12 x 12 mini cabins..anyone seen any plans or links?

[ScotchPine]

I've searched and found many super "small house" plans but usually well under 100sq ft. I'm interested in concepts where several mini's are built separately with a common breezeway or deck between them.

144 ft is the maximum allowable sized structure without need of permits in my area. The nice thing is, aside from my existing cabin, I'm allowed three such structures per lot. I own several lots so there are many possibilities. I'm considering making a guest camp on one lot, beginning with a 12 x 12 bunkhouse, mini-kitchen and direct vent space heater. My neighbor, a builder, quoted me a price under $1400 for a roughed in Amish shed, which I can do the rest of the improvements on. Second stage, build another 12 x 12 adjacent or facing it, for dining/living, and later, maybe even a third, for kitchen or bath. Nothing fancy.. three season primitive, really.

I'd swear I've seen this concept on the web years ago. The mini-cabin sites usually focus on super tiny cabins, and jam every possible thing into that space. Any ideas, sources, links, experience, greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
PineCone

[rsbhunter]

Pinecone, iv'e thought of the same concept...make SURE that your code, or HOA, or covenants don't have a clause that prohibits these structures being joined, if there terminology states including "porches, decks, or other things that they could consider making them "one structure"....It's a stacked deck in there favor most times...i honestly wish that there was alot of land that could be owned without codes, covenants, or hoops that had to be jumped through...but......anyway, keep me informed what the outcome is, as there are alot of people that are looking to "get away" from the conventional life...rsbhunter

[ScotchPine]

Good point about what constitutes a "single structure". There may be a minimum setback or other stipulations like you mentioned. I've been told by the local builder that there is no specific height restriction on the 12 x 12, so I may add a couple of feet on the walls with a 12:12 pitch roof. Nice to have space for a couple of bunks and foot lockers upstairs.

One of these beds would work great downstairs.
http://www.homeexteriorinterior.com/interior-pictures/2009/12/Small-Cabin-Decorating-Ideas-and-Design-Plans03.jpg

[ScotchPine]

Here's a 100 sq ft um.. cabin. Not quite a shed, but has a big deck that could face another structure. Though it's not really my style, at least it's light and airy inside.
http://gizmodo.com/5910808/the-nicest-micro+cabin-10000-can-buy

Nice in the warmer months.. but there's no way I'm laying outside on a daybed come October.



"Hello, this is Ikea calling. We'd like our furniture back".

[offthegridcortland]

I wanted to do just what you are suggesting here.  For me, them maximum was 120 sq. ft., so 10x12.  Years later I have some conflicting feelings on the place.  On the one hand, it worked.  I have a little place in the woods.  It mostly gets used by me and my dog, but on one adventurous weekend the dog, wife, son combo accompanied me.  It was tight and fun.  On the other hand, it's never too far from camping- I mean, it's much better than tent camping, but you are roughing it.  You are constantly thinking about/ dealing with space.  There's just not much of it- especially as you add the comforts that make getting away fun- for me at least.  This becomes more acute when you go up for a hunting trip or it rains and clothes get wet.  It's not tough to heat a 120 sq. ft. structure, but it is tough to heat two of them, or three.  And even though you think it's three season, nights get chilly.  Four ten foot walls and four twelve foot walls will get you two 10x12 structures or one 20x24 structure with double the sq. footage.  In retrospect, I think I would have been better served to not try and sidestep the whole inspector/permit thing, play the game and have a more easily used structure.

You can see my tiny cabin by clicking on my username and going down to one of my first posts (I think it was number three).  You can see I have enough windows for a bigger structure.    The porches all fold up and down so they don't add to the sq. footage.

[Checi]

I'm building 2 small houses right now: One is a 14x24 and the other is a 10x14. Both are from the Little House plans. I'm putting them in an interior corner of my property next to each other at offset angles. I'm putting shed roofs on both to match. However, I'm not building them as my residence like others here. They are being built as interim housing for me and my daughter while at the property, getting ready to build a larger log cabin on the hill. I'm sorta doing what you're saying by connecting the structures with a deck and on the deck will be the shared composting toilet structure.  Building separately gives us both our own little place, privacy, while we share the space that has our food preparation area and "shower".

I also purchased the book "The Small House Book" by Jay Shafer for more ideas about other tiny houses I may want to dot my property with.

I understand your disgust with the coding and inspection. I think Jay Shafer called it "mandatory consumption" by requiring that the house you want be bigger than the house you need.  There is a town in my county that just passed a law that your lot has to be of a minimum size to build a home on it and it has to have a minimum frontage of 150 feet with a specific ratio of house to lot size. My little town requires homes to be a minimum of 1000sq feet. My cabin plans are for a 30x30. Why should I have to cough up another 10x10 space to satisfy an arbitrary government requirement? I'm a single woman building for myself. What is another 100 sq ft going to contribute to my rural town?

Good luck with your project!!

[rsbhunter]

The codes and covenants are really getting out of hand, and then you read how all Americans are "wasteful"...True, some people base success on sq. footage, but alot just want to live, without encroaching on anybody else, and not being encroached upon!!! I understand not wanting mobile homes in a millionaire's gated community, but in the county, people who choose to live there, are mostly people that judge success by satisfying thier inner needs, not extravagance...But, again......this is America....Thank God!!!!rsbhunter

[ScotchPine]

In the city, regulations are a necessary evil. Like a stoplight, it prevents a collision at the intersection of my personal freedom and yours. When you're living in the forest and doing your own thing, they're no more than a handy way of controlling you and extracting your money for "the public good". Sadly, my state, NY, ranks last in lists that rate "personal freedoms". The tax men found their way through the tiny twisting fireroads, forded a brook, and made their way through the ravines that cross this 1000 acres. They came to get what's theirs before the cement had dried on my foundation.

[alex trent]

Fact is, even way back on the land you  impact things around you. Things that can impact my personal freedom. Polluting the water with a bad sewerage plan is just one that comes to mind.

As far as the tax man...well why does living back in the woods exempt you from that.  You do use a real road to get there. Forest fire service. Environmental protection.....well you get it. You use services too. Like it or not, you should share the cost with all.

Yeah, the public good is a good thing. It costs money. You want to hide so you don't have to pay.  Bahhhhh

[ScotchPine]

Fact is, even way back on the land you  impact things around you. Things that can impact my personal freedom. Polluting the water with a bad sewerage plan is just one that comes to mind.

As far as the tax man...well why does living back in the woods exempt you from that.  You do use a real road to get there. Forest fire service. Environmental protection.....well you get it. You use services too. Like it or not, you should share the cost with all.

Yeah, the public good is a good thing. It costs money. You want to hide so you don't have to pay.  Bahhhhh

Nice rant. Spoken like a bean counter or civil servant. You must be the neighbor who loves to look over everyone's fence and make sure everything is kosher.  I've paid thousands for my permits, my septic application, engineering reports, and way more in taxes than any local I've met. Pumped over a hundred grand into local merchants and given grants to non-profits and the police. Though I visit seasonally, I pay 7 times the school taxes of any neighbors with a similar acreage but have no children in school. I've been a volly in a local FD. I've provided dozen of jobs as a business owner. I do not claim an "exemption" from my fair share of taxes because I live in the woods.

My point was that no matter where in this land you go, death and taxes are inevitable. At least we escape death for a little while... and while my neighbors lose their farms, my town's property taxes are due to be raised again this year, enforced by satellite imagery of course, to protect folks like you, "against bad sewerage plans".

[alex trent]

I am surprised you don't get a special exemption for sainthood.  I am sure the local would vote for you just to get you into heaven and out of their hair. You should thank me for my comments ...it gave you an opportunity to extoll all your many virtues.

[rick91351]

I am surprised you don't get a special exemption for sainthood.  I am sure the local would vote for you just to get you into heaven and out of their hair.

[ScotchPine]

Now that you mention it, I'll ask my accountant! 

[Squirl]

I am building in Otsego county.  Maybe double check the height restriction. My county also has the 144 sq. ft. shed rule, but there is an overall 16 ft height restriction for anything without a permit.  There is normally a height restriction on many books so that people don't start erecting towers.
With my foundation, floor joists, 8.2 ft walls and 5:4 pitched roof, I was just under the 16 ft mark (not that anyone was really going to measure).

I am very interested in any 12x12 floor plans you find.  I am also looking for them.  Many of my friends are not from the area, and I may want to build one as an emergency bunk house in case I ever have a ton of friends show up at once.

Someone recently posted a 118. http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=12375.0
There are a few that may be able to be adapted from the under 200. http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=641.0

I've been kicking around a few ideas.  I have an 8x12 and the "bathroom" is off to one 8ft side.  It has a porta potty to the left, a window and door in the middle, and an area for a shower tub to the right.  I like having the bathroom area slightly away from the sitting/sleeping area.  If two people are sharing the space, it gives a little more privacy.

[ScotchPine]

I am building in Otsego county.  Maybe double check the height restriction. My county also has the 144 sq. ft. shed rule, but there is an overall 16 ft height restriction for anything without a permit.  There is normally a height restriction on many books so that people don't start erecting towers.
With my foundation, floor joists, 8.2 ft walls and 5:4 pitched roof, I was just under the 16 ft mark (not that anyone was really going to measure).

I am very interested in any 12x12 floor plans you find.  I am also looking for them.  Many of my friends are not from the area, and I may want to build one as an emergency bunk house in case I ever have a ton of friends show up at once.

Someone recently posted a 118. http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=12375.0
There are a few that may be able to be adapted from the under 200. http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=641.0

I've been kicking around a few ideas.  I have an 8x12 and the "bathroom" is off to one 8ft side.  It has a porta potty to the left, a window and door in the middle, and an area for a shower tub to the right.  I like having the bathroom area slightly away from the sitting/sleeping area.  If two people are sharing the space, it gives a little more privacy.

I'll check it out, Squirl. Is the height restriction in Otsego from ground to peak or to eave? I would think if it's to peak, there would be plenty flat roofed houses around. Loft-wise in such a small footprint, I'd hope to get two simple bunks in. My small camp did well using Ikea beds as they're so low to the ground I got them against the knee wall.

I like your idea of setting the latrine off to the side for privacy. I'd consider the same concept in mine. As you said, the mini will mostly for emergencies when guests show up or when the neighbors, for whatever reason  , can't drive home.

[Checi]

Fact is, even way back on the land you  impact things around you. Things that can impact my personal freedom. Polluting the water with a bad sewerage plan is just one that comes to mind.

As far as the tax man...well why does living back in the woods exempt you from that.  You do use a real road to get there. Forest fire service. Environmental protection.....well you get it. You use services too. Like it or not, you should share the cost with all.

Yeah, the public good is a good thing. It costs money. You want to hide so you don't have to pay.  Bahhhhh

I don't know what the tax code is in Nicaragua but here in NY we still have to pay property or school taxes whether or not there is a structure on the land. I think the point was that when building a home, there are other seemingly arbitrary codes required by the home owner to follow despite the needlessness.  A minimum size code in place only enriches the town, city or state in higher taxes per sq foot and in sales taxes and corporate profits on lumber, concrete, materials and in resources and energy to heat, cool the place. A neighborhood of McMansions brings in lots of tax money and is occupied by guzzling consumers but the homes are full of empty unused spaces. Build a big honking house and you have to pay to maintain all the unused wasteful space. In this day and age of dwindling expensive resources it is irresponsible. McMansions aren't even built that well so it's a myth that if a small, well-built home is built nearby that it would lower the property values which are only market values anyway.  In fact, many small homes cost more per square foot than the big corporate built consumer homes. Since the trend started nationally to downsize homes to a necessary size rather than wasteful McMansion size, many minimum size codes have been challenged in courts and found to be unconstitutional.

As Martin Luther King wrote many years ago, if the law is wrong, it needs to be changed, not just blindly enforced. Blind adherence is just that, blind. If I look for ways to reduce my tax load, that is called freedom. I prefer to sacrifice unused and unneeded space and spend less on materials and energy and keep more money in my pocket. Corporations do it all the time. But it's "bahhh" to the people who live in our states who want to do so?  Curious that you should think so from your perch outside the 50.

[Squirl]

I generally think the property taxes in NY are semi-fair, but they are different for every jurisdiction.  I see where most of my money goes and so far, I feel I have always gotten more than I paid.

I did notice that there are taxation programs that give an exemption to primary residences.  If you property is not your primary residence you do not get the exemption and you pay more.  Most people in jurisdictions who vote seem to like to have out of towners pay more than they do.  In reality I believe that is because the out of towners do not have the power to vote in local elections, the only way to vote is with their feet, but we usually don't.  It may be why the land is so cheap.

In my land search I didn't run into any jurisdictions with minimum size requirements.  Is that within the blue line?

[Checi]

No, not inside the blue line. Many places have minimum size requirements. In my town it's 1000 sqft.

[rsbhunter]

Checi and Squirl, thank you for the eloquent explanation as to the soured feelings towards townships, counties and HOA's that feel it is necessary to dictate the size of your personal living quarters....Some restrictions, such as trash, junk vehicles, and others that do honestly make the immediate area seem less than desirable  may have some merit, but then again , for some, maybe not. My county has no bldg inspector, (honest), but the covenants state that a year round "dwelling" must be 600 SqFt. Not that that is a superstructure in anyway, but it still makes me wonder why, as i am 10 miles from a paved road, at 10,000 ft elevation, and  each parcel is 5 acres or better....so there won't be any mobile homes being placed next to a "McMansion" (i love that term!)       rsbhunter

[alex trent]

I think the point was that when building a home, there are other seemingly arbitrary codes required by the home owner to follow despite the needlessness.

There has been some misunderstanding. I think part of that is there are several different subjects mixed into the discussion: codes, size restrictions and tax.

We have had long discussions on code and the good bad and ugly of them.  I think the general feeling is that there are some dumb things in them, but for the most part they are important to building "safe" structures.....so we take the dumb stuff with that. From what is written here, size restrictions are part of the code..or seen as such, but are quite another thing that is not the same as "use this many nails". I think they are intrusive. Find it hard to see how 600 sq feet is not as good as 1,000 to live in or even 300 if you want it.  In NICA I live a large part of the time in a 800 sq foot cabin (if I count the deck as living space and i do) and find it great. Living in minimalist surroundings is invigorating for me and my place looks just fine (I have no neighbors so this is not really important).

So, I do not like size restrictions at all.  But, I can see how restrictions to keep tarp shacks, or old vans from being used as dwellings is important to many people..me included. It is difficult to restrict them by name (we live in a society in the USA where political correctness often trumps common sense) so I think the size stuff is an alternate way of doing that. I hate trailers but for some, they fill the bill and who am I to say they look terrible?  That is what gets us into the size conundrum. I do not think it is all driven by trying to get people to build 4,000 sq foot houses, although i am just cynical enough to think that may be a reason in some places.

As for me right now, I have no neighbors within a mile or so. On the way up the mountain on an otherwise very pretty road, as a dozen or so shacks wrapped in mostly black plastic, and some scrap tin.  Built right on the road by squatters on property that is absentee owned. They are very difficult to dislodge because of the way things are here. Worried the hell out of me and I fretted and cussed them every time I went by.  On reflection, I have softened. Its their home. Keeps hem dry. It is all they have and likely all they will ever have. It's an eyesore to me ( and others), but I find it hard to wish them bad luck. But it endangers my property, because where they settle, more will come.

As far as taxes, you pay what you pay. If you do not like it, get involved and change it. I cannot get involved in NICA, but in USA, the people set the local tax and in USA the majority rule. It's why we are what we are, which for better or worse is top of the heap.  Can the money often be spent better,yep.  But that is not in the same bucket as building codes or size restrictions, except for those who want to lump all things about government they do not like into one heap. To me that dilutes the valid parts of their argument, which many of them make very well.

[AdironDoc]

Do municipalities usually consider a porch roof in the overall dimensions of the structure? I've seen a few shed plans for a "12x12" that were actually a 8x12 enclosure with a 4ft overhang. If they do, than any overhang I'd add would need to be more of an awning.

Way I see it, if I'm actually going to spend time inside a micro cabin, I'm not going to let that extra 48sqft area go to waste. If it's really designed as a shed with the convenience of a porch roof, then I'm not going to spend time sitting in front of my shed when it's raining 

[MountainDon]

Do municipalities usually consider a porch roof in the overall dimensions of the structure?

I have not researched this to be certain of the answer, BUT I believe it varies from place to place, just as there is no hard rule as to how many square feet demands a builder obtain a building permit. Here, the roof line over a porch/deck is considered when looking at the distances from property lines and other structures. It will also affect the square footage used to calculate the cost of the building permit for said building.  So like many things, It Depends.   

[rick91351]

Here in the wilds of Idaho it does effect the cost of permitting.  As far a taxation and appraisal so noted as being there but unheated if I remember correctly.

[AdironDoc]

I just spoke to the town code enforcement agent who happens to live down the road. He noted that a regular overhang is not included in the overall dimensions but that a shed style overhang large enough to cover a woodpile, for example, is. It is considered irregular and outside typical overhang dimensions and design. Ironically, he noted, is that there is no language in town zoning mentioning height restrictions. Only that the structure be 12 x 12 in it's footprint. He noted that although an larger overhang might cost me, a three story 12 x 12 wouldn't! 

[Squirl]

No height restriction!






I'd do it.