Luxury tiny homes for Hawaii? (renting, motel, motorhomes)

[hunterseat]

Finally watched the video. Those are the cutest!! I could do that!

[MickeyE]

Here's a few links to info on tiny houses:

Tiny House Newsletter: Tiny House Newsletter a good starting place

Yahoo! Groups lots of info and links

Home - Simple Solar Homesteading books on building tiny houses and homesteading info

Simple Solar Homesteading - YouTube videos about tiny houses and homesteading

Enjoy

Mickey

[OKfine]

[quote=OpenD;31594213]I remember Malvina well and I remember learning this song around 1994 or 1995, and I promise you, it has absolutely nothing to do with the current Tiny House Movement.

Agreed...but...as stated , it " reminded me " regarding the cute song, and not as a treatise on the

aspects related to the movement. Thanks for the background info, as I first heard it on " Weeds".

[ScottStielow]

Watched the the Link. thanks for posting.
Those micro apt look pretty nice for a Single. The one down side where do you park your car? Could be a little tight trying to find parking anywhere close to where you live.
Scott

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by ScottStielow

The one down side where do you park your car? Could be a little tight trying to find parking anywhere close to where you live.

I'd guess that in their target demographic that public transit and bicycles are quite popular modes of transportation. That meshes well with the minimal material things lifestyle many hipsters espouse.

[SoloPilot]

I'm currently fulltiming in a 40-foot coach-conversion motorhome (I live at a small airport), and it's about twice the size of those itty-bitty boxes.

If there were a place to put one, a coach conversion would be a great home in the islands. Mine has NO "trailer" stuff in it except the fridge (I needed one that runs on propane) -- everything else, from the Sleep Number adjustable queen sized bed in the back to the La - Z -Boy rocking recliners in the front -- is normal household stuff.

It's great for one person, would be okay for two fulltimers, and has everything that I need for comfort.

Those tiny boxes don't look as good, unless you were really tight on space -- in which case, I'd want to stack a couple or maybe even three of them on top of each other. One thing that I learned over the last 5 years is that every square foot counts. My coach is 40 feet long by 96 inches wide, and if I were going to build another, I would spend a few thousand more to get either a 45-foot, 102-inch-wide coach, or even a double-decker.

[Futuremauian]

Originally Posted by SoloPilot

I'm currently fulltiming in a 40-foot coach-conversion motorhome (I live at a small airport), and it's about twice the size of those itty-bitty boxes.

If there were a place to put one, a coach conversion would be a great home in the islands. Mine has NO "trailer" stuff in it except the fridge (I needed one that runs on propane) -- everything else, from the Sleep Number adjustable queen sized bed in the back to the La - Z -Boy rocking recliners in the front -- is normal household stuff.

It's great for one person, would be okay for two fulltimers, and has everything that I need for comfort.

Those tiny boxes don't look as good, unless you were really tight on space -- in which case, I'd want to stack a couple or maybe even three of them on top of each other. One thing that I learned over the last 5 years is that every square foot counts. My coach is 40 feet long by 96 inches wide, and if I were going to build another, I would spend a few thousand more to get either a 45-foot, 102-inch-wide coach, or even a double-decker.

Toilet and shower? I am considering a motorhome or trailer for a second home on the mainland, once I move to Maui.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Futuremauian

Toilet and shower?

I once spent a month in a classic 20' Airstream trailer. It had toilet and shower, stove, sink and refrigerator, and for camping would sleep 4. Lots of windows, lots of cabinets. For 1 person without much stuff it was fine, especially when I could just step outside to be surrounded by nature's magnificence.

Clearly something like that is not for everyone. And the Tiny Houses that are 1/2 that size are not for me. But I think I could have lived in that Airstream a lot longer than I did.

[Futuremauian]

Originally Posted by OpenD

I once spent a month in a classic 20' Airstream trailer. It had toilet and shower, stove, sink and refrigerator, and for camping would sleep 4. Lots of windows, lots of cabinets. For 1 person without much stuff it was fine, especially when I could just step outside to be surrounded by nature's magnificence.

Clearly something like that is not for everyone. And the Tiny Houses that are 1/2 that size are not for me. But I think I could have lived in that Airstream a lot longer than I did.

When I was 15, my dad bought an Aristocrat vacation trailer, and we went to Alaska for a month-plus. Up the Al-Can unpaved highway, and back down utilizing the State Ferrys. The trailer had an icebox, sink with pump faucet, stove, and a pullout toilet. My mom, dad, brother, and sister, slept in it each night. I slept in our Mercury Colony Park Station Wagon. (My 17 yr-old sister wheedled her way into a trip to Waikiki with one of her girlfriends, instead.) Great trip, and great memories. LOL, the toilet was still a "virgin" when we sold, years later. Back then, we drove into Denali National Park. I believe that's still possible, but only one day each year.

If I buy a motorhome, or trailer/pickup at some point in the future, I want self-contained comfort. Perhaps a month off the island a couple of time a year and a trip to a different part of the mainland, each time? OTH, I hope that I will get there, and never want to leave. Time will tell.

[SoloPilot]

Originally Posted by Futuremauian

Toilet and shower? I am considering a motorhome or trailer for a second home on the mainland, once I move to Maui.

This is a HOUSE, it just happens to be built into a 40-foot tour bus. Go look at one, and imagine the seats and lavatory gone. An empty canvas with 320 square feet of floor space.

Starting at the back, I have a Sleep Number queen-sized adjustable bed, HDTV and a full-sized dresser, then the wall that separates the bedroom from the bathroom.

The bathroom has a regular home elongated-bowl toiled and a Jacuzzi tub with shower (and a 40-gallon water heater to fill the tub when I want to soak), as well as the LG washer-dryer.

The front wall of the bathroom is the rear wall of the kitchen, which is a KITCHEN, with a 6-burner Jenn Air downdraft stove with BBQ grill; a full-sized sink with garbage disposal, Moen faucet, instant-hot water spigot (which I only use when hooked up to shore power) and soap dispenser; apartment-sized fridge; chest freezer (which I only run when hooked up to shore power); Broan trash compactor; 10 square feet of counter space, and about 50 cubic feet of cabinet storage (including a "lazy susan" corner cabinet). There is also the open-shelf storage above the counter (the former luggage rack).

Forward from that is the living room, with two La-Z-Boy rocking recliners, computer, fireproof safe, HDTV, stereo system, couch-futon combo, ham radio gear and a short filing cabinet.

There are three below-floor luggage bays. The one to the rear is the service bay, with the batteries that feed the 3,000 watt inverter, and which are fed by solar panels on the roof, or by generator or the coach alternator. The 100 gallons of wastewater tanks are also in this bay, with 100 gallons of freshwater tank in the center bay. Half of the center bay and all of the forward bay are available for stuff like toolboxes and other things that I want to take along. Ahead of this is the small bay where some of the air conditioning stuff was, but now is where the propane tanks are carried.

There are 110V, 12V and 24V power connections in logical places throughout the coach.

If it weren't such a mess (hey, I'm a solo act, there's nobody to be neat for) I'm take some pics for you.

I wish that I had built into a 45-foot-long, 102" wide coach, or even a double-decker, but got a great deal on this one.

If you already have your plan, your parts, a coach with the seats out (and interior scrubbed) -- and a friend to help -- you can build it into a coach conversion in about two weeks, ready to live in. Without a friend, it will take another week or so. Just don't try to live in it while you're building it (don't ask me how I learned this).

This relates to a "sticks and staples" motor home or trailer about the way a cruise ship relates to a skiff with an outboard motor.