Portable Houses features traditional movable dwellings around the world, from a houseboat in Sausalito to a gypsy wagon in the English countryside. Authors Irene Rawlings and Mary Abel provide essential information on making movable homes functional and practical, along with chapters on acquiring the necessary tools and gear for travel, problem solving with each type of portable house, and converting the dream into highway-legal reality. With photography of some of the world's most ingenious and unique portable structures, Portable Houses will inspire the migratory-minded to turn ordinary modes of transportation into creative living spaces. Rawlings proves that it really is possible for the dedicated, nomadic, do-it-yourselfer to make the road a comfortable home!

Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction to Tiny Houses Chapter Two: Building Codes and Zoning Requirements Chapter Three: Buying and Registering a Trailer Chapter Four: Tools and Materials required Chapter Five: Foundation Chapter Six: Flooring Chapter Seven: Walls Chapter Eight: Roofs Chapter Nine: Doors and Windows Chapter Ten: A note on Wiring and Plumbing Chapter Eleven: Tips Pointers for decluttering your wardrobe: Plans Resource Guide Publisher Introduction to Tiny Houses The Tiny House Movement The tiny house movement is gaining momentum and popularity for it cost effectiveness and simplicity. People who support this movement are happy to live in a downsized home -- their tiny house is a lifestyle that they adopt/adapt and are happy in doing so. While one might argue the disadvantages of living in a tiny space, the financial freedom that it brings along cannot be disregarded. The average size of a house in the United States of America was 1,500 square feet in the 1950's; now, when the family sizes are shrinking, the average house size is 2,400 square feet. The lavish spaces in a 2,400 square feet house lies dormant for most part of the year. One such classic example is the living room, which serves it purpose for a couple of hours during the Christmas season... rest of the time its existence is hardly noticed or acknowledged; ditto for the multiple bathrooms, the huge dining room, bedrooms, and garage parking. The cost one pays for a huge home that is hardly used is hefty -- a mortgage that stretches almost until the end of one's retirement. Add to this the maintenance cost and the carbon footprint of a huge house!

Many homes across America have designs based on plans taken from pattern books or mail-order catalogs. In Houses from Books, Daniel D. Reiff traces the history of published plans and offers the first comprehensive survey of their influence on the structure and the style of American houses from 1738 to 1950. Houses from Books shows that architectural publications, from Palladio&’s I Quattro Libri to Aladdin's Readi-Cut Homes, played a decisive role in every aspect of American domestic building. Reiff discusses the people and the firms who produced the books as well as the ways in which builders and architects adapted the designs in communities throughout the country. His book also offers a wide-ranging analysis of the economic and social conditions shaping American building practices. As architectural publication developed and grew more sophisticated, it played an increasingly prominent part in the design and the construction of domestic buildings. In villages and small towns, which often did not have professional architects, the publications became basic resources for carpenters and builders at all levels of expertise. Through the use of published designs, they were able to choose among a variety of plans, styles, and individual motifs and engage in a fruitful dialogue with past and present architects. Houses from Books reconstructs this dialogue by examining the links between the published designs and the houses themselves. Reiff&’s book will be indispensable to architectural historians, architects, preservationists, and regional historians. Realtors and homeowners will also find it of great interest. A catalog at the end of the book can function as a guide for those attempting to locate a model and a date for a particular design. Houses from Books contains a wealth of photographs, many by the author, that enhance its importance as a history and guide.

This Old House meets Wayne’s World in this zany guide to designing and building tiny homes Derek Diedricksen has always had a love for small, modest houses ever since his father gave him the book Tiny Tiny Houses by Lester Walker for his tenth birthday. Combining his artistic abilities, wild imagination, and his passion for small houses, he self-published Humble Homes, Simple Shacks, Cozy Cottages, Ramshackle Retreats, Funky Forts, and Whatever the Heck Else we could Squeeze in Here in 2009. This book is a collection of Diedricksen’s creative/imaginative sketches for building small houses, shacks, cottages, and forts. The sketches are accompanied with hand-written commentary, both instructive and comical. Derek’s main purpose is to get your creative juices flowing and encourage you to get off the couch and use your hands. Believing that specific building plans squash creativity, he avoids too many detailed instructions, giving you the chance to put your own creative spin on your very own small abode (even if it is just in your imagination).

Reprint of rare original catalog includes huge illustrated selection of building materials, fixtures and trimmings, complete with descriptions, specifications, and prices. Hundreds of black-and-white illustrations.