Monthly Archives: January 2016

Nesthouse Stairs

As I get closer to revealing the interior of the Nesthouse - here’s a little sneak peek at the stairs in their finished state! The Nesthouse was always going to have a cosy sleeping loft but it HAD to be accessed by stairs - I just don’t get the ladder thing at all - far too exposed! Of course this is easier in the Nesthouse than a Tiny House because there is nearly 3m clear internal width.

I have designed a compact stairway with marine grab handles at strategic points to ensure safe passage and they form a really nice feature of the living space whilst also providing a highly adaptable storage cupboard underneath…I have a few cunning ideas in the pipeline for that one!

The Stairs in the Nesthouse by Tiny House Scotland.

The Stairs in the Nesthouse by Tiny House Scotland.

Living small - living simply - living better

Nesthouse 4.8 with Enter module.

Nesthouse 4.8 with Enter module.

Whether in a tiny house or a small house - Living Small also implies a degree of self sufficiency, but is this realistic - must we become Hippies from the 60’s to have a better lifestyle?!

You can simplify your life wherever you live - urban or rural; Lloyd Kahn the original small living guru wrote, rather comfortingly, in Shelter that

- self sufficiency is a direction, not an attainable goal. The idea is to do as much for yourself as possible - not ploughing your own fields with horses or growing your own wheat or making your own shoes but doing something within the context of your life: remodelling a house, creating a studio, building a table or bed, fitting in things like a productive garden or chickens or homemade bread, or lettuce and chives in pots on the window sill.

It’s a tightrope act, finding the right balance these days, between work for others and work for yourself, between creating things with your own hands and buying things from others. Just like finding a balance between sitting at a computer and physical activity.

Small is a path on a journey - houses evolve naturally - adapting to the needs of their occupants - this is ‘proper architecture’ in my opinion - see Stuart Brand’s fascinating book How Buildings Learn - if small facilitates young people achieving their first home then being able to add to it as needs and funds allow - means they means will have a healthy regard for their own property and not be pressurised by having to aspire to some unachievable mansion lifestyle which is not only un-affordable but unsustainable.

Windowcill herbs - an element of achievable self sufficiency

Window cill herbs - an element of achievable self sufficiency

2016 - what’s happening at Tiny House Scotland?

The Nesthouse from Tiny House Scotland

What’s the state of play at Tiny House Scotland as we enter 2016? Well I’ve had a restful break over the Xmas period after building non-stop for the previous five months.

The Nesthouse prototype is now fully finished externally - I finally got on to the lathe over Christmas and turned the roof finials (no, really, turning IS restful and meditative!!) so they are now in place on the roof - the last tick on that list!

So now I have to get my act together and crack on with the inside. The shell is complete and the interior spruce ply lining has already been cut and fitted, first fix electrics are all in place, the stairs to the sleeping loft are complete and the bathroom door is built. Now I just need to make the final decisions for the decoration of the panels - some will be natural and some will be painted.

After that it should be plain sailing to do the final fit-out. Well maybe not plain sailing; this is a prototype after all - so there are still a lot of decisions to be made, decisions which are fundamental to the ethos of the project. The electrics are 240 volt from an external 16amp pluggable supply but I will be adding a hybrid solar feed to this to allow off-grid use as well.

There is a wood stove to fit and a Jonathan Avery kitchen - the first in a while! In fact I think I will be building all the furniture for this Nesthouse even though there will be very little actually built-in as I prefer a much freer and less caravan-like environment with freestanding, comfortable furniture - I have even designed a sofa so it looks as though I will be upholstering as well!

For those of you who have been following the project from the start, I hope to be able to unveil the finished Nesthouse over the next few months, sorry but there will not be any photographs of the inside until it is sufficiently complete. There are orders for two more Nesthouses in the pipeline… so it’s going to be a busy year!! Happy New Year to all!

Finials for the Nesthouse at Tiny House Scotland

Finials for the Nesthouse at Tiny House Scotland

The Nesthouse from Tiny House Scotland

The Nesthouse from Tiny House Scotland