Deluxe Lofted Barn Cabin

There's a little place that sells Derksen portable buildings in Dayton and I always have a hard time passing it by, without stopping to roam thru the cabins and sheds, whenever I venture to town. Last week we stopped by again and got more information about the options and pricing of these little darlings.

This is a Derksen Deluxe Lofted Barn Cabin. This one is 12'x30', the smallest of their 'Deluxe Lofted Barn Cabin' style which come as large as 16'x32'. It's the most expensive style with the unique corner porch and bumped out windows, but also eats up more interior square footage than the others.

The price is $7,925 before tax, free delivery within 50 miles. It comes standard with 2 lofts, but the lofts are high and have little headroom above them. Optional extras to make the lofts more usable would cost extra. 8' walls are $500, lower loft (which come standard at wall height) $100 each. You can add more windows, 2x3's are $75 and 3x3' windows $100, a 2nd door is $200. So there's lots of options.
I was asked to check the 'rent-to-own' deal, so here's how it works. Monthly payments would be apx $360 for 36 months. Each month $260 of the payment goes to pay down the principle and $100 goes to 'rent'. I believe the down payment was one month's rent, and there is no penalty for early pay-off.

I found it difficult to arrange an interior lay-out that functioned well for us. It's hard to use that bumped out space. Possibly a kitchen/eating area, maybe a large built in window seat and extra bed. You'll notice I don't have ladders or stairs figured out. The door being so far into the cabin is awkward as well, in my opinion at least. 

 These are photos of the same style cabin only 4 feet longer at 12x34. They can be finished out really nice. The bathroom is behind the kitchen, and bedroom beyond at the end of the back of the cabin.

Nook in the front of cabin

The Kidd - A Teeny Tiny Texas House

Just when you thought Tiny Texas Houses couldn't get any smaller, meet 'The Kidd' - Brad Kittel's smallest house to date. 'The Kidd' has a footprint of only 65 sq. ft.

It was the focus of a TTH workshop I attended last summer, and I'm really proud I got to work on it. 

Sweet slim profile on this teeny tiny house will remain at Tiny Texas Territories as guest accommodations.

His next prototype will be slightly slimmer and built to lay flat and slide into a cargo container for ease of shipping.

Large windows, antique door, and a covered deck on two sides. 

 

A cozy place to spend a weekend.

It's got a really large sleeping loft.

Great windows for light and breezes.

Awesome porches add to the available living area.

A Village and Salvage Market - The Mountain Video

Post by The Mountain in Canton Texas.

I think this is pretty cool. You could live above your own little shop.

Barn Loft Guest Apt - Collage

This a collage of the studio apt we built in the loft of our barn. It's just one part of a whole 'off-grid backyard retreat' we're working on. We'll be adding a bathroom to the barn and a funky greenhouse/outdoor shower that can use conventional or solar hot water. Someday we plan to build us a tiny sustainable off-grid home, so in the meantime we're learning and trying to become more sustainable here. We've been hit by two hurricanes since we moved here - both times going more than five weeks without power. We'll add a few more tiny cabins/sleeping quarters that use solar and other alternative energy. In the aftermath of another hurricane and power outage we'll move out of the big house, and into our backyard retreat, where we can efficiently generate enough renewable energy to keep our tiny cabins lit, cooled, completely functional with or without city utilities.

More photos here...

I love Pickmoney it's a photo editing site. You can create collages and nice Pinterest pins too. Here's another using the same photos.

The Essay House at Tiny Texas Houses

It felt strange to pack my truck for a week-long workshop at Tiny Texas Houses. It was the first time I've been anywhere alone in a long time. I looked forward to attending the building-with-salvage workshop in Luling by Tiny Texas Houses and also some time just for me.


Though I packed my tent prepared to camp, Brad offered me the little writer's cabin they call the Essay House for my stay. It's a sweet little cabin in the back and like all his tiny houses - it's built with love and 99% pure salvage.

I woke that first morning imagining this is what it must have felt like to be a settler on the Texas frontier. A fog had rolled in during the night, I could just make out the faint shape of deer taking advantage of the cover the fog offered. 

The cabin has no electricity or water right now, though it's fully equipped for it when it finds it's final resting place. I enjoyed sitting and napping on the porch. It feels especially remote tucked in among the Prickly Pear Cactus and Mesquite trees, shrouded in morning fog.

A ladder leads up to the loft and bed. Everything you could need packed into a tiny space that still managed plenty of room to move around.

It has a kitchen and a drop down table for writing or meals.

A shower and a tiny sink of course. There's a shuttered pocket door to hide the the bathroom while still allowing a sweet cross breeze thru the house.
It was very easy to imagine living in this tiny house. A simple life unburdened by all the non-essential 'crap'. A home like this would beg you spend time outside too.