The Pod Is For Sale!

I had been hinting about big changes earlier in the year, and now we are confirming those decisions by putting the Pod up for sale. 

The choice to give up our wonderful little home of three years certainly was not an easy one. In perfect circumstances, we would have loved to have kept it, even if we decided to move into another place. There was a time when we imagined this would become a cool guest house, or art studio on our own piece of land. But, as I am sure you have all experienced, life rarely goes as planned. That is not always a bad thing either!

When I think about all that has come our way because of this tiny house, I am overwhelmed into laughter. The friends we have made, all of which are simply incredible, inspiring people in their own right- and we get to say we know them. We get to call them up and congratulate them on wonderful accomplishments, have lively informative conversations on common passions...this has enriched our lives to a degree I never could have imagined. Then there is the long list of accomplishments that Dan and I can now draw upon for strength, courage, and perseverance in all of our future endeavors. The recognition and reputation we have earned as part of this community. I never thought I would be in a magazine, multiple newspapers, gigantic online presences like Yahoo, AND become a published author myself!! I can say I was once referred to as a "tiny house luminary"... oh lala! Haha! 

Perhaps the crowning achievement, however, has been to arrive at a much greater level of self confidence and a considerably healthier financial situation. This in turn gave me the guts to go after a long time dream, starting my own specialty foods business. I can say with absolute certainty that I would NOT be a full time business owner today, if we had not chosen to go tiny. All of it just makes us so damn happy! 

But alas, there are two sides to all coins. The business has been growing steadily, and as I am still a one woman operation about 90% of the time, it requires just about all the time I have. The business is also mobile, and farmer's market based, which calls for a lot of travel, most of which is to urban areas. Between the time I spend in the kitchen baking, and then driving out to markets, posting up and selling for the day, then going right back to bake more for the next day, I have found that I come home just to sleep more often than not. Being much closer to the action is becoming a must. Reducing my commute will give me that much  more time to put effort into making this venture a success. Dan too, has a busy work schedule and is finishing up classes, so he is gone almost as much. Turns out maintaining an offgrid HOMEstead when are NEVER HOME can be quite difficult. Haha 

We knew the tiny house would be a temporary thing, we wanted that experience of building and living in a small space, and a chance to get our finances in a better place, full well knowing that we had many, many more chapters to write in our life together. We see now, that this chapter is coming to a close, and our new adventure is the baked goods business. We don't know where this thing will lead, but we are certain of a few things: we will return to tiny living when we retire, we will remain active members of the tiny house community, and we will be forever thankful for, and humbled by, the entire experience.

That being said, let's get to the facts that most people will have questions about: 



Price: $20,000 Firm


Pictures: Please visit our blog and go to the professional photos tab to see some pictures taken in March of 2015. We have since stained the exterior. 



Video Tour: We just did a great little video tour with our good friend Deek Diedricksen of relaxshacks.com - watch the video here.

Deck included: Yes
Solar Power System included: No, but willing to to discuss selling that too.
Size: 128 square feet + 56 square foot loft
Dimensions: Interior 8 ft x 15.5 with 10 ft ceilings. Exterior 8.5 ft x 16ft x 12.5 ft high. Length does not include trailer tongue.
Trailer details: Bought lightly used. Heavy duty dual axle 5 ton trailer. Has a brake lights system, unsure if it still works, may need some basic maintenance.
House weight: Never weighed at a station, kept a spread sheet of materials and did the math, it weighs an estimated 6300 lbs. 
Road worthy: Yes, but not designed or built for constant towing. We did not use hurricane ties in the framing, we recommend not exceeding 55 mph tow speed. I believe it is a 2 and 15/16th hitch. We moved it from our build site to our current parking space with no issues.
Shower/running water: No indoor shower or running water, we use a super basic outdoor shower stall and camp shower bag. We store water in water bricks which you can keep. And poor it into a water filter and pitchers for everyday uses. Hot water is heated on the stove top and used to wash dishes in a bin, or added to the shower bag for hot showers. The shower stall is very basic, not really worth taking with you, but you can if you want. 
Kitchen: We have an RV propane cook top (3 burners) in the kitchen. We have a water filter set up a little higher than the counter and the spigot serves as "running water" when we need to wash our hands, etc. Sink is a stainless steel bin set into the counter. Pops out easily to empty water into outdoor gray water beds.
Heat: HomeComfort direct vent propane heater to heat the house, and also an electric eco-heater to serve as some additional zone heating if need be. We have never had to use the second heater and the propane heater has never been put above the second notch. It is plenty big enough to comfortably heat the space. It is designed for a 320 sq ft space. 
Bathroom: Super basic composting toilet, a 5 gallon bucket and a place to keep wood shavings. No urine diverter.
Electrical: We installed our own electrical. I owned a home once before and performed all the electrical wiring, which met code and passed inspection. The Pod's wiring is very basic. We used basic 120 house wire. One wall of the house is a daisy chain of three outlets, the second wall has two outlets and the three lights: the kitchen, great room, and porch lights. Picture each wall as a big old powerstrip, because two wires come out of the house ending at a three prong plug. We did this so we could plug each one into our inverter. The inverter is equipped with a breaker, so we did not see the need for a breaker panel. A small breaker panel could be installed with ease, and the house could be hooked up to the grid.
Insulation: We used foam board insulation in the walls and the roof. The walls have a hardboard insulation reclaimed from a building that held industrial food coolers, so it is a solid board of insulation that is 3.5 inches thick, and fits snugly into the 2x4s of the walls. This foam board is rated at about R-26. We also spray foamed each seam and nook and cranny in the walls, so it mimics a spray foam application, which probably bumps up the R-value a bit more too.

     The roof was built with 2x6s and contains one of the 3.5 inch insulation boards and an additional 2 inch blue insulation board, providing roughly 5.5 inches of insulation for the roof with total value of about R-35. We have lived through 3 New England winters just fine. We add a heavy curtain in front of the door to help with drafts during the cold weather too.

Roof: Flat shed style roof with minimum pitch, just enough for water to shed. EPDM rubber roofing, one solid sheet, so no large seams across any part of the roof. No leaks and no ice problems in past three years. 

Storage: Ample storage, one large 9 sq ft closet, pantry shelves and storage spaces, and a small storage loft.

Location: Rhode Island, must tow or ship yourself, we will not deliver.

Unique details:

• 45% + made from reclaimed and recycled materials.
• Completely unique design with high ceilings and an open area at the entrance of the house, giving it a much larger feel.
• Barn board ceiling from a barn raised in 1776.
• Pallet siding on 3 of the 4 sides, with eclectic array of wood species and great character. 
• 4 ft loft allows for easy movement and comfortable sleeping.
• We strived to use the least amount of toxic materials as possible. We used tung oil on the pine walls instead of a stain or chemical seal. We used minimal paint, and skipped noxious nail glue in floors, so yes, there is a squeaky spot here and there. 

 Recommended maintenance or additions:

• Still some minor finish details here and there, like little sections of floor trim.
• If we had kept it another summer, we would have extended the roof line on all sides by 6 inches, to give a better overhang and protect the siding. 
• The door sticks a bit after rainy weather. 
• An air exchange unit of some kind might be nice, we simply keep windows open or at the very least cracked at all times of the year. 
• A ceiling fan would be a great summer addition, we used a series of fans, but to save on space, clutter, and energy, a ceiling fan would do much better. 

Well, I'm sure there might be something else you think of too, but I hope that gives a good look at what the Pod has to offer! We truly hope this place can become a wonderful home for someone else, and perhaps even provide them that stepping stone (or launching pad) to fulfilling other dreams!

If interested, please email anothertinyhousestory@gmail.com

Thanks for reading!!