Tiny Houses

Actually, it is the minimalist movement that is very popular with Millennials. There will be more and more. People are downsizing and eliminating the cost and maintenance from their lives. Life's to short to be painting and cutting grass when you have more freedom to move around at intervals.

qtla9111 wrote:
I wonder if that's pretty much what they said back in the 30s when travel trailers were becoming popular. Just a fad. I think they said the same thing about television.

They also called pet rocks, beanie babies, parachute pants, leisure suits and disco music fads. I think tiny houses are more Village People than they are Mozart.

Naio wrote:
In the 1970s tiny houses were pretty popular in the west. They were called housetrucks then.

The only thing that is new is people in other parts of the world seeing them.

I suppose if a vintage canned ham trailer without a bathroom is an rv, then so is a tiny house.

A Google search shows that house trucks were self propelled, so they were meant to travel around. They are uglier than Cinderella's stepsisters, to say the least. Today's "tiny houses" are nothing more than poorly designed park models, without the option to easily move them when necessary. Kind of an expensive and impractical version of a single wide mobile home. I still believe the entire "movement" is 99.94 percent television hype. You get your tiny home and your 15 minutes of fame and are left with a giant white elephant in your yard and a big hole in your bank account.

In the 1970s tiny houses were pretty popular in the west. They were called housetrucks then.

The only thing that is new is people in other parts of the world seeing them.

I suppose if a vintage canned ham trailer without a bathroom is an rv, then so is a tiny house.

I wonder if that's pretty much what they said back in the 30s when travel trailers were becoming popular. Just a fad. I think they said the same thing about television.

westernrvparkowner wrote:
I see tiny houses as a creation of television. I don't think there is any great national migration into these things. You are about as likely to walk into your neighborhood swamp and find people who are "naked and afraid" as you are to find actual functioning neighborhoods of these tiny houses. Jerry Springer proved people would do anything to get on TV, and the tiny house shows prove things haven't changed. And no, they are not considered RVs, to do so would be insulting to real RVs.

Yeah, this kind of thinking kinda qualifies tiny houses as a pretty good idea for a HGTV or DIY TV show. X2

westernrvparkowner wrote:
I see tiny houses as a creation of television. I don't think there is any great national migration into these things. You are about as likely to walk into your neighborhood swamp and find people who are "naked and afraid" as you are to find actual functioning neighborhoods of these tiny houses. Jerry Springer proved people would do anything to get on TV, and the tiny house shows prove things haven't changed. And no, they are not considered RVs, to do so would be insulting to real RVs.

Well stated!!

I don't see any need for a "new fad" like this, as the function they provide has already been around for decades. They are called "park model" trailers and yes, there's versions of park model trailers with decks and upper story lofts.

I view "tiny houses" as - either promoting something new just to make some entrepreneurs money, or - an attempt at getting folks into inexpensive permanent/semi-permanent living via non-self-contained trailers without the stigma that sometimes goes with "trailer living".

We have a park model trailer in our back yard being used for reasonably priced semi-permanent living ... but we and it's occupant view it for what it is ... a non-self-contained trailer that can indeed be moved when necessary, but in between moves has it's axles removed and it's frame on raised supports.

It seems like mankind would fade away without fads.

check out Tumbleweed Tiny Homes. Some quality as RVs.

Click Here

From their site:
The Cypress is a RVIA Certified Travel Trailer RV with standard RV hookups for water and electrical. Included is our On-Site Warranty. Delivery to your door is an option.

From a legal point of view, an RV is usually defined by a state's DMV (or equivalent agency) and I think based on federal DOT regulations. Usually it needs to have some minimum number of specified features, things like cooking facilities, built-in plumbing systems, an electric system, a sleeping space, etc.

If a tiny house met those criteria, it could be registered as an RV, which can have some benefits in terms of licensing, insurance, etc. If not, it would presumably just be an ordinary trailer.

I see tiny houses as a creation of television. I don't think there is any great national migration into these things. You are about as likely to walk into your neighborhood swamp and find people who are "naked and afraid" as you are to find actual functioning neighborhoods of these tiny houses. Jerry Springer proved people would do anything to get on TV, and the tiny house shows prove things haven't changed. And no, they are not considered RVs, to do so would be insulting to real RVs.