Brian Schulz wanted to see “how small of a house I could make feel big”. Inspired by the traditional Japanese minka homes that rely on local materials and steeply sloped roofs to create affordable, open structures, Schulz created a home using materials salvaged or sourced from within 10 miles of his home.

The result is a 14-by-16-foot home iin tune with its surroundings that cost only 11,000 dollars – mostly for concrete, shakes and insulation-, along with about a year and half of Schulz’s spare time.

Much of the wood Schulz collected from the bay while kayaking (he teaches traditional wood kayak-building for a living) and then he milled it himself on-site. Corner posts were blow down trees from a friend’s forest. Kitchen counters were milled from a fallen tree he’d held onto for 8 years. Stair railing is alder poles cut from beside the house.

The 3 tables in the home were cut from cedar found on the beach and constructed in 2 hours. He laid flooring using low-grade reject fir, created trim using miscellaneous scrap wood and bought all the home’s windows for $40 from the local dump (the french doors came from craigslist) as quoted by video description

Click here to read more about Off The Grid Tiny House in the Oregon Forest Tour:

http://capefalconkayak.com/japanesehouse.html