Wow, in the chaos of life, I have really neglected my blog!
In the past month, I have completed the roof and windows on the tiny house and pulled all the wiring for the electrical system. On paper, that doesn’t sound like much, but in the heat and rain of the Florida summer, and juggling work, packing, moving, a new job and buying a house, it’s really a lot!
Whoa, buying a house?! Yes, in the past month, I have accepted a new job in Sanford, Florida, a beautiful historic city at the headwaters of the navigable St. Johns River. For some reason the historic houses here are so much more affordable than in Tampa, and since I have 7-8 years before I officially downsize into tiny house living, I am buying the historic house of my dreams, a big old girl, a 1926 American Foursquare. My main requirement, a corner yard big enough to get the tiny house in and out of- done!
So I have been packing, throwing stuff away, mentally setting up the new house, getting to know my new job and community, and packing some more. And adding window installer to my resume. 5 windows in, 3 to go. Once the wiring is in, I can plug in an air conditioner just in time for winter! I have literally put ALOT of sweat equity into the house this summer!
I have also become a lot more involved in the “tiny house movement” that’s really taking off here in Florida. We have a facebook group of over 1500 members actively interested in tiny house living. One of the ongoing discussions has been how to set up a tiny house community. What’s your “ideal” community look like? How do we work within various county zoning codes to make it legal? Did Florida really make off-grid oiving illegal? Lots of good, valid questions, lots of discussion. In late August, we held a “meet up” to tour 2 tiny houses, over 300 people attended!
http://www.analogartistdigitalworld.com/2014/09/tiny-houses-are-big-draw-in-orlando.html
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n_TYUQpXeqc&feature=youtu.be
Simultaneously with all of this, my sister Laura, who teaches at the Hague (yes, in the Netherlands) is teaching a class in community solutions. She asked for help in coming up with problems/questions/situations for her students to research, propose and solve. So I offered up some of the issues we’re discussing in building a tiny house community. The kids start today by picking the project they want to be involved with (there are 10 or so to choose from) so I’m looking forward to working with them and getting some fresh input! You can follow the class progress here:
http://2014.projectcommunity.info
So, while neglecting the blog, I have been involved in lots of change. So looking forward to it all!
Shorty's Tiny House - The Build and Beyond 
Very cool new (old) house Shorty, great to see you are able to continue your dream of working on those beauties. The students are anxious to get started and will be contacting you soon to set up an online meeting! I especially liked the specific questions your group of enthusiasts are struggleing with and am curious to see what kind of scope, and then solution advice, the students come up with. 🙂 Laura
If the students would like to take on the side challenge of designing the piano/bed for construction, I will build two- one for the tiny house and one for the guest room in the big house!
Say…what’s the address of this beauty? Looks like the beauty that I have always admired on the SE corner of Park Ave and 4th St(I think) but definitely on Park Ave.