Why just in 4 months?!
Well, there are a lot of reasons.
Tiny houses are so cute! But really it goes even deeper….
Learning about sustainability, the planet, humanity, spiritual journeys, etc. made Yuri (and I) start realizing how we can put our beliefs into action. There’s only so much time a student has to positively influence the world but, we have done a lot to develop ourselves and the community we live in.
Yuri has been focusing on architecture, design, and other aspects of living sustainably. He studied climate change, a variety of spiritual practices, systems thinking, and Japanese tea and architecture. He learned a great deal about tiny houses and other alternative living styles in his freshman year of college, which ignited a desire to break away from the conventional housing system and build his own house.
Yuri believes that a lot of problems in society can be fixed with the right kind of city planning and house style/structure. I know he could tell you all about why he believes this…but I can’t. I’m more interested in our food systems, and think a lot of problems can be fixed with alternative practices in food. I think we will end up creating change with our passions. We know we aren’t going to create a new world with our tiny actions, but we hope to inspire thought (at least), if not action towards a greater future for this society and planet.
The goal for this project is to be finished by October 15, 2013. He’ll have about 4 months to finish and drive it from Illinois to Washington state. This isn’t ideal but, I think he likes the challenge.
Here is a website that shows a lot of tiny houses, if you haven’t heard of them before. http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/pages/house-to-go/
This company sells plans or houses, and also offers workshops for potential builders.
Here is a short article about a lady who lives in the same city as us now! http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/sustainable-happiness/living-large-in-a-tiny-house
Yuri has designed his house to balance eco-friendly, human healthy designs and products with ideas that will last a really long time. He has a budget, so he can’t afford all the most eco-friendly products, but that is ok. Doing the best with what you have is great practice!
The Nautilus 
This is one of the coolest tiny houses I’ve seen yet. Great job. Love the dome over the storage loft, it’s similar to what I want to do. I’d love a chance to talk to Yuri about his build, and I happen to live in Oly – any chance of getting him out for a beer some night?
Hey yeah maybe!
Please, send me an email: goosekirk at gmail.com.
Hi there,
Just curious, how does one go about starting a tiny house, especially when in college and not having the funds to build something?
Hey Jenny,
My advice would be to start the planning process. If you don’t have the money to build the tiny house, start taking steps to simplify the process for when you do have funds. I spent about 4 months designing and drawing out my house before i ever bought anything. I also would really recommend looking up the products you want. Find your vendors and create contacts. There are a lot of things that can be done before buying anything, and honestly looking things up and planning can be the most fun. I spent days imaging and dreaming. Also, I don’t know what your building skills are like, but taking the time to learn how to build will really help smooth out the process. Take a wood shop class! hope this helps a bit Jenny. 🙂 🙂
since reading this, I have to wonder… has your father’s sales in aluminum gone up? I would think he could, because I’m (almost) convinced I want an aluminum frame for my tiny house… now just a matter of finding an aluminum source that won’t be horribly expensive…
I hope you consider assisting people with their quests to build tiny Yuri, either that or maybe I can barter your tiny for one of those heater hoses… :]