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Small House Society – Designers & Builders

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The Small House Movement has inspired the growth of many small house designers and builders. Below is a brief directory of these architects of simpler smaller living who specialize in tiny, small, miniature, and micro homes. Please contact us if you know of any other resources that should be added to this list.

  • Alchemy Architects – weeHouses. Alchemy Architects’ mission is to make stimulating, engaging, and efficient design accessible and affordable for a wide audience. Their distinctive hands-on approach to architecture and design combines a playful design process, collaborative relationships with clients, and partnerships with builders and fabricators, to create a harmonious blend of site, building, and community. [ Website | About ]
  • BC Mountain Homes. A wide variety of house plans by John Gower including some amazingly simple and small houses. [ Main Page | Micro Plans | Company Profile ]
  • Bear Creek Carpentry. “Bear Creek Carpentry has been operating in the Adirondacks since 1991 and has over 20 years of carpentry experience. We mill a high percentage of our own lumber at our shop. We build prefabricated mini cabins and cabins, playhouses, storage sheds, adirondack furniture, complete homes, timberframes, conventionally framed homes and log cabins. We also build additions, decks, docks, boat houses, commercial structures, pole barns, garages and do custom log work.”
  • BlueSky MOD. “Our approach to manufacturing and materials strikes a balance between what we take from the Earth and how we live on it.”
  • DIY-Home-Building.com – “Our experience is hands on and goes beyond the nuts and bolts of construction. We understand the dream and challenge of building your own home. We have learned where and how to save money while maintaining quality control. We have experienced the pitfalls and frustrations along the way, as well as the pride and satisfaction of our completed homes.”
  • Domes International. Dome-shaped fiberglass (FRP) houses and other formed fiberglass products using designs and techniques developed by one of the company’s founders over a twenty seven year period in Mantachie, Mississippi, USA. [ Main Page | About | Benefits ]
  • DPO Construction. Builder of the first 5-Star rated energy efficient home in Iowa.
  • Canyon Classic Cabins. “Welcome to Canyon Classic Cabins. Home of the comfortable, snug, energy efficient cabin. From vacation lodging to the small home movement we believe our cabin is as good as it gets.”
  • Cavco Industries. We offer a variety of products including Manufactured Homes, Park Model Homes, Camping Cabins and Commercial Buildings.
  • Cottage Company. “We’re a development and construction company based in Seattle, Washington, and focused on the implementation of ‘pocket neighborhoods’ of cottages and ‘not-so-big’ homes.”
  • Creative Cottages. “Designer builder R McAllister Lloyd, with 30 years of custom design experience, runs a small Maine company that uses environmentally sensitive building practices to create custom, energy efficient homes in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Combining client’s needs with design knowledge that integrates function and intimacy.”
  • Cusato Cottages. Marianne Cusato founded Cusato Cottages to provide traditional designs for affordable housing.
  • Environmental Resource Group. Good resource for green building organizations.
  • First Day Cottage. A FirstDay Cottage is a house kit which is specifically designed for people to build themselves. FirstDays are built with a unique building system designed for the amateur, so they require few tools, are tolerant to error and are still extremely strong and elegant.
  • GreenCentral.ca – Home designer and builder Phil Carson offers ‘Wildernest Organic Homes’ that feature breathing walls and ‘no-toxic’ eco harvested solid wood construction. Same as Sanctuary Shelters below.
  • Global Portable Buildings. “Global Portable Buildings, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of new, multi-purpose portable buildings. Headquartered in Santa Rosa, California, and with three manufacturing plants in Asia, our company is able to deliver high-quality portable buildings at excellent prices to all destinations in the USA and worldwide. … Requiring no foundations and no structural assembly, our versatile buildings are ideal for shelters, temporary or permanent living quarters, portable offices/studios, mining camps, construction housing/field offices, worker housing, portable emergency clinics, storm shelters, military/police posts, forest/mountain cabins, etc.”
  • Handy Home Products – Timber Cabin. “A terrific way to experience the outdoors. So many uses: waterside cabana, deluxe playhouse, weekend retreat and more!”
  • House-to-Go by Julie Martin. Julie Martin established “Martin House-To-Go” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She has been featured on NPR.
  • Insitebuilders. Provider of homes designed by Architect Dennis Fukai, PhD. These steel construction homes are small, cute, modern, and very strong. Website includes large photos, basic floor plans, and beautiful 3D model drawings.
  • Jay Shafer. Jay is a co-founder of the Small House Society and proprietor of TumbleweedHouses.com offering small pre-built homes as well as small house plans.
  • Jot-House. Yeh + Jerrard are the makers of the Jot House – a refreshingly simple, small, and contemporary home design. Through the use of physical and virtual models, Yeh + Jerrard are able to perform lighting analysis and also explore with the client various options for materials and design. This allows the client to be more actively involved in the design process. Yeh + Jerrard are based out of Los Angeles, California.
  • JustCabins.co.nz – “We are passionate about what we do and will ensure that you are provided with the best possible service. Our cabins are in top condition, very warm, strong and painted in modern colours which will look great at your place. Our prices are so cost effective, and that’s got to be great for your pocket! We can deliver to suit you. We will level and connect on your site, making it all very easy.” Cabin builder in New Zealand.
  • Katrina Cottages by Cusato Cottages. Marianne Cusato founded Cusato Cottages to provide traditional designs for affordable housing. More information is available on the New Urban Guild website.
  • Lancaster Barns. “Lancaster County Barns is located in the serene hills and valleys of Lancaster, Pennsylvania the home of the Amish Craftsmen who build quality wood-built products such as we carry. Our Storage Sheds, Horse Barns, Gazebos, Playhouses, Hunting Cabins, and Lawn Furniture are crafted from the finest materials available. All items are hand-built to your needs and satisfaction. We are committed to excellent quality and customer service.”
  • Little Green Buildings. “Little Green Buildings has been created for people who need a small, earth-friendly, non-toxic, affordable and easily assembled building. You don’t have to be a carpenter or hire a contractor to assemble a Little Green Building Kit…. Take a glass of water, place it in a 96 sq. foot building with our 4” walls, floor and roof with a 100 watt light bulb in zero degree Fahrenheit outside temperature – How long would it take the water to freeze? Probably never!!”
  • Living Architecture. In their own words, “We feel it our responsibility to conserve our resources by designing, building and maintaining sustainable structures, developments, towns and cities.”
  • Lodge-on-Wheels.com. “Prior to Katrina we specialized in restoring beautiful historic homes. In fact, we lived in, and had completed a seven-year restoration of, the oldest house on the entire Gulf Coast (c. 1787). The house is gone, but we are here. And we have resurrected our home restoration and building skills to bring to you the cottages and cabins that have gained attention around the world. We have been interviewed for radio and television, featured in numerous magazines and newspapers, and discussed on blogs everywhere.”
  • LV Homes by Rocio Romero. “We design, manufacture, build, ship, and sell our kit homes. By marrying all these disciplines we are able to better deliver quality design easily and affordably. It is through prefab efficiencies that we are able to control the cost and quality of our homes.”
  • Martin House-To-Go. Designer and builder Julie Martin is offering some beautiful homes.
  • m-house. The m-house is modern, mobile, meticulous, minimalist, and marvelous!
  • Micro Compact Homes (m-ch). The team of researchers and designers based in London and at the Technical University in Munich developed the m-ch as an answer to an increasing demand for short stay living for students, business people, sports and leisure use and for weekenders. The m-ch, now in use and available throughout Europe, combines techniques for high quality compact ‘living’ spaces deployed in aircraft, yachts, cars, and micro apartments. [ Website | About ]
  • Mini Cabin Plans. Architect and builder Kevin Meek is the provider of this website that offers unique and inexpensive building plans for low cost housing.
  • miniHome by Sustain.ca – Beautiful small homes designed by Altius Architecture and Sustain Design Studio in Toronto, Canada.
  • Modern Cabana. A versatile addition designed to accommodate buyers seeking value, modernism and quality, The Cabana can be used as a guest cottage, a pool house, artist studio, home office, urban penthouse, desert hideaway, fishing cabin, workshop, sound studio, yoga studio, kids playhouse, or exercise room. [ Website | About | Founders ]
  • Noble Home. “The housing construction industry is hard on most people. Land is expensive, leaving little money to build one’s dream house, not to mention hiring an architect to ensure a livable, inspiring, energy efficient space. Conversely, affordable rural housing generally consists of uninspired design, inferior quality, and is often a poor investment. Noble Home is a house kit that comes shipped to your building site and contains all the parts needed to build a finished house shell on your foundation. A kit can save labor costs because most pieces are cut to size therefore assembly is typically very fast. Wasted time and money due to incorrect ordering of materials and complex construction is avoided with a kit.”
  • Norwester Industries. Provider of custom-built tiny portable homes.
  • Oasis Design. “Oasis Design is a wellspring of original content and designs which you won’t find elsewhere. We specialize in the nuts and bolts of sustainability—practical systems for living well, in harmony with nature and each other. These include designs for managing water, wastewater, energy, money and other resources. Our goal is to live really well, on a small amount of well-managed resources, and help others do the same. We don’t need resource wars…we just need to make the most of our fair share. There are several hundred pages of free information here on our web site, as well as an additional several hundred in our books and articles. We hope you enjoy your visit, and find something which helps you live the way you want to.” [Design Principles | Why Huge Doesn't Work]
  • Rocio Romero Kit Homes. “We design, manufacture, build, ship, and sell our kit homes. By marrying all these disciplines we are able to better deliver quality design easily and affordably. It is through prefab efficiencies that we are able to control the cost and quality of our homes.”
  • Rock Hill and Associates. “The work of Dan Rockhill, his associate, David Sain and their many colleagues and assistants, is modest in scale. Embedded in the vast agricultural landscapes of Kansas and backstreets of Lawrence, it is almost hidden from view. Yet it is work that is significant. It is a testimony to the value of design, the difficulty and arduousness of building and to the importance of the deep-seated potentials of architecture to change and improve the lives of people.” — Brian Carter, excerpted from his Introduction to the book, Designing & Building: Rockhill and Associates
  • Ross Chapin Architects. “We are an award-winning firm known for designing wonderfully scaled and richly detailed buildings and gardens. We take joy in designing places for people that are both functional and beautiful.”
  • Sanctuary Shelters. Home designer and builder Phil Carson offers ‘Wildernest Organic Homes’ that feature breathing walls and ‘no-toxic’ eco harvested solid wood construction.
  • SheldonDesigns.com – “My name is Andy Sheldon. I am an architect and have been designing small houses and farm buildings for over 25 years. My mission at SHELDON DESIGNS is to provide you with beautiful, economical, easy-to-build designs with complete blueprints at reasonable prices. This catalog contains some of my favorite small buildings. Each design that I offer specifies standard building materials readily available at any lumberyard. When we receive your order, we will make every effort to process and ship within forty-eight hours. You should receive your detailed blueprints in approximately seven to ten days and your credit card will not be charged nor your check deposited until your plans are shipped. Your satisfaction is our highest priority. If you are dissatisfied in any way, you may return the order within 30 days for a full refund or exchange the plans for another design. If you have questions or need assistance, give us a call and we will try to help.”
  • SherpaCabins.com. “Our goal continues to be to build and deliver the best small cabins in the industry. As we so often hear, “this cabin is a work of art!” In a world that seems to continually lose its appreciation for quality and craftsmanship we strive to maintain our own in each Sherpa Cabin we build. Sherpa Cabins, Inc. has an engineer approved structural plan that encompasses each cabin’s basic design. Although we have never built two identical cabins, all the cabins have the same general framing. We now have cabins in Idaho, Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, California and Montana.”
  • SingTinyHouse.com – “Sing Tiny houses are lightweight, insulated, and durable. Our Tiny houses are constructed with Sing honeycomb panels. … The Sing home-building system started in 1992 as the founder/inventor Peter Sing patented his first vertical grain square log. There were already 24 patents under his name at that time. Since then, there have been a dozen more inventions related to home building products and methods and most are now in production as part of the Sing home-building system.” See also SingLogHomes.com and SuperHoneycomb.com for building materials.
  • Steven Holl Architects. Steven Holl founded Steven Holl Architects in New York in 1976. SHA is a design-oriented office, with a current staff of 35. The firm has been recognized internationally with numerous awards, publications and exhibitions for quality and excellence in design.
  • Structures To Go. Homes you can assemble! Home kits include locally-made plywood Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs).
  • TimberlastSmartKits.com. “…to utilize the centuries old technique of timber framing to create truly sustainable structures that will provide strong, aesthetically pleasing shelter for generations to come. … to build ’small,’ in terms of both size and impact.” – David Fernandez
  • Tiny Texas Houses. “The only 95% recycled portable Tiny House on the market in the USA. Yes there are others who make Tiny Houses, but none who use exclusively vintage lumber and focus on the handmade quality and details of the old days, with original Cypress windows, period doors, hardware, and everything old.”
  • Tortoise Shell Home. “Want to leave a smaller footprint, but still have the comfort and safety of a well-built home that travels with you? Tortoise shell homes are cozy (starting at 120 sq feet), mobile (mounted on a tow trailer), and built tough, like a larger house.”
  • Tropical Treehouse. The hooch, the ultimate small house, perches on a single point foundation – the smallest footprint of any land-based structure. Radiating anchored cables (to trees, ground, or other natural objects), keep the hooch erect and resilient. With no permanent foundation, and zero site alteration, the hooch exemplifies ephemeral architecture, environmental stewardship, and biomimetic design.
  • Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. Jay Shafer is one of the first small house designers and builders. He is considered by many to be an authority on the small house movement. His artistic and efficient designs have won various awards.
  • V2World. Dedicated to building environmentally respectful, residential and commercial spaces that are assembled through an efficient and repetitive process. By using a steel framing system of stackable modules, numerous configurations are possible.
  • Van Wyk Woodbuilders. Sharon and Shawn Van Wyk use high quality hand-picked lumber for the custom constructed cabins, carriage sheds, and other structures.
  • Ventura Prefab Homes. Offering pre-cut homes made from the finest Brazilian hardwoods. They arrive at your building site ready for immediate assembly. Your home or cabin can be provided with double wall construction and extra insulation for cold climates; the roof can be constructed to support heavy snowloads. Available are simple one bedroom cabins of 375 square feet. Prices start at around $15,000. Buyers may choose to purchase just the complete WOOD KIT and install the bathroom and kitchen fixtures from local sources, or the FINISHING KIT can be purchased.
  • weeHouses by Alchemy Architects. Alchemy Architects’ mission is to make stimulating, engaging, and efficient design accessible and affordable for a wide audience. Their distinctive hands-on approach to architecture and design combines a playful design process, collaborative relationships with clients, and partnerships with builders and fabricators, to create a harmonious blend of site, building, and community. [ Website | About ]
  • WeLoveSmall.com. “The most effective way to directly benefit the planet’s problem of scarce resources is to use less of them. The Simple Life Bungalow uses 1/7th of the materials of the average North American house.”
  • Wooden Architecture. This is the website of Thomas Allocca, a designer and journalist promoting small, sustainable, and simple living.
  • Yeh + Jerrard. Makers of the Jot House – a refreshingly simple, small, and contemporary home design. Through the use of physical and virtual models, Yeh + Jerrard are able to perform lighting analysis and also explore with the client various options for materials and design. This allows the client to be more actively involved in the design process. Yeh + Jerrard are based out of Los Angeles, California.
  • YesWeeCabins.com. “My name is Tim Guiles and I am the owner of Yes Wee Cabins, a small affordable home building company in Vermont. … After living in my cabin for a year, I became so convinced that this kind of living space should be available to more people, that I have started a company (Feb 2009) specifically to promote the small living philosophy. …  You can see lots of good pictures on the photo section of my website. My goal is to build very affordable, high quality, very environmentally friendly homes.  I have sold one so far and hope to sell 3 more this year.”

Removed. The following sites have been removed recently due to their websites not being available, or the site not being relevant to the design or construction of small homes.

  • Hardy-Lawn-Furniture.com. Supplier of cottages, outdoor furniture, vinyl furniture, arbors, lighthouses, picnic tables, playsets, swings, playground equipment, storage sheds, and gazebos. (Doesn’t specialize in small homes. The old domain name of HardyLawnFurniture.com is no longer under development. 20090322su2242)
  • Laurel Neiswander Interiors. Laurel is an interior designer in Northridge, CA. She lives in a 400 square foot home and has experience with making the most of small spaces. (Doesn’t build small homes. However, the interior design aspect is useful. 20090322su2243)
  • Tiny House Company. Small home builder in the Virginia area. (Site unavailable 20090222su2241)
  • Treehouse Company. TreeHouse Company is the worlds largest TreeHouse Company and constructs TreeHouses across the Globe. TreeHouse Company’s talented designers create the concepts and craftsmen turn these into reality, building handmade TreeHouses for children and families. (Site unavailable 20090222su2241)
  • Vermont Tiny House. “Although they are tiny, our houses are fully functional, fully finished, and range from $10,000 to $22,000. The smaller models come with sleeping loft, and the larger models include a floor level sleeping area. They’re insulated and can be wired for AC (on-grid) or DC (off-grid) power. Fully able to accommodate solar or other alternative power sources. You can wire for both.” (This domain name is no longer being developed.

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