It’s got me thinking and reading about houses at the other end of the scale. Today I’ve been looking at Tiny Free House, which is a blog written by a guy who’s building a small house using materials others discard. The blogger, Michael Janzen, summarizes:

I’ve embarked on a little experiment. I’m building a tiny house that’s cross between Henry David Thoreau’s cabin at Walden Pond and a Tumbleweed-like Tiny House on wheels, the only difference is that it will cost nothing. Any money I spend on building materials will be recouped by selling discarded things I find and most of the wood will come from old shipping pallets. Why Pallets? It just seems like poetic justice for a house that questions consumerism to be made from the very things that carried so many products to market.

Michael has a couple of other blogs on the go. One is Tiny House Design (Less is more sustainable) which is about the design of small houses and making the mental transition to living lighter and smaller. There’s also Do It Yourself Freedom, about which Michael says:

In the summer of 2007 I had one of those Ah-HA moments we all have from time to time. The only difference with this Ah-HA moment was that it inspired me to write a book, change jobs, begin building a tiny free house, and rethink my values, lifestyle, and future. But the most important thing I uncovered was a simple way for anyone to immediately achieve more time, more happiness, and more success… [continue]

Hmmm. Well, there’s something to think about next time you look at all the expensive houses profiled on the window of the real estate place.

Mark Boyle said giving up his job, possessions and money to live the life of a pauper in a rusty old caravan was the best decision he has ever made.

(A caravan is a British term; we’d say trailer here.)

The 30-year-old has vowed to continue with his money-free life for good, adding: It’s been fantastic. I never really knew how much stress and worry money brought to my life until I was free of it.

People often ask me if I miss my old world… stress, traffic jams, bank statements, utility bills… why would I miss any of that? Now I’ve tasted life without money I never want to go back to the way I lived before.

Mr Boyle said he survives by growing vegetables on his one-acre plot of land. He also forages for mushrooms, nuts and berries, as well as [continue]

Twenty-two years ago Heidemarie Schwermer, a middle-aged secondary school teacher just emerging from a difficult marriage, moved with her two children from the village of Lueneburg to the city of Dortmund, in the Ruhr area of Germany, whose homeless population, she immediately noticed, was above average and striking in its intransigent hopelessness.

Her immediate reaction was shock. This isn’t right, this can’t go on, she said to herself. After careful reflection she set up what in Germany is called a Tauschring — a sort of swap shop — a place where people can exchange their skills or possessions for other skills and possessions, a money-free zone where a haircut could be rendered in return for car maintenance; a still-functioning but never-used toaster be exchanged for a couple of second-hand cardigans. She called it Gib und Nimm, Give and Take. [continue]

Um, wow.

I think a Tauschring like the one Heidemarie started would be perfect for Gabriola, don’t you?