Live in tiny house while building dream house? - Page 2

[pixiewytch]

Hi, we are planning something similar later this year. We are going to move on some land we will share with my parents and buy a temporary dwelling like a portable dome or tipi. Then when we have enough money saved within a year or so we are probably going to buy a large yurt.

We wouldn't mind building a log cabin or similar type of house but with all the research I've done over the years, either it will be very expensive to buy a prefab kit and lumber or we will be building for several years if we cut our own lumber and do it from scratch with cash.

We have a five year old and 2 mo so living in 200SF living space isn't something I would want to do long term. Anyway, www.pacificdomes.com and www.reesetipis.com are two of the places we are looking into for inexpensive temporary housing.

I've seen those little wood houses before and I love them to death. I just think they are way overpriced for what they are.

Keep in mind though that we are wanting to pay for everything with cash (mortgage free) and anything even over 20K is more than we can pay so a large yurt, even with all the options and amenities comes out way cheaper than that.

I'm still intrigued by the idea of cob. I'm just not sure what the cost factor is on that yet compared to lumber.

Anyway, just wanted to share our journey too and get in on the discussion.

[ecoteat]

We did that. It went something like this: Buy 40 acres in Maine. Live in 1970 VW bus while cutting clearing and building 12x16 post and beam cabin. Spend longer back in Boston than we wanted, but save a bunch of money while working as caretakers in exchange for rent. Buy 40 more acres abutting first piece or land. Rescue a 1720 house that is about to be demolished. Leave Boston for good. Live in cabin while rebuilding 1720 house. Move into house and use cabin for storage and guests. Live happily ever after.

[pixiepunk]

we sort of did that. there was a small farm house already on our property, though. it's not where we want to be living 10 years down the road, but it's fine for now while we get our farming operation and yoga retreat business off the ground. once we're in a situation where we can afford to, DH will be designing and building our house - he used to be a general contractor and has most of the tools we need already, and lots of experience.

as for sharing septic and well, i would think that would depend partially on the size of the dwelling and partially on your local building codes. i would think if it was something like a yurt or something else that could be viewed as an out building rather than a separate home it would probably work. but you would probably need to talk with someone about the permitting to make sure you went about it the right way. also, if you think you might rent it out, you need to decide how close you would want those renters to be to your main house. this is a big consideration for us in choosing a site for our future home, since we might rent out the 'old' house as well.

i think if you can afford it it's a great idea! we were dying to get back to the country, and that's part of the reason we bought the place we bought was because this house was already here. we had considered renting an apartment while DH built, but decided it was easier this way since we found the right place.

good luck in your decision!

[lucyem]

We bought a farm and moved into the guest cottage while we tore down the old house and rebuilt it. A lot of work and a lot of cold nights with a new baby in that seasonal cottage. Be very careful with making plans to build a small house and live there while you build your dream house. More and more areas are becoming very strict on septics and how many liveable buildings you can have on one lot. I have a friend who ran into this on her property when they wanted to start building their big house. Just something to look into in the town regulations before you make plans. Another thought is planning your home in a way you can easily expand on it. I know a lot of people who build a house with an unfinished basement & 2nd floor. Then as the family grows and they have time they expand up and down and build on a garage. I have a friend who just built a house and her garage is there in foundation only. To save money she put the foundation in for it when she did her house foundation but will have the garage built in a couple of years.

[kandkrose]

this just sounds like heaven to me

[papayapetunia]

I like these ones.

[ilikethedesert]

pixiewytch- have you looked into cord wood building? Might be an inexpensive, do it yourself alternative.

[jessaries]

Back in the 60's my great aunt and uncle did just that! They built a loft style log cabin that they lived in with the children. (on 40 acres) They then set to building their house. In the 1990's they had some fruitful times and built a bigger house at the top of the hill. (they have also built a barn) The log cabin is still standing and visitors can stay in it if they like and we had a great time playing in it when we were kids. The house they built inhabits one of my second cousins who keeps watch over my great aunt. I wasn't alive for all of the building and such, but it is a really nice story and gave me lots of respect for them. :

jess mama to caleb

[htcamommy]

to answer at least part of your question concerning sewage/water. My mother & her brother are on the same well pump & sewage are an acre apart. My great grandmother's "old house" & "new house" are on different septics but also on the same well & pump & about an acre apart.
My greatgrandmother I guess did basically what you are talking about. Her first which is about 700 sq ft was built in 1932. She lived, had many babies, farmed and saved in that house. The house was origionally built without utilities but they were added on in the late 40's. She then built her "new house" in 1956.
At her 90th birthday we had a huge party with all of her family. At one point it was asked for everyone who had rented her "old house" to raise their hand. Over 70 family members did. This doesn't count people that may have rented there & were not attending the party. This "old house" has become a right of passage for my family. its the first stop on your way to adulthood.
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[DisplacedYooper]

This is our plan. As I'm sure Ilikethedesert would suggest, you should try reading Rob Roy's book, "Mortgage-Free!" A large part of the book is devoted to teaching cordwood building, but a reasonably substantial part discusses the idea of building a small "temporary shelter" (temporary in that you don't live there forever, not like the building falls down in 3 years!) using the same building technique as the main house ('cause if you can't build a 400 sq ft cabin, you can't build a 1400 sq ft house!), then live there, eliminating your shelter costs, while you build your main house. He also gives strategies for collecting the startup costs for buying land, etc. It's a pretty inspiring book. It may be out of print, but your library should be able to get it for you ILL.