Author Archives: jonave

About jonave

Designer Builder Photographer

A sign of things to come….

Tiny House Scotland - The Nesthouse timber cladding begins.

Finally, the Nesthouse is coming out of its weird UFO-resembling phase (comments such as “when is it getting the rockets fitted Grommet?”!!); or as I prefer to think of it, its chrysalis phase! Its been looking diaphanous and semi transparent for too long now while I developed the timber cladding methods.

So here is a sneak preview of where this project is headed in terms of final look and character with its timber cladding finished in a beautiful microporous natural oil based stain. My addiction to Swedish Barns is showing. Bra, jag älskar det!

The Nesthouse Moveable Small House…actually moves!

Moveable Modular Small House System

Moveable Modular Small House System from Tiny House Scotland

Central to the Nesthouse concept is the ability to actually move the house when desired….well I am pleased to say the prototype has passed its moveability trials with flying colours!! Time to get on with the external cladding and turn this weird looking UFO into a proper wooden house!

There’s still another 2 tons to add to the build - it’s currently 5 tons - so a bigger tractor may be required!

Homesteading with a Nesthouse.

Homesteading with a Nesthouse from Tiny House Scotland.

Maybe you have acquired some land and are planning to build a house on it? So then you are probably facing the prospect of spending at the very least £100,000 through an architect and builder before you can live on that land.

Imagine as an alternative taking delivery of a beautiful SMALL house which is light-filled and cosy and has everything you need to survive the world for less than £50,000! Welcome to your Nesthouse from Tiny House Scotland! It will be ready for delivery within 4-6 months and can be the start of a whole new way of life. Small Living is the art of living in a compact, carefully designed space with minimal impact on the environment. It is ‘light’ on the land and doesn’t require tons of concrete for a foundation - it can be moved without leaving a trace!

The insulation levels exceed the new stringent Scottish Building Standards. It comes to you fully built (subject to site access) and can be plug and play to services or self sufficient with off-grid systems.

The planning advantages are that is moveable and classified as a caravan and also within Householder Permitted Development parameters although of course these factors will depend ultimately on the land use of your site.

The Nesthouse is built with many Passivhaus principles and being small – allows thorough attention to detail during the construction process. But this is definitely NOT a caravan, hut or shed!!! - this is a proper SMALL HOUSE and weighs between 4 and 10 tons depending on size and specification! For more details click:

4.8Logo

Nesthouse Concept

Nesthouse Concept Graphic

Nesthouse: a moveable modular Small House with character and architectural integrity - comprising a significant entry point, functional spaces to cook, bathe, sleep and LIVE. A light and airy compact living space with organised storage and a high level of comfort and cosiness when required.

“As snug as a nest in a nestbox!”

©Jonathan Avery Tiny House Scotland 2015

Moveable Modular Small House System - codenamed Nesthouse!

I am currently working on my prototype Nesthouse Moveable Modular Small House system. This will be available in three lengths, 3.6/4.8/6.0m and two widths: 2.4m Tiny House (road towable) and 3.2m Small House (mobile on site). They range from 8.6m2 - 32.7m2.

I am aiming to have the production version available for sale from September 2015…watch this space for news!

Tiny House Scotland Nesthouse Sizes

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

A clue to the path Tiny House Scotland is taking….

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.

1854 - Henry David Thoreau outlines his project: a two-year, two-month, and two-day stay at a cozy, “tightly shingled and plastered”, English-style 10′ × 15′ cottage in the woods near Walden Pond.

The frontispiece from Walden, courtesy Wikipedia.

Sparrow condo’s from Tiny House Scotland

Sparrow condo's by Tiny House Scotland

After seeing a great piece by the RSPB on trying to help our beleaguered House Sparrows by putting up communal nest boxes - I decided it was time to ‘Practice what you preach’! These cute little birds were a very common site when I was a child - always nesting and chattering around the eaves of the house, but as with many other species they have fallen on hard times and the way we build now does not give them the same nesting opportunities.

We have quite a population of house sparrows here at Shangri La Farm - usually in and around the beech hedge but I don’t know where they actually nest. So as an act of solidarity with the RSPB I rattled up a triple nest box for them…its just scrap OSB but it will be well sheltered under the house eaves…I have finished it with a coat of Osmo’s superb Country Colour which is very similar to Falu red.

OMG‪#‎tinyhouse‬ all in a row ha ha - Tiny House Scotland - IS a housing developer after all!!!

sparrow street

Click the photo to go to the RSPB site for info.

sparrow nest box x 3

sparrow nest box x 3…oops dusty iphone lens!

 

The plan according to …. sustainability and subsisting!

Sustainabilty at Tiny House Scotland.

Its a clear matter of principle for me that Tiny House Scotland is a micro business - I have no intentions of it becoming anything other than just myself and perhaps a son or two if they want to get involved!

I have already done the ambitious business scenario prior to the Banking Crash of 2009 with a factory, three shops and twenty employees…

or as per the cartoon Pinky and the Brain:

“what are we going to do today Pinky?” - “Same thing we do every day Master, plan to take over the World!!!”

Needless to say we had to ‘recut our cloth’ and change direction, but I have learnt a lot about myself and the world in the process. Since 2010 I have evolved a new philosophy which started when we moved to our smallholding and founded Shangri La Farm. Here we try to live frugally and sustainably and my main aim is to continue being creative and subsist simply.

I am not therefore trying to make a massive profit or capture the Tiny House market from every angle - just loving working with wooden buildings which I am passionate about. As with the whole Tiny House Concept - Less is MORE and brings greater happiness!!

Micro businesses ARE the way ahead for many people these days - a lot of the reason the unemployment figures have improved is because so many have had to fall back on their own entrepreneurial skills to put food on the table by ‘dodging’ around running a portfolio of tiny enterprises. In addition they may have found that they have also ‘recut their cloth’ and have phased out many of the previously so-called essentials of life and are happier, healthier and with less baggage

Now, I’ve just got to go and bake some bread…!