Mark Hansen (L) and Andy Keith stand together in front of the tiny house inspired by Hansen and built by Keith and North House employees over 13 days. Above, Hansen shows off the model of the tiny house and just below him is a side view of the 260 square foot structure. Staff photos/Brian Larsen
The tiny house located inside the North House Folk School Boat Barn (located in the Morton building behind Dockside) certainly received a lot of oohs and ahs from those attending the Tiny Open House held on Friday, Dec. 28.
At 260 square feet, the two-story structure was made of 4”x8” Norway pine timbers that had been milled at Hedstrom’s Lumber Company. With 11 Marvin Windows located on the east, west and south of the building, it was airy and bright inside.
“All of the Marvin windows except one have egress,” said Mark Hansen, adding that out of the $10,000 spent to build the structure, $4,000 of that went into buying the windows.
North House instructor Andy Keith, assisted by resident artisans Angela Robins and Mike Loeffler, built the Mark Hansen-inspired design using butt and pass method of construction.
“The timbers were joined using screws and silicone caulking,” said Hansen, who was there with a presentation about the project. Mark has built his own tiny house and displayed it this past fall on the North House campus he helped to found.
The unfinished building weighs 6,000 to 7,000 pounds, Mark said. When completed it will have an upstairs sleeping and storage area that can be accessed by a folding stairway.
Just how the downstairs will be finished off will be unveiled in a series of upcoming classes North House will offer for those who are thinking of building their own small home or cabin, he said.
“It’s designed to be off the grid, but it will be powered by solar photovoltaic (pv) power. “There should be enough power to run a refrigerator, a computer, TV and probably as many as eight lights,” Mark said.
“Plus there won’t be any electric bill.”
Because the timbers are thick the walls have an R factor of 4. “In the winter it shouldn’t take more than one cord of wood to heat this building,” Hansen said.
When it’s hot in the summer, Mark said the windows can be opened to let in a breeze.
Once completed, this prototype tiny house will be used in some capacity on campus, and will serve as a model for future coursework.
Tiny Houses
Across the country tiny houses, generally considered to be somewhere between 100 to 400 square feet in size, are becoming more and more prevalent.
The trend to build smaller and smaller houses has been called an architectural and social movement.
These structures seem to go against the typical U.S. home. In 2013 the U.S. Census data said the average U.S. home was 2,598 square feet, which is more than six times larger than a tiny house.
Reasons for choosing to live in one are many, but the low-cost to build, heat and maintain rank at the top of the lists.
For older people who want to downsize and simplify their lives and cut expenses, tiny houses are becoming more popular. For young people who want to save money before “upsizing” living in a tiny hose is also a great option. And for people who want to live off of the grid, again, this is a good option.
With that, North House Folk School has embarked on a series of classes aimed at teaching people to build their own tiny house. And here in Cook County which has a shortage of affordable housing, tiny houses might become a way to remedy that shortage.
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