home, but it would take longer for us to build, because the only fully able bodied adults in the family are my adult sons. My body simply can't handle that much work these days and my parents' certainly can't. So, I decided that having at least the main structure built by someone else would help the process out a lot.
It would get us into the house more quickly, not only on the basis of built time, but could also open up options of being able to finance at least some of the expense, which is major when you're on such a shoestring budget.
A lot of people suggested a trailer house. However, trailers depreciate quickly and aren't built to last, despite the relatively high cost of them. Plus, there are limited customization options and it was important to me to design according to what we need, while having as little negative impact to the environment around us as possible.
I chose a 16' x 32' "portable building" but had it built on site, as I was not willing to cut down the number of trees necessary to be able to trailer the structure on the site.
I designed it to fit our specific needs, such as adding windows for cross ventilation, as well as double doors, which will eventually lead to a greenhouse.
We will build out the inside ourselves, which will take some time, but we hope to have it where we can move in when spring gets here. Updates will be posted as we go, of course.
