As a builder and designer and carpenter by trade (emeritus), I've built many lake area cabins; most in Central MO, and a few in coastal Northern CA. The term "Tiny Home" (or House) was a term we tradesmen used when describing a cabin to those unfamiliar with a modern one: "It's like a tiny home!" Meaning, there's no outhouse, as many picture 1 room cabins as seen in movies. It has all modern amenities, but it's just small and mostly self contained (off-grid).

Then the fad of Tiny Home began to emerge; it's social popularity took it well away from its 1 room cabin origins. Now, what used to be the remodeling of old travel trailers, have also become a Tiny Home, with its own ID: THOW. Swapping the siding on a travel trailer does not make it a Tiny Home, anymore than siding replacement makes a home into a castle!

Sheds were once just a simple outbuilding people used to store flammable products and their yard machinery. They too, soon became a Tiny Home. Modified cargo container? Tiny Home! Trends are fun, but in truth, an actual Tiny Home is built on a foundation, on site, no wheels involved, and we'd use a local lumber yard who'd deliver all needs in one drop; rough to finish, including mechanical.

A woodworker since I was 12 (1970), my mom's husband was a wannabe Contractor, but was never a tradesman (a scab). Our garage was a shop filled with his tools. I used it for fun and necessity; we were poor so anything I needed I built. Soon he realized my talents and guilted me into working Summer months for him for free. I moved out the Summer after my Junior year in High School so I did not graduated then; never went back for my Senior year and all the perks of that experience.

My first job was working for a guy in his shop, building waterbed frames that he sold at his little Indie retail furniture store. He took custom orders for peripherals (end tables, drawers, headboard, etc.) and if not too complex I'd build them too. Later I got into home building on a Framing crew; I preferred working outdoors.

My step–bro had moved from the KC Metro to the LA Metro; he was a union carpenter and once I learned of the money he was being paid (3X me then), off I went in 77. My experiences, and his insistence I qualified, got this (then) 20 year old a Journeyman's card. I skipped their entire apprenticeship program. Unlicensed at the time, we also did side–gig remodeling jobs that were mostly detached building projects; being in SoCal we knew they'd be lived in.

But one Holiday visit to KC I met my future wife; she moved to LA with me, but a parent died soon after, and she returned to KC, not wanting to return to LA. I moved back to KC and (at 27; 85) started a construction business building new homes; my crew and I framed in good weather, and trimmed in bad; if we had the time we hung drywall too. I built our first home myself; later she decided doing her male coworkers repeatedly was worth our eventual divorce (been upgraded twice; I quit).

I built over a hundred conventional homes; so many I soon got bored doing it. Advertising for other projects, I got requests to build retirement and hunting cabins in forested or lakeside settings; most were one large room; no structural interior partitions; all sat on a post pier beam dual–run elevated foundation, @ 16' X 32'+ w/a single pitch 3/12 roof that extended over a large deck and/or sun room greenhouse.

When it went over both sides (deck on one end and sun room on the other), the resulting 16' by 56'+ long metal roof served as a rainwater catchment for storage. The space under the cabin allowed short wildlife to traverse under, though if dogs were present they'd often inhabit that space.

Others wanted fire resistant construction; being in the middle of large forests they understood that drought and lightning has been setting (sometimes massive) forest fires for millennia. Portable mixing, we used blocks on a continuous pour parameter footing. With re–bar in every 3rd chamber we'd fill those with concrete for structural unity; the others with Perlite, then capped. We kept any/all exterior wood covered with fire resistant materials. There were no passive vents because there was no attic or any dead space, except under the floor joists.

I/we really enjoyed the serene natural environment, though it did not pay as well, and sometimes with much travel. Eventually I moved back to CA (2X). No one wanted cabins in the City's by the Bay, and I missed building them. All Left Coast Carpenter's Unions by that time were all Commercial; I did little Residential for a long time there.

Skipping ahead, by the 21st century, the cabin got a new name: Tiny Home! Then, people started popularizing travel trailer rebuilds as tiny homes too: The THOW is hilarious to/for us carpenters! By the Great Recession, I was burnt out on the Building Industry in general. I needed a change.

Being in Santa Clara (Union) installing Labs for University's and Medical Tech entities, as well as finishing out 5 Star hotels, I got interested in the Tech Industry. But I was a high school dropout and carpenter; not much need for me in Tech. But that didn't stop me from asking probing questions. So, like every other thing I learned in life, I self taught (autodidact ;-). More at Linux Geek.

But though I went car–light then car–free when becoming a Conservationist and Environmentalist, I always kept an interest in building cabins; I mean, tiny homes! I recall counseling a neighbor (88) who remodeled his aging long–ass travel trailer, but I encouraged him to demo it to the floor and start over; the outer walls were thin framed and would not be suitable to live in during winter.

By the time he was done with it, it looked like (yep) a cabin on wheels! Wood siding, window planter boxes and all! The local news came out, took pics and ran a piece. My guess is, that's what kick started the current phenomenon. At least, that's the story I'm sticking with! 😋

For cabins I recommend a 16' width, because anymore required larger boards, floor and roof, or more foundation. For that span we used 2" x 8" x 16' (@ 16" on–center) for floor joists; they only needed to span the 14' in between the post & beam runs, as they'd cantilever over both sides by a foot, which protected the foundation unit runs from sun and rain exposure.

The cardboard round form footings were 12' apart from each other and out of the ground by a foot (+/-); there were 8 in all for a 32' length; we'd recommended an additional 12' (16' x 44') if more space was needed; materials size better in 4' increments, eliminating waste. Then there would be a 6" x 6" pressure treated post in a poured–in bracket; they'd be triangle supported.

If it was for a couple the 32' was ample; if it was to be shared, the kitchen and living rooms would be in the center, and bedrooms on the outer ends. They'd have covered decks on each end. Now, if one is an indoor person, a tiny home in the middle of nowhere would not be fun. Most who do this, are outdoor people, so the inside space did not need to be big or fancy; it was mostly for eating, sleeping, and escaping bad weather.

The walls were all 7' tall (if wood, cut from 14'); this allowed the wall sheathing to go from top plate and over the floor joists in one run. The back (north facing) wall remained at 7' with a single 3/12 pitch roof (2" x 6" x 20' @ 16" on–center). The front (South facing) wall, from 7' up was a structure of clad 4" x 4" beams, and in between them would be dual pane–glass; similar on the ends but at the higher half was a 2' x 4' wide dual–pane fire resistant slider window; here's a similar roof example.

At each end we'd use 6' sliding glass doors (with screens of course) so air flow and natural light was excellent in this open interior design. Any requested interior walls were 7' tall partitions capped with a planter run. With a table saw always on the job, interior partitions would not be studs and drywall; we'd dado a 3/4" grove into 2" x 4" clear pine and insert 4' x 7' finished 2–side birch plywood panels, in between a clear pine stud with dado; all was stained (or clear coated) to match other wood–works inside.

The entire ceiling would be wood also; typically a v–cut tongue & groove soft wood, also finished to match. Outer walls would be drywall. We ran no plumbing or electrical in–wall; this prevented freezing pipes; the plumbing was concentrated in an area designed around the 3" toilet run, hidden by cabinets or other functional build–outs. Electrical was surface from base to switch or plug box; long runs would be in metal conduits cornered at the floor and wall, just under the drywall; the 1" x 4" base board would have a dado to accommodate it. Wire–mold systems are another option.

When I designed for off–grid, I'd build a system, not attached directly to the home, but within a nearby rainwater harvesting barrels and tool shed, sharing the same concrete slab with the wood burning boiler; a solar panel and mini–wind on a battery array (combo example).

Why would a gas burner bother with a Tiny Home? Especially one they want to tow? The logic behind a Tiny Home, versus a modified travel trailer, is nonrenewable resource conservation; indeed, the end of fossil fuel dependency. If it's just a novelty then it's just another toy of the wealth class, who abhor Earth, but pretend–care to alleviate the guilt and shame that must come, assuming they are not psychopaths.

Leaving no planetary nonrenewable resources for ones progeny, who would have existed (say) between 2100 AD and 21 million AD, requires a level of Lovelessness or indifference that is haunting. This is evidence of psychopathy, which should be ruled as a severe enough mental illness to qualify for Institutionalization; it already is a Spiritual bankruptcy!

Villages would consist of Craftsmen small homes, peppered throughout wooded areas; craft stucco and/or cement siding would be used in high fire risk zones; no open attic vents either. Cities would be built in naturally open spaces; everything would be design–built with a nature–first paradigm. Gone would be all planet–destroying machinery.

Cities and Villages would all have (Farmers) Markets for fresh organic greens, Butcher's meat markets, and supply (hardware) stores. Only well-trained professional drivers would efficiently deliver from Industrial Parks to homes, apartments, and small businesses, which would function and look, much like the craft–works of the past, only with current day materials and tech.

Warehouses, only in Industrial Parks, and only alongside Interstates, would make, transfer/ship, or deliver everything, with parking for those vehicles, only alongside the few inroads off mainline roads; all roads would be greatly reduced due to the elimination of the personal automobile. Cities would be connected by elevated E–fast–rail; US Interstates would be repurposed, with one side passenger rail and the other freight rail.

Large items would transport into the Village or City with E Trucks or Step Vans on delivery inroads; then from roadside only parking, with delivery scooters; then pallet lifts and good ole hand carts.

Locally, everyone would use (in town) common sidewalks and (in nature) compact gravel trails for bikes (etc.) and a grass aside for horses, all built using only E–powered equipment; attachments include a trencher, forklift, scraper bucket, and so on.

There would be no more huge office buildings; in the PC/Web era they're already nearly obsolete. Ground level retail would have offices on the 2nd floor and apartments on the 3rd thru 6th floors. Parking lots would be banned in these areas; instead, there would be covered corrals with pea gravel floor for Micro Mobile devices, all with 100% cover solar panel roofs of course! All human covered ground would be taxed; nature supporting spaces would not!

There would be an increase of active and passive solar power, by about 100,000 fold current numbers. Then the removal and recycling of the power Grid. We must increase caloric energy use by a million fold. The amount of fossil fuels needed would be about 1/10th of 1% of current numbers.

Capitalism would need to be criminalized! The greed–conquered power–monger money–hoarding inhumane insane beings, would be Institutionalized until they can be cured; if not, they would need to be kept away from the humans. All those live only to convert Earth, and other humans, into dollars to hoard for themselves; to have power advantages over other people; creating dependency upon them; they would be cared for.

Hey, it's my vision; a guy can dream for a better world, can't he?!