RR’s Cabin

RR's Cabin

Somewhere in America Built:     1830  (approximately) Restored:     2003 – 2013 We don’t know much about RR other than that he is a retired mathematician.  Some 10 years ago he stumbled across the ruins of an original settler’s cabin. Although most of the cabin was unsalvageable, enough remained to inspire RR to […]

ecoPerch – would you like it here or there?

EcoPerch

Anywhere – Blue Forest Size:  48m2 (516 sq. ft.) This home brings to mind the Dr. Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham.  “Would you like them in a tree?  Try them, try, them, you will see. You may like them in a tree!” This home can be ‘perched’ just about anywhere – in a tree, on […]

The Mini House

The Mini House

Sweden – Jonas Wagell Architects Area:  15m2 (162 sq. ft,) internal + deck/veranda Prefabrication can save new home owners a lot… of money and stress.  As most builders will admit, if it can go wrong, at some stage it will.  Rain, theft, damage, mistakes – they all add to the cost of a new home. […]

Eco-friendly natural home built for $250

Eco-friendly $250 Natural Home

A $250 home may sound too good to be true, but the owner-builder of this house has proven that it can be done! And it’s not even a tiny home, but a spacious house with a loft in it… :) Retired Oxfordshire art teacher Michael Buck was able to build this inspiring home by following a simple principle […]

Alone on an island – a summer home

Alone on an island...

Bohuslän, Sweden – Mikael Bergquist Architects Ltd Photography:   Mikael Olsson Here’s a quick quizz… how many islands are there in Sweden? a) 221 b) 2210 c) 22,100 d) 221,000 You’ll find the answer below the album but a clue is lots! Most of them are uninhabited for much of the year, but many are summer holiday havens […]

Garage Transformation

Garage Transformation

Washington, United States – Michelle de la Vega Built area: 23 m2 (250 sq. ft.) Photography: Ira Lippke Michelle de la Vega is a visual artist, designer, welder.  Here is her conversion of an old, disused garage into a 23 m2 (250 sq ft) mini-home. The roof was raised 1.2 metres (4ft) to accommodate a lofty sleeping area and a […]

Amida House – Interesting on many levels

Amida House

Gotenba, Shizuoka  Japan  –  Kochi Architect’s Studio Built area:     115.5 m2  (1,247 sq. ft.) Year Built:     2011 Photography:     Daici Ano This is one of the more ‘out there’ designs we have come across.  There are nine distinct levels in this small home.  While our initial reaction was muted, our enthusiasm grew as we read […]

Shantikuthi Earthbag Spiral House

Shantikuthi Earthbag Spiral House

Nagano, Japan – Michi-kun Year Built:     2011 Here’s another inspiring earthbag construction for fans of natural homes out there! This earthbag house is not actually a ‘house’, but a garden playroom. It was built by permaculturist and carpenter Michi-kun with the help of 20 volunteers in the Peace Permaculture Garden in Nagano, Japan. It’s called a spiral house […]

The Hackney Gingerbread House

Gingerbread Hackney

Hackney  London  –  Laura Dewe Mathews Built:     2012 Area:     80 m2  (864 sq. ft.) It’s always interesting seeing what an architect designs and builds for themselves.  In this instance, it’s a one bed, home built on the site of, and using some of the structure of, an old box factory. The […]

Earth House – An Ode to Yoon Dong-joo

Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, Korea – Byoungsoo Cho Site area:     660m2 Floor Area:    32.49m2 Project Year:     2008-2009 Photography:     Wooseop Hwang, Yong Gwan Kim It would seem odd to think of a 14m x 7m concrete box set deep in the ground as a ‘house of the sky’ and yet it is! The tiny home […]