Category Archive

building a house

What the hell are the financing options for non-traditional homes?

We’d convert the top floor into a swinging loft where we’d reside, and the bottom level would be studio and manufacturing space for my husband’s freelance art business, possibly with a storefront gallery. Yet, we’re having a terrible time finding funding for such a building. Why is it so difficult for banks to catch up to current trends, and be willing to fund live-work scenarios? What financing options are out there for people like us who aren’t at home in a “normal” home?

What should we be considering when we build our own home?

My husband and I are looking at building our first home. I just wanted to ask the Homies about any experiences that they’ve had when building their first homes (good and bad), and what they wish they’d known/considered first.

A great lesson in DIY, eco-friendly, backyard art studios

If you’ve ever thought about building an art studio in your backyard, you can really learn a thing or two from Chris and Jean’s hand-made art studio. But tell me, is this making you realize YOU could build your own art retreat in your backyard?

Rick and Annie’s handbuilt treehouse in Australia

What would it be like to inhabit a normal-sized home that’s actually a treehouse? Now we know. We picked up a friend of ours and offered her a ride, and we didn’t know we were in for such a treat when we got to her destination!

Building a tiny house/sleep shed for the backyard of our cooperative

This year I decided I wanted to build my own tiny house after being inspired by many other examples such as Tumbleweed. It’s 150 square feet, uses passive solar heating, has an earthen floor and a green roof, and I built it (almost) entirely by myself as an addition to my cooperative home.

I grew up in a log cabin my parents built: Log cabin contemplations

It was 1975 and my parents’ “back to the land” impulses were in full swing. Although they had an infant (me) and were a geography professor and a nursing student (him, her) with no experience in construction or building (any of us), they decided to build a log cabin on Bainbridge Island, WA. My father, ever the researcher, read a bunch of books about the subject, and March of 1976 they broke ground on the 1000 square foot cabin I grew up in.

In 2011, I temporarily moved back in.

Will and Helen and the house they built — with their own hands

Morgan brings us a photographic tour of this Alabama home — built from the ground up by its owners. Complete with a spiral staircase, concrete countertops, and hand-made ceiling timbers.

A steampunk studio built from the studs up

Even if you only have a passing interest in Steampunk, Doktor A’s studio construction will make you drool. From Edison-style light switches to custom cast iron radiators, the studio is startlingly authentic.