“Beatrice was a starting point for the Homestead Act of 1862, the federal law that handed land to pioneering farmers. Back then, the goal was to settle the West. The goal of Beatrice’s “Homestead Act of 2010,” is, in part, to replenish city coffers. The calculus is simple, if counterintuitive: hand out city land now to ensure property tax revenues in the future.…”
Left: A cabin at the Homestead National Monument of America near Beatrice, Neb., Photo by Kevin Moloney for The New York Times. Article published: July 25, 2010 by Monica Davey: “Cities View Homesteads as a Source of Income”
“Around the nation, cities and towns facing grim budget circumstances are grasping at unlikely — some would say desperate — means to bolster their shrunken tax bases. Like Beatrice, places like Dayton, Ohio, and Grafton, Ill., are giving away land for nominal fees or for nothing in the hope that it will boost the tax rolls and cut the lawn-mowing bills.…”
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/us/26revenue.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1280152857-GHiotSoAMpITUAcSDsEtfA
Artist/architect John Connell designed and built this house in a played-out gravel pit near Warren, Vermont. It was built over 16 years with input from about 65 students from John’s six-week Deign/Build sessions at Yestermorrow School in Warren, Vermont.
John: “The idea was to show that intelligent land development could actually help repair land as opposed to its usual role in degrading it. I purchased this played-out gravel pit which was then subdivided into four lots with a common area. In the common area we built Vermont’s first licensed engineered wetland specifically designed to treat waste. It was sized to accommodate four 3-bedroom homes. This house was the first to be built (proof of concept). Sadly, the people who purchased the house also purchased the remaining lots and closed down the project. So we successfully refurbished the gravel pit (maybe a bit too well) but failed to create the neighborhood we had hoped for. Had we sold the lots separately, it would have become this fabulous little neighborhood of four hi-performance homes and a green house on ten acres along the Mad River. That was the vision.
As it was designed and built (over those 16 years), that house was meant to reflect the very latest in sustainable thinking. It is super insulated, is heated by less than 500 gallons of propane each winter with a super hi-eff boiler (93%+), the wood was mostly local, the materials were recycled whenever possible, non-toxic glues and sealers were used (after 1991), etc. etc.”
SETTING: This cottage (2,125 square feet) is in a residential neighborhood just across the Oconee River from the University of Georgia and downtown Athens.… There are walking and biking trails along the river, about two blocks away, and 2 parks within 6 or 7 blocks…The cottage is divided into 2 apartments, one on main level and one at basement level.
CONTACT: fullcircleathens.com
From NYTimes, July 13, 2010: https://is.gd/dzBDz
Another drawing from Shelter. Looks like the frame for a New England home.The drawing tells you a lot. This was reprinted from The History of Notable American Houses, by Cal Sacks.
This cottage for sale in Dedham, near Boston. 737 sq. ft., built in 1910, 1 bedroom, 1 bath.
Open house Sunday, July 18, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.,
Margaret Matthews of Donahue Real Estate in Dedham
Sent us by Kevin Kelly.
In Spring 1973, Jack Fulton and I took off in my BMW 2002 for New Mexico to shoot photos for the upcoming book Shelter. On our way home, we ended up on a dirt road on a Navajo reservation in Arizona. We pulled into a market, and this hogan was sitting out in front of the store. I put my fisheye lens on the dirt floor and set the camera on self timer. That’s me and Jack standing in the doorway (and reflected in lens-bounce). This shows pretty clearly the ingenious method for framing hogan roofs, with succeeding layers of poles overlapping at 45° angles. They were then covered with soil (and probably bark underneath). This photo appears on page 35 of Shelter.
We got a shipment of baby chicks in the mail a couple months ago, and 2/3 of them died. A combination of cold weather, too long in transit, and the fact that they are all bantams, which are quite small. We ordered another shipment of 28 bantams, and yesterday I drove up the Petaluma to pick them up at the main branch post office, so we got them a day earlier than if we’d waited for them to be delivered to our town. This batch looks really healthy, they’re already running around like a bunch of little punks. We keep them in the house under in a big box under an infrared light for a few weeks, then put them in a special wired-off area in the chicken yard, still under a light, until they’re feathered out.
On my way home with the box of peeping chicks, I spotted this little building on wheels (at 1840 Petaluma Blvd. N.) There are 4-5 other little buildings there on wheels, the builder is Stephen Marshall, and the website is: https://littlehouseonthetrailer.com/
Tiny houses are hot right now!
“…these little cabins need a new home and are free to anyone that can take them away. There are four identical cabins, each measuring about 12′ by 12′. The only catch is that they must be removed by July 31, 2010… Each cabin measures approximately 12′ x 12′ with a small bathroom and kitchen area. Exterior features include novelty siding, exposed rafter tails, original windows and door, and Craftsman-style entry hoods. These are great examples of roadside architecture and could be rehabilitated into wonderful little guest cottages, playhouses or retreats.”
From Michael Jantzen’s Tiny House Design: https://www.tinyhousedesign.com/
Michael McNamara sent this photo of Lloyd’s current residence. He extended the walls of a van to create this beautiful space. He was building it when I visited him a year or so ago. It was a cold day and we had some tea sitting around the little stove he’d welded up out of an old propane tank with a wok for a door. It’ll be in our forthcoming book on tiny houses.
