great tiny homes article on bankrate last week

here i sit propped up in bed, an ice machine hooked up to my shoulder, macair and iPhone 5 at hand, (such a modern guy!), typing with one finger/no caps. (making less mistakes.)  i had rotator cuff surgery yesterday, something i’ve put off for years because of the long recovery period, but all the years of propelling self through world, shoulder strain of paddling surfboards, kayaks, and the inevitable falls from running, biking, skateboarding — and rotator cuff tear needed fixing.

i feel so great now that it’s done, and i’m day one into the 6-week/3-month markers, and full strength at 6 months. grrrr!

   it’s really a great time for shelter right now. the tiny homes book just took another jump. 40,000+ copies in one year

   v. interesting article in bankrate, the big financial services website, last week. writer sonya stinson wrote a well-balanced article on tiny homes here, focusing on the practical, rather than the bohemian/artistic domiciles. i got quoted accurately, for once:

“Kahn says the current tiny-homes movement, spurred partly by the downturn in the economy, is a bit of a throwback to the late ’60s and early ’70s.… It’s an idea that’s been around, but all of a sudden a lot of people are thinking in terms of getting smaller rather than larger,” says Kahn.”

   “(He) has noticed a growing interest among boomers in building small accessory dwelling units to accommodate aging parents.…Portland, Ore., and Santa Cruz, Calif., have ordinances that make it easier for people to build these additional units in their backyards,” he says.…

  what’s interesting is that sonya has made a case, with examples, of a mainstream approach for smaller homes. not everyone wants a tiny home, but the concept of small-er is a very powerful idea in these difficult (and scarce) times.

Photo: (c)johny87-fotolia.com   

music du jour, and i’m sure i’ve mentioned it a few times, sam cooke’s masterpiece “live at harlem square” playing on grooveshark right now. “…that’s not all sam will do for you.”

   spring is gonna be a powerhouse this year…

About Lloyd Kahn

Lloyd Kahn started building his own home in the early '60s and went on to publish books showing homeowners how they could build their own homes with their own hands. He got his start in publishing by working as the shelter editor of the Whole Earth Catalog with Stewart Brand in the late '60s. He has since authored six highly-graphic books on homemade building, all of which are interrelated. The books, "The Shelter Library Of Building Books," include Shelter, Shelter II (1978), Home Work (2004), Builders of the Pacific Coast (2008), Tiny Homes (2012), and Tiny Homes on the Move (2014). Lloyd operates from Northern California studio built of recycled lumber, set in the midst of a vegetable garden, and hooked into the world via five Mac computers. You can check out videos (one with over 450,000 views) on Lloyd by doing a search on YouTube:

4 Responses to great tiny homes article on bankrate last week

  1. Speedy recovery to you, but the most important part of the journey back to full strength……is to be very patient with the physical therapy. A setback from your over exuberance to regain full throttle in a very short period will result in more frustration than you would ever want. Wishing you better health this new year, Napa Bob

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