Last fall we started working on house plans for a modified version of the Marmara tiny house, once we discovered that there are no restrictions on Gabriola Island on the minimum size of a house. My idea was to have an L-shaped house built on a foundation, basically the Marmara design with a small yoga studio on one side, that would double as a guest bedroom, using a murphy bed.
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| Devlin's Design |
While we completed the design in November, it wasn't until our draftsman Devlin started drawing up the plans that we realized that the design I wanted did not comply with seismic code requirements for the island, and possible solutions interfered with the open concept I would like to have. We started exploring other designs, in particular an intriguing looking house Devlin thought up that was like three small rectangles joined in the middle.
A few days ago, after playing around with the layout of this house for quite a long time, I decided that it really didn't work as an open concept home with a loft. I was also concerned that the house was getting too big and expensive - close to 800 square feet and almost twice the cost I had originally budgeted for.
Coming full circle, I wanted to go back to basics, which was to build a small but elegant tiny house that would not be very expensive. So I looked at all of the options I had considered previously and a few new ones including:
- The Marmara tiny house from Four Lights
- Norse log cabins, from a company located in Nanaimo, especially one called the Eagle Point, a two-story log chalet that was too large for me but had a unique hexagonal living room.
- Hummingbird's Cowboy tiny house on wheels
- Other tiny house designs, such as one by David Vandervort, an architect in Seattle, which is charming but too small. Here is a link to it: Woodland Cabin
- At the Ottawa Home show I explored the Zen design for a modular home built by the Quebec company Maisons Bonneville, which was lovely and spacious, but with a flat roof, and a modern look that was beautiful, but not my style.
In the process I also discovered another tiny home builder located in Nanaimo, Rewild Homes.
And so we have come full circle, and today's plan is to build the Marmara, either on a foundation or on wheels, whichever works out best for the design and cost. At a later date, if I wish I could easily build a small yoga studio and guest cottage, that could be located elsewhere on the property.
