apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

why not just put up a yurt?
or live in a tent?

if you want to live off the grid and out in the forest... do you really need track-lighting?

Antimatt: there are so many uses for the Inhabit dwellings! If I wanted to camp I'd use a tent, certainly, but if I wanted a guest house or a studio space in my yard, a tent would simply be depressing (and the neighbours wouldn't be too pleased, either).

I think this is a brilliant idea and I don't know about the USA, but in Canada a 100 sq. ft. structure doesn't require a permit.

In Portland, Oregon if the dwelling does not have plumbing or electricity and is under 300 sq feet and is not being used as a "dwelling" it is considered a shed and can be built without permits.

I've been considering something similar for my backyard to be used as an office/studio

However, $12,000 seems pretty steep for basically a 100sq foot shed with some insulation, sheetrock, windows, cute architectural details and tract lighting. You can buy something similar at home depot that will be put up on site, and put in your own insulation, drywall, french doors and windows (like my artist neighbor did for his studio) and run your own electricity (without a permit) for less than $4K

Still, it is pretty cute.

Keep in mind that the prices include installation, but we are currently working on self-assembly kits that can be shipped anywhere, which will be considerably lower in price.

There will always be lower-cost option out there of course, but we believe that aesthetics are worth the extra cost and effort. Especially if you are going to see it out your window every day.

Thanks Tomfooloree.

Antimatt, off-grid does not necessarily mean off the deep end. There are lots of reasons to go off-grid. Suffering is rarely one of them. Where I live -- in the Santa Cruz mountains -- there are off-grid homes that would knock your socks off (and I do know of one yurt).

It so happens that I've been looking at pre-fab studios lately (for a pool house), and I think that the exterior of this one is very stylish. The installation is nicely done. But the interior photo makes it look a little like a trailer home. And 10'X10' is a difficult, limiting size to work with -- good for an office, too small for a guest cottage or a pool house, and not airy enough for an exercise room. Going a little wider than deep helps with the feeling of confinement when the French doors are on the wide side of the structure -- let's say 10'X12' or 14'. Being in a rectangular space makes one feel more weighted in the room when the space is this small and the ceiling this low. Even a couple of feet make a big difference. It would help to make this building look more balanced, as well, with that overhang and the deck on the front. I see on their Web site that they can do custom sizes, but I wonder about the cost. This is priced a bit high for the square footage it offers.

I'm really dying to see one of these things come out that sustains an almost neutral carbon footprint. One that is engineered with a rainwater and gray water collection system, wind turbine and or solar energy. I suppose the viability of each of those options varies widely across the country, but of all of these mini-homes that are often featured on here, they all seem to have a little way to go. I can't wait to see one that has kind of a generic base building that is compatible with all of those things and has add-on option kits so you can customize and add the systems that will work the best for your area (i.e. solar panels if you live in AZ, wind turbine or

(sorry) water turbine if you live in windy areas or near a fast moving waterway. A below ground/in-foundation rainwater collection and filtration system for use in areas where there may be sufficient rain to compliment your water supply or water your garden. The potential for harnessing the energy and supplies of the world around us, in a less harmful way, are endless - why not give people the option to take advantage of them?