I want to tell you about something that I think will be super helpful as you plan, design and build your tiny house. And I think that this conversation will give you just a taste of the wisdom and insights that you will gain from Sarah, through her book that has now become an entire franchise of Not So Big House, Not So Big Life. And I can't stress enough how inspiring this book was to me when I was designing my tiny house. Sarah Susanka published her world changing book, I'm just gonna say it, the Not So Big House in 1998. I am sure that she has inspired many of the well known tiny house designers and thinkers that you know of today. My guest today is like a secret rock star in the tiny house world. But I am super glad that I had the experience because after that, you know that you can survive on much less than in our society we normally ever imagined. I was searching for his first home design following the 1977 release of his book.Personally, I wouldn't choose to live that way forever. He was a University of California Berkeley professor but also a practicing architect. This cabin has been a big hit for their family of five and friends, and can be found in The Family Cabin, pages 188-193.Ī few weeks ago I had reason to be researching the early work of Christopher Alexander, principal author of A Pattern Language.

These included #105 South Facing Outdoor Living”, #109,”Long Thin House”, #117,”Sheltering Roof”, #133,”Staircase as Stage”, and #144, “Bathing Room”. On a recent project for our clients Steve and Susan on a property near Ely, they had highlighted over 71 patterns for their small cabin. And it’s a push for us to ask new clients to read the 1200 page tome before we begin their project. Their home became the gathering point for neighborhood children and was affectionately named, “The Hobbit.” Since that esoteric beginning and a couple of thousand designs later, only a few clients have arrived with patterns in hand, although it’s likely that we slip a few patterns into each of our designs. These included #136, “Couple’s Realm”, #139, ”Farmhouse Kitchen”, #197, ”Thick Walls”, and #203, “Child Cave”. Our clients, the Johansen’s, had identified 27 patterns they thought important in the design of their modest home. Examples #15, “Neighborhood Boundaries”, #135, Tapestries of Light and Dark”, #242, “Front Door Bench”. These commence at the macro scale and end at the micro scale. A Pattern Language highlights 253 patterns the authors deemed important in the design of towns and buildings, drawn from cultural patterns across cultures and continents. I asked Sarah to join me in this endeavor as her Master’s thesis engaged with ideas from the book. Doesn’t “SALA House” have a nice ring to it? Let me share a little serendipitous tale with you. In 1983 Sarah Susanka and I started our firm when a project came my way due to my knowledge of a treatise titled, A Pattern Language.

Sarah susanka homes