May
9
2007
9
2007
Home Alternative Home
Filed under: Alternative Housing, Environmentalism, Green Living, Simplifying
Home. Just saying that word makes you feel so warm and cozy. However, the definition of home is different for everyone. It seems that in America, we get so stuck in the “American Dream” mentality…more and more people are buying homes that they cannot afford and sometimes homes that they didn’t “need” in the first place. It’s common in other countries to save up until you can buy a house outright…taking whatever measures necessary to reach that goal (living with parents, etc). There is an article on the history of mortgages here. And another interesting little fact: the word mortgage is from the Old French language and translates roughly to “death pledge.”While it’s true that real estate can be a wonderful way to create personal wealth, owning a home is not essential to a happy life. In fact, I would argue that being free from a mortgage makes life VERY happy 
While it’s not always possible to be completely free of a mortgage or a payment for housing of some sort, there are housing options that cost much less than a traditional home AND are more earth-friendly. Here are some of those options:
Straw Bale
A straw bale home is insulated with straw bales. They can be beautiful and elegant…as well as efficient. I have always wanted to take a straw bale workshop…we had actually signed up to go to Dancing Rabbit for a week and do that, but it fell through. I have plans to go there someday and learn. I would love to build my own house as we can pay for it…and do the labor ourselves. More photos here…this one is particularly fun.
Cob
Cob is a mixture of sand, clay, and straw. You are able to mold it to your liking…which allows for great creativity in your space. They are so whimsical and lovely with the rounded edges. I love the feel. Here is a cob house in Mayne Island, BC…I am in LOVE with it. Can it be any cuter? Her main website is here which includes more cob resources.
Yurts
I love yurts. I’ve always been attracted to the round shape and the fact that they can be put anywhere. They can be extremely basic and off the grid, or they can be decked out…to the height of luxury. Although they can be just one large room, they can also be separated into different areas and can also have a loft. Yurts have been around for a long time…and are still used in Mongolia today. There is just something about living in a yurt that thrills me. I love reading stories about those who are doing it.
A “Tiny” House
Tumbleweed houses are so stinking cute…how could you not want to live in one?! If you buy their pre-fab models, the cost is quite high, but if you just buy the plans and build it yourself, they range from $4,000-$14,000. The B-52 Bungalow rings in at 500 sq. feet. Sounds just perfect to me! Check out this great little documentary about a lady who sold her “big” house and moved into a “tiny” house.
Living in Community
Ask any of my closest friends…and they will tell you that “Yes, Sara wants to go live in a commune. She’s crazy”. But seriously. I do. But not a “let’s-all-run-around-naked-commune” in the sense that you may be thinking. I want to live in close COMMUNITY with other like-minded people (it is often referred to as an “intentional community”). I would love to share gardens, share playgrounds, and share meals a few times a week (vegetarian, of course). I would love a community where everyone could have their own living space (preferably a cob home like Kate’s ) There would be a large area where cars were not allowed. Bikes would be the preferred mode of transportation…and everyone would work from home. There would be lots of music, drumming, and singing…and people who like to think and talk a lot (if you’ve ever been in camping ministry, it’s kind of similar!). Ahhh…so fun to dream. I love to read Communities magazine, the Intentional Community website, and dream about living in communities like this or this. When we were visiting our friends in Boulder, we met some wonderful people who were sharing a home to help make it more affordable. There was a married couple with a child, and two single guys. I loved that they were thinking outside the box…combining their resources to achieve their goals. Eventually, they want to acquire land in southern Colorado and build a community.
Renting
And of course, another option to buying a traditional home is to rent. We love renting right now. We have a teeny tiny little rent payment (like our square footage ), and we’ve never been happier…knowing that we’re not “tied down” by a house and that we don’t have to work endless hours to make a payment. Renting allows a certain level of freedom that many are attracted to. I know that there are lots of compelling arguments about why you should buy your own house and stop renting. I’ve heard them…so please don’t try to convince me I’m not AGAINST owning a home. There is a wonderful feeling that comes with making it your own and putting down roots. I’m not saying that we won’t ever own again. I just want people to really examine WHY they are buying a home…and to look at all the options that are out there. When we were renting before, we said “we should just buy so we can stop paying rent”. So we qualified for a loan, and bought a house (the house you see at the top of this post). It was a beautiful home and we were happy there, for awhile…but it was too big (in our eyes). but it wasn’t the best for us at that time. And it costs money to maintain a home. And just because you can “afford” a certain home does not mean you have to purchase all the way up to the loan limit. Be smart and buy a house because it’s the right decision for you and your family…and not because your cousin, your brother, and your brother’s friend’s sister’s uncle is doing it. Just think for yourself. And of course, wherever you decide to call home…make it YOUR HOME…whether you are going to be living there for 1 month or 30 years.
Other resources:
Mortgage-Free!: Radical Strategies for Home Ownership
More Dancing Rabbit photos
The Farm…one of the first intentional communities
Photo credits:
Straw bale: Flickr/cer!se
Cob: Flickr/the_usr
Yurt: Flickr/emdot
Tiny House: Flickr/ Telstar Logistics
Living in Community: Flickr/lalallallalala
Posted by Sara @ 8:21 pm | Leave a Comment
9
2007
Yes, I remember the mortgage lender saying we could have a loan almost four times the size of the one we have. That would’ve meant a bigger house. But looking back on it, I’m SO glad we opted for a smaller house and a freer life.
So, what’s your real dream, the straw or the yurt?
9
2007
Hmmm…I really like Kate’s cob house. I like the flexibility. But it’s so hard to choose
Yurts are just so cool.
9
2007
Thanks for this post! There were a couple of guys at my college who lived in a yurt for a year and now I am kicking myself for never visiting it to find out what it was like. I love love LOVE the cob houses!
We just sold our house since we are moving, and it’s hard to imagine moving into a smaller space (it’s 750sq ft) with our family of 3, but with a more open floor plan I think it’s doable. We also decided to rent for the next couple of years to pay down our school debt and save money instead of taking on more debt with a mortgage. Ugh, I can’t wait to be COMPLETELY debt free! After our first experience owning a home I’m just not sure it is worth it, and we chose a home that was well within our means.
Unfortunately we will be moving every 2-4 years with DH’s job for a while, so something like a cob house isn’t realistic for us right now, but I wonder if I could convince him to try out yurt living.
9
2007
Great minds think alike! I am in a church where we are always talking about how we can live closer and in community…
the book Crunchy Cons by Rod Dreher talks about this issue too.
Also I found this site http://www.ruralvillage.org/ where a homeschooling Christian family in Indiana are building a community like an old fashioned town.
Love your blog, it resonates with me. It is refreshing to find someone who is open and excited about being a Christian!
9
2007
It is my dream to someday live in a yurt
9
2007
I joke often with likeminded friends and family that we should just create our own commune. Actually, I am not even really joking. I would love it! I dream of something like The Village, but not scary.
Steph
9
2007
This is great, Sara! My husband and I have talked about building a cob house or living in a yurt. Right now we have a pretty heafty mortgage…
One small correction, the cob house you link to is actually on MAYNE ISLAND, in British Columbia, Canada. Being a British Columbian and all, I thought I would mention it.
It’s close to me…maybe I’ll go check it our sometime.
I hope you guys get to do the cob workshop sometime. It sounds like a blast!
9
2007
This is great, Sara! My husband and I have talked about building a cob house or living in a yurt. Right now we have a pretty hefty mortgage…
One small correction, the cob house you link to is actually on MAYNE ISLAND, in British Columbia, Canada. Being a British Columbian and all, I thought I would mention it.
It’s close to me…maybe I’ll go check it out sometime.
I hope you guys get to do the cob workshop sometime. It sounds like a blast!
9
2007
You know, I love that last part about making it your home no matter how long you are going to be living there. I have been wrestling with that lately. I don’t have any idea how much longer we will be in this little house but there are some things we could do that would make it work a lot better for our big family. I have always hesitated because of what it would do to the resale value. Maybe we should just go for it. I don’t know…….
9
2007
Thanks MamaMonk…I will make that change! Oops!
Steph…yes, I understand completely. I tell everyone that too
I just want to round up all my friends and live together. So fun. We kind of had that when we lived in Lincoln, NE. Our backyard connected with our best friends and we would BBQ and eat together all the time and just hang out. It was awesome. And then another good friend moved within a few blocks and we were all so happy 
I miss those days!
Heth…yes, just go for it! It’s so much more fun to enjoy life…and provide a functional, wonderful atmosphere for your family. God will take care of the resale value
10
2007
Sara, I think you and I are twins that were seperated at birth! lol. Every post I read here I totally agree with. I think a yurt would be wonderful to live in. I remember reading on a website a while back about an intentional community where everyone lived in them. They also all homebirthed, homeschooled, were christian, etc. I remember really wanting to just runaway and join them! I truly think I will eventually live in an IT if I can find one like that. So many of them seem to have all of the AP and NFL qualities I love, but are secular. Thanks for keeping your promise of more posting! Have you heard anything from the people at Apartment Therapy? I hope you win!!!
10
2007
Must admit I am a lurker! I’ve been reading your blog for a short time and find it fascinating. I am much much older than you and have a college age daughter. I am a mortgage banker and I am starting to see kids her age buying houses. It concerns me. Its how I make my living but I always try to stress to them what impact owning this house will have on their life. Where’s the adventure when you are 19 and tied to a mortgage?
10
2007
Once again, I feel like I’m at home and not weird at all when I read your blog. Thank you for posting an “unthunk” way of looking at a common American assumed way of life!
10
2007
Sarah, I really enjoy your blog.
It has always fascinated me how my friends in the US – even those younger than me (I’m 30) – just went and bought a house. Here in Germany, buying an apartment, not to speak of a house, doesn’t happen so early. It is so expensive. By now I have a few friends who own houses, but they had saved a long time and of course taken loans to buy or build the house.
My beloved and I would love to build a house. Perferably Scandinavian style or “Fachwerk”, a very typical style from the area in Germany where I grew up. Maybe I’ll post a picture on my blog.
And I’m sure you would love Germany for all the bike-riding. So many people here use bikes as there main mode of transportation, especially in cities.
10
2007
I just posted a picture with Fachwerk houses.
Here’s the link:
http://coffeegirlthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/05/house-styles-fachwerk.html
10
2007
Sara:
We sold our too large house two years ago. We bought some land and put up a metal building. We wanted a metal roof for rainwater collection and built an apartment inside. We thought we would build a house and keep the metal structure for a home gym, workshop and guest space, but we decided to finish it out as we have the cash. We don’t have a mortgage and we don’t have immediate gratification. We have to wait to do each project, but we love this house more than our last home. It’s more like home to us. We are selling the 24 foot travel trailer that we lived in while we finished out the living space in our home and it’s sad to see it go because it was very instrumental in teaching us what we could truly do without. One of these days I plan to post on our living situation evolution. Other than our current home, the only other place I would like to live is a yurt. I’ve had this dream for a long time, too. They are awesome!
10
2007
Sara,
I especially love what you said about community living! My husband & I are just two years past college, and still talk about living in community (in the dorms). We went to Covenant College, a tiny Christian liberal arts school on top of a little mountain, where everyone felt like family. It was lovely! Now, we’re planning to spend a month or two at L’Abri, a community for people seeking answer’s to life’s questions. You study for half the day, and work all together for half the day, keeping the community running. Check it out http://www.labri.org!
10
2007
Sara, I also really enjoy reading your blog and love the new look. Your post about living in community is so ‘true.’ My husband and I purchased our first home in a cohousing community (http://www.cranberrycommons.ca/) last Spring. If you haven’t heard of cohousing before…if sounds like it could be a perfect fit. Great community, smaller footprint, many sustainability features, shared common facilities (like a guest suite for out of town guests, laundry room, kids play room, etc.) balanced with the privacy of your own home.
More info here: http://www.cohousing.org
10
2007
I have friends who are building a straw-bale home on land in Cedar County, Iowa (not far from Iowa City). They’ve been living in a mobile home on the land, and another friend put a yurt on their land too–kind of a mini-commune!
Straw-bale works better in relatively dry climates. If you are in a rainy part of the country, you’d be better off looking at other options (I assume that cob works in wet climates if someone put that house in British Columbia).
I used to work with a guy who had lived in a yurt in Central Asia (I think it was in Uzbekistan). That was the real deal–no amenities. The yurts people are building in the US are a little more comfortable, which is a good thing!
One thing that’s not clear to be about down-sizing is whether people toss out all their family heirlooms (photos, wedding dresses, furniture, etc.) or whether they just store those somewhere separate from their tiny house. It makes me sad to think of people throwing some of those things away.
My parents are no longer living, and my siblings and I appreciate being able to use some things that used to belong to them (or my grandparents). My sister actually wore our mother’s wedding dress at her own wedding. My brother has the violin my dad used to play as a child. I use some everyday dishes my parents got on one of the last vacations they took together.
If my dad had downsized and moved into a yurt, we wouldn’t have any of those keepsakes.
Simple livers on this thread, help me out on this one. Do you assume that your children won’t attach any importance to material objects, so won’t mind if you sell or give everything away? Or do you store those things in another building, like your own parents’ house?
10
2007
“I would love a community where everyone could have their own living space (preferably a cob home like Kate’s ) There would be a large area where cars were not allowed. Bikes would be the preferred mode of transportation…and everyone would work from home. There would be lots of music, drumming, and singing…and people who like to think and talk a lot (if you’ve ever been in camping ministry, it’s kind of similar!). Ahhh…so fun to dream…”
I agree – it’s so fun to dream.
I LOVE your blog. Thanks for being so bold to share your thoughts and doing it with joy.
I have 3 small kids, and I’m planning on homeschooling, and my husband is a worship pastor. We live in a 2-story, ultra-normal suburban house. I love our house, but looking at Kate’s cob house opened my eyes to a whole new idea, and one I would willingly do if I could. The cost of living/housing/land where we live is outrageous for the Southeast. We live along the coast. I would absolutely love to buy some land father into the country and build a small cob house.
Any more resources online where I could read how people made the switch from “202 American Dream Lane” to alternative housing? I figure I’m 27 with 3 kids, and maybe we could actually build something like this within the next 5-7 years (of course I see it likely that by then God may send us out of this country to be foreign mssionaries….but who knows) – I’d love some more links for the “how-to”!
God bless and keep writing your fantastic blog
10
2007
Stress me out man!!! I sign on our 30 year loan tomarrow! However I must say I am excited. Our new home, well new to us needs a lot of TLC but we have plenty to share.
It’s odd that you made this post. I have been struggling with my emotions about our moving.
We currently live on a beautiful farm that has been in our family for years. Our home is from the 1800′s with a sandstone foundation. It has uneven floors old walls and odd structure but it has been home and I love it.
However we have no neighbors. Im excited to have 6 familes living on the same street as us. My husband has NEVER had a neighbor in 23 years, hes really scared he wont like it!
I know 30 yrs is a long time but I dont’t think we will ever leave our little town
. It’s home to us as well.
I agree that there are other ways of life and true you dont have to buy a home. I think it is wonderful that you strive to help others explore there options. I pray that we have made the right choice for us!
10
2007
Wonderful post, with lots of great resources. We bought our home straight out of college, for many reasons, but the swing set in the backyard, and dogs, and cats in our family were a very important role in our decision, and I love owning or paying off our own home. We’ve been here for 6 years, and are going to be moving in the next year or two. We are waiting to see where God leads us, whether it is in the same city, or elsewhere in Iowa, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines are big possibilities. I miss the days of renting! And I’d love to live in a community, me and my friends talk about this all the time, but we are all over the US now, and most don’t want to live the specific area. It would be a great adventure though!
Sorry my rambling got away with me! I wanted to ask you if you had a tried and true granola recipe, I have tried numerous recipes and ether I am incapable of making granola or I just haven’t had the best of luck with recipes. And I wondered if you made your own breads at home or bought at the local market? I know completely unrelated to the thread, but I hope you don’t mind.
10
2007
Laurie…we went through our old jr. high and high school stuff and got rid of things that didn’t have tons of meaning for us. I especially got rid of letters I wrote to my girlfriends that I wouldn’t want ANYONE to read now!
My wedding dress is at my parent’s house and we have a couple of bins full of photos/keepsakes at our house. I think it’s just an individual choice/preference. Some people are just not attached or emotional about anything.
Kristi…check out\http://www.simpleliving.net/forums/
and read in their “Housing” forum. That board is a wonderful place for people looking to simplify or who just want to be inspired.
Zayannee…congrats on your new home! That will be nice to have “life” around you
I will share one bit of advice though…we love Dave Ramsey (financial guy) and he advises to never take a 30 year loan…always do 15. You can check him out at http://www.daveramsey.com Just something to think about…
10
2007
Lynds…your home sounds lovely. It is indeed a wonderful feeling to see that principal go down, down, down!!
As for granola…I’ve tried a couple, but most of them have gobs of sugars or syrups in them to make it crunchy. I’ve found a couple online that would good and healthy too, but don’t remember where. I would suggest just googling it…and try somewhere like http://www.recipezaar.com or one of those sites that has reviews. That is always helpful. Maybe another reader has one
10
2007
Like a few other commenters, I feel like I could have written this post! But yuors, of course is very well stated and full of so many fun links!!
I have talked for many years and dreamed of living in an intentional community. Alas, my dh is too much of a private person to find that lifestyle appealing. I’ll just have to continue to live vicariously through others. I think I’ll start today with some of your links!!
10
2007
I’ve been reading for awhile, but don’t think I’ve ever posted so Hello!
I saw that someone else had mentioned Simpler Times Village http://www.ruralvillage.org. I live very close to their current home and the land they plan to develop. I’m very excited to see things coming to fruition for them. It would be my dream to live in the type of environment they are planning. Oh, to be able to convince the husband who is decidedly risk averse to take a chance!
10
2007
Enjoy the blog!
Thanks so much—it’s spurred my thinking and the way that I want to raise my 2 1/2 and 2 week old
boy…
Saw this article today, and in the past might make me want to do something similar in my home, but now I’m looking through different eyes…
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=2380768
Thanks and look forward to reading more…
10
2007
One of the best decisions I’ve made was to buy my little 850sq ft house. Sure I was new in my job and knew given how the city’s salaries work my income would go up greatly and supposedly I could already “afford” more house in the eyes of the bank. I didn’t buy more though, and I’m so grateful seven years later.
10
2007
Back again for another comment – okay, question really –
Is there anyone reading this that can speak from experience or knows someone who has dove into alternative housing (especially strawbale or cob) and had 3,4,8+ kids??? We have three young ones (3 and under), and we really want to have more. Ever since I read this post, I cannot stop thinking / dreaming about the possibilities of building a small cob home. My husband is all smiles when considering it, too. We know it would be a lot of prayer, time, hard work, red tape – anyone know of people with large families who have made the decision to build this smaller kind of home?
10
2007
This is so timely…we have moved around quite a bit,lived in tiny places with two kids and a very big dog:)It is our dream to live in a yurt or cob house one day…but for now we have decided to be close to family and buy our first home in the country on four acres! Our kids are thrilled that we are staying put for sometime…and the road will call soon enough! Sarah, I always look forward to your blog…Much Love thru Christ sista!!
10
2007
Oh yes….thought you would like to see this. I kick myself for not ever visiting this place…I lived a very short drive from it, and saw the owner in the coop every week…silly me:(
http://wattlehollow.com/
11
2007
I just love your post about houses and ownership. By the way, this is Angie, from the Science Center! God told us a while ago that we would be staying in our house…for a long time. We have some good, some bad neighbor situations. We were at peace with His answer for us. We believe that part of His plan for us is to live without a mortgage. We think that will be possible in about 5 years! It’s exciting to think that we would own a house, free and clear, at age 35. It’s a modest 1050 sq ft, or something like that. If it weren’t for my wheelchair, we could probably go smaller!
It’s exciting to hear different points of view on housing etc. You have also taught me so much on just having a more peaceful and healthy lifestyle. I would love to know more about your diet (that may sound weird!) More specifically, I would like to get a biblical standpoint on being vegetarian, or why you became vegetarian. Sorry my response is so long. Hope all is well while you are back in IA.
11
2007
My two favorite granola recipes….
Maple Almond Granola @ recipezaar.com
and Simple Crunchy Granola from La Dolce Vegan, page 48
11
2007
Hi Sara-
As I was reading through your blog and came to the community part…it dawned on me that this truly will be what heaven will be like…one big, family, celebrations (as we will be in the presence of our God!), good food, singing, dancing, non-stop for eternity!
God is so good to have come up with that idea…!
Kimmie
mom to 6
one homemade- 5 adopted
(vegetarian by the way)
and loves the Lord
please come by and visit my family
http://overthemoonwithjoy.blogspot.com
11
2007
Sarah…
I read your blog yesterday then last night there was a program on tv about a family who were in the process of building a cob home… very interesting.
11
2007
Sara,
I do live in a community like the one you dream about. I work in camping ministry and live on the property with 2 other couples, 1 family with 3 kids, 3 single guys, 3 single girls and my 2 roommates. It really is wonderful. We have cookouts and play games in the field that connects our houses. Our camp is on the water so we have beaches and piers to share and go canoing and kayaking and sailing. We have Bible studies and game nights and campfires and laugh a lot and see families grow and new new babies join the mix. It truly is our own little commune.
While all these things are great, we are constantly in prayer that God will continue to give us opportunities with the few neighbors we do have that are not believers. It’s easy to live in the “bubble” and not go outside of it when it’s so comfy and inviting inside. But Jesus tell us to “go into all” the world and proclaim His name. Sometimes, we envy people who live in normal neighborhoods with neighbors to witness to and new people to love. God uses all of us where we are, right? You have amazing opportunities where you are in your little home too!
Anytime you want to come and visit our little camp “commune,” our welcome mat is out! We love a new lawn chair or two by the campfire and new people to chat with.
11
2007
Ok Sara, now you have me totally in love with Yurts and wanting to live in one! Even my husband thinks they are cool.
I love reading your blog.
12
2007
It bothers me when so many Christians want to huddle up and live in a commune. There is NOTHING biblical about that whatsover. We are supposed to be fishers of men, a city on the hill, etc. To live a gospel centered life we must remember that all God’s creatures, even the ones who aren’t “desirable” to live amongst are made in his image. While we are on this earth, we have to learn to live missionaly. Christians must be challenged to live in places where they can help renew Christ’s Kingdom. Not trying to immulate a heaven on earth mentality.
12
2007
bb…I’m not quite sure which comment prompted your response, but just to be clear, I never said that I wanted to live in a commune with other Christians. In fact, I would love to live in a very diverse community where I had the opportunity to talk about Christ with people of all faith backgrounds.
In the case of April, who lives and works within a Christian “camp”…she is there doing the work of Christ by teaching others about him all the time.
Most of the time, if there is a HEALTHY Christian “commune”, their one goal is to reach the lost and do outreaches in their community. See http://www.thesimpleway.org in Philly and http://www.jpusa.org in Chicago.
15
2007
I think it isn’t so much the concept of a 30 year mortgage that bothers me, it’s the fact that so many people sign them without being mindful of what they are doing.
My family just bought a house — it was the right choice for us, but it took us about a year to find the right combination of neighborhood, yard, proximity to shops and busline, etc. I was so surprised at the number of folks who could not beleive that we would settle for the cheapest of our three choices.
15
2007
Sara…thanks for this post and I couldn’t agree much more. We made our first home purchase in late 2004, then God leads us to move in early 2006. We then try to sell our house and couldn’t for 9 months, ultimately losing it. Praise God we got out without any real costs, other than the 9 months of two payments.
It helped us renew our desire to evaluate whether God wants us to buy or not. I am very much pro-renting, if one is able to rent the same house they want to buy for a steep discount and enjoy the many perks of a headache-free situation. We rent a $270k house for only $1200/mo. The same house would costs us $2000/mo with mortgage, insurance, taxes, upkeep and HOA fees. And we get to enjoy the HOA perks for free to boot.
Many of our friends think we’re anti-buying, but we’re not. We just realize that, when you run the numbers, buying just doesn’t flush out as nicely as people think. They say, well, our house is appreciating 5% every year. I say, well, you paid 6% interest…you lost 1% – good for you. And yes, oevr time, it can produce a financial gain, but the pain of having a bank own your life, along with the burden of paying taxes and repairs can often not be worth the effort. For some reason, Christians ignore the teaching on debt when it comes to buying a house, which I do not understand. I don’t see the justification in the teachings of Jesus for a mortgage. I think we have to look to the scriptures to find evidence for a defense of a mortgage before we so strongly defend it ourselves. I’ve certainly learned to be cautious in this area.
15
2007
Peter…it’s an interesting point that you make about mortgages. What would Jesus teach about them today? Something to think about. Thanks for the thoughtful comment!
17
2007
Hi Sara,
It’s Mrs. T, from Keeper Of My Home. Thanks for the encouraging comment. I did read your article about alternative housing. Hubby actually brought up the idea of living in a Tiny House this evening, which is a complete blessing because I never thought he would go for something like that, therefore, I’ve never even brought it up…but he did! Sorry…I’m a little excited.
Anyway, hubby kind of looked at me like I had two heads when I told him my goal of 500 items out by 11/30 but he is ALL for it. Thanks again for the encouragement!
Mrs. T
26
2007
I can’t remember for sure how I got here (Scatterbrained?–the blog, not me), but I’m glad I followed the link. It looks like we share some interests even if I live in a rather large house and am partial to meat;o)
I really enjoyed this post about alternative housing styles and construction methods. My dh is 3rd generation construction and some of the women in the family are trying to get the menfolk to look into these things. I recently spent some time looking at earthship houses made with tires. Very cool! Maybe if our kids take over the business someday they (and the rest of Kansas) will be more open to some of these ideas. I would love to be in on the design portion of it. I also love the idea of communal living or at least being more involved in a close-knit community and getting the things we need from within that community as much as possible.
I’ve bookmarked your blog. I will definitely be back.
1
2007
So I haven’t had time to read this post in its entirety…but one part caught my eye…the commune…some friends of ours and our family have been talking about that type of thing for awhile…we are struggling to find out what we really want but this is so close to what we have been finding we keep coming back to…really want to live somewhere and depend on other people, FRIENDS…the land, the gifts God gave us…you are amazing!
28
2008
[...] soul’s home, on a dock at a quiet lake, or maybe in some wildflower field. Click here and here and here for more [...]
6
2008
I love that people are posting about http://www.ruralvillage.org here!
I worked with Sarah & Josh, the husband and wife team behind it all, during the initial site plan phase.
Working in the architectural field, it’s so wonderful to read about these different housing options. I can’t wait for the day when I can build my own small house
19
2008
I stumbled upon your website as I was searching for yurts, and I am DEVOURING your blogs! You’re a woman after my own heart! My husband and I are currently pursuing living in an intentional community with other families on some acreage in yurts and tree houses living completely sustained on the land and off the grid. I can’t wait to read more!!!
25
2009
yep, ‘nother old post…
it’s funny how my hubby and i can’t quite line up our idealistic phases…
a bit over a year ago, rich (hubby) was *convinced* that we should sell our house and find an intentional community to live in – but they’re few and far between in perth. i was dead-set against it – i’m very much an introvert, and hated the idea of sharing “my” space with random people. but now, i’m at the let’s-be-hippies stage, and rich isn’t there… we’ve been looking at houses for sale in our area – he’s been looking for same-size-or-slightly-bigger, i’ve been looking at same-size-or-smaller. it’s not going to happen – with the housing market the way it is at the moment, our mortgage would increase, and i’m not prepared to do that. we’re quite happy here (been here three years, and can likely pay off the mortgage in another ten years – not bad for a thirty year death pledge… 
31
2009
[...] was less that 700 sq. ft. Again, to many people that is incredibly small. I loved reading at Walk Slowly, Live Wildly about alternative living, which is something Andrew and I are very interested [...]