By Kimberley Rino-Lightfoot
Tiny houses have recently become a new trend amongst the adventurers of this world. But now they may be lifesavers – not just an adventure….
Nicholas Tomlinson, a tiny house devotee, lives in beautiful surroundings in the Golf Islands of Canada. It’s the perfect place for a 31-year-old whose main hobbies are salvaging different types of metal, recording, writing music and building things.
His biggest hobby, however, is his residence: a folding tiny house that featured on the programme called Exploring Alternatives on Youtube and featured in an online Vice article.
His unique tiny house is just 15ft long and 8.5ft wide with wings on both sides, making it expand to12 feet wide when the wings are opened. It’s built with almost 100% recyclable materials and all windows were handcrafted by Tomlinson and his friends.
“I try to never put a door at the end. It can avoid having the hallway effect inside the tinyhouse. Walking straight in from one end to another waste a lot of usable space,” said Thomlinson.
When Thomlison started building his tiny houses 6 years ago, his main goal was to build things he needed.
“I wanted to build for myself and not just for clients. It’s quite impossible for someone my age to get into the housing market round here where I live. So, doing little structures was the only thing I could do,” said Thomlinson.
The roof and the wings of the tinyhouse were painted in a baby blue colour where Thomlison, giving it an authentic look. It is a 1970’s trailer that Thomlinson tore down a couple of years ago.
The roof is reclaimed metal from a house that he and his friends renovated on the property, which according to Thomlinson was ‘pretty grubby’.
All isolation is a one and a half rigid foam which is salvaged, including the wood. The wings are like swings, set on both side which helps support the sleeping and cooking section.
“The bump outs are waterproof. So, if any water gets in the bump outs, it’s an interior gutter system that the water goes down and hits the barge board and kicks off”
The main source of heat is a remarkable stove next to the sitting area on the opposite side of the entrance door with beautiful bay windows. When the wings are open, the kitchen is wired as a single appliance, which plugs into the wall powering the counter lights and all other appliances and the sleeping area features a double bed, ample storage underneath and a huge hopper window above, creating a beautiful sunlight and is also a great way to watch the stars at night.
“I didn’t build a bathroom due to size of the tinyhouse. It’s a really open space and that’s what the design was for. On Salt Spring, people live on community farms with something like this and there’s bathrooms already there so it fits the land here well,” said Thomlinson.
According to the tinyhouse lover, if one wants to build a tinyhouse, ‘the interior design is really important as that’s the main place someone will live in and it will be small. Take time to do the interior design and then see how it plays out with the exterior design’.
' His tiny houses really brings you back in time giving a 70's and 80's gypsy vibe' said Lauren O'Gara who lived in the Salt Islands with Tomlinson for 6 years and is now an Architect in London.
Maybe living in a tinyhouse doesn’t sound so bad after all.
Comentarios