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Hey Macy, I love your design and that it’s built on a fifth wheel trailer which makes a lot more sense than a bumper pull when you look at the weight of the finished home.
I’ve designed and built four custom live in trailers and two tiny cabins and I think this concept is going to eventually become more appealing as less and less people are thrilled about taking on a 25 year half million dollar mortgage.
Kudos for your design concept and the obvious talent you have for decorating. Your home is not only efficient but it looks like thoroughly enjoyable and comfortable space. My only question is where does the Great Dane sleep? 🙂

Aloha Macy and greetings from Kona Hawaii. I have been pretty obsessed with tiny houses for a while and save all the photos of ones that I like. Yours is one of my all time favorites. Love that you only have kind of a mini loft where the bed is instead of a steep ladder, and I love the lay out of your REAL kitchen with a full size refrigerator. Looks like you may have a washer dryer combo in the kitchen too. I really appreciated your in depth review on the sun mar composting toilet as well. Wonderful and inspirational work. Hope to have my own tiny house for retirement soon.

Hi Macy! I love your design and philosophy! My husband and I have been seriously thinking about selling our suburban “dream home” because all we seem to do is work to pay for our mortgage and daycare and we are just exhausted. We are a family of 3 and hope to become a family of 4 in the near future. Reading about how you live in your tiny home with an infant has given us hope that this could truly be a possibility for us. Your design is beautiful and pretty much everything I would want for our tiny home. Thank you!

So glad to have found your blog! I have a 5 month old son and am in the planning stages of going tiny. Hope to start building next year. Finding an organized blog with details is awesome. I can’t wait to sit down and read through everything.

Hi Macy, I’m starting to read through the comments and your replies and learning a lot. One question, what about radiant heating in a home like yours ? Wonder if it would be possible ? Do you have wood floors or tile or… what ? I have read enough to know that radiant heating works better with tile as wood shrinks and warps with heat over time….

Hi Macy,
I am so excited to have found your blog, and start reading. My husband and I are new to the idea of tiny living but are so excited by it. We have always lived in small apartments and are drawn to the idea of truly living simply and having time and money for the things that are truly important. We also like to move (lived in California, Arizona, illinois, and now are in Texas). While we do not plan on moving out of state any time soon it is nice to have the doors open to taking our house with us! Anyway it is great to read articles and get any ideas we can. It’s great to meet you 🙂

HI Macy! What are the top 3 things you wish that you had done differently from the start (not including the radiant floor!)

Just saw you on the movie, “Tiny:….” like many others. I have had a fascination of doing something like this ever since reading “Building Thoreau’s Cabin”. Have you ever read and if so, found it inspiring or impractical?

Since you have gone through the building process, and I have not, would you think it would be a practical bonding experience between my 10 yr old son and I or just way too much for a little hands (and his great big, unrestricted mind)?

Thanks for all of the work you have done documenting your experiences……

Macy, thanks for your work. As a retired city planner, zoning code official and housing rehabilitation specialist and tiny home enthusiast; The IBC, International Building Code, as I understand has been adopted nationally. opinion; if you want to build tiny, you need to be more open and flexible in order to achieve this (you are fighting regulations and history). You need to ask your officer, “How can I do something like this?” and if the answer is no way, go to the Head of the department or building code official, not inspector.
Building Codes and Zoning Codes are for the protection and security of the home owner and the community. Cities adopt building codes, which are pretty rigid and not variable. Zoning code can be varied. Research what kind of variances have been granted in the past. The variance will go to an Adjustment Board, which meets on their schedule, and may take weeks or months, depending.
Don’t get insulted or angry or impatient; it won’t help. There is a thing called “accessory structure” with rules, and some are for assisting the sick or elderly in the main house. Study your zoning ordinance. I don’t know what kind of proof might be required.
Cities and Counties only modify the codes very little, not a major change. It might be possible to add another classification; I haven’t experienced that. I have worked in 4 states, 5 cities and one regional government. I also am planning on building my own tiny home in a very ergonomic and physically sensitive (round corners) way. I see so many “stairs” that are not built to code or standards. These construction rules should not be ignored. If it is awkward to live in people will sell giving the problems to the next person.
I don’t know if this is helpful or not. I hope it is. When you are doing something that is not the norm, in the construction business, it will cost you more, take more time to design and construct and then the codes. So be patient.