Author Archive

A storybook cob cottage

Cob is an age-old method of building that can be used to create very unique organically-shaped structures. This particular example, called the Cob Cottage, is situated on Mayne Island, a quiet and laid-back… Continue reading

A garden cottage on the river

One of our readers has sent us photos of her weekend house on the river Bille that flows through Hamburg, Germany. Marion designed the small cottage herself, and she and her husband built… Continue reading

Artwood Cottage

Artwood Cottage is a cozy vacation hideaway in the woods on Pender Island, part of the Gulf Islands chain along the southern coast of British Columbia. The small cottage was restored by its… Continue reading

Vermont mountain cabin | Young Ideas

Today architect Jeff Young of Boston-based Young Ideas is sharing with us his family’s small mountain cabin, which he created by completely transforming a dumpy old house. Be sure to check out the… Continue reading

A yurt-like tiny cottage in the woods

Tucked away among trees in the Netherlands is a tiny vacation dwelling appropriately named the “Forest House”. Sitting on the moss-covered banks of a natural pond and surrounded by the stillness of the… Continue reading

Katrina Cottage | GMF+ Associates

“Katrina Cottages” were tiny and small house designs from a number of architects intended to allow households to quickly rebuild following the devastating 2005 hurricane that destroyed tens of thousands of houses along… Continue reading

Little red cottage in Denmark

Here’s a cute little cottage currently for sale in Denmark. It is located on Bogø, a small island with just one village but which is connected by bridges to the rest of the… Continue reading

“Cabin on Femunden” merges old and new | AHAA

Creative reuse of existing structures resulted in this small log cabin on the shore of Femunden, a large lake near Norway’s border with Sweden. The property was originally home to a pair of… Continue reading

Craftsman-style Portage Bay float house

This floating home is moored in Portage Bay, one of Seattle’s many floating home communities. It is one of eight float homes that share a cooperatively-owned dock along with a parcel of land… Continue reading

A low-impact modern cabin in Sweden | Schlyter / Gezelius

This one-of-a-kind cabin sits among rock outcrops in a forest just southwest of Stockholm, Sweden. Architect Camilla Schlyter of Schlyter / Gezelius Arkitektkontor designed the modern cabin with a tapered profile and angled… Continue reading

Taieri Mouth Bach | Mason and Wales

This small beach house, or bach, sits on a sand dune near a fishing village at the mouth of the Taieri River on New Zealand’s South Island. “Bach” is a Kiwi term for… Continue reading

Garden cottage in Denmark

This gabled cottage presents a fairly closed appearance to the street with just a few small windows. But around back, large windows and French doors open it up to a sunny brick patio… Continue reading

A beautiful Tennessee cabin home

Many of us dream of living in a cabin. One of our faithful readers has shared photos of the Tennessee cabin that her family calls home. She describes how they renovated the small… Continue reading

The Piedmont Cottage, a tiny backyard cottage in Portland

The Piedmont Cottage sits in an older neighborhood of North Portland, Oregon. It is a small backyard cottage currently being used as a vacation rental unit. This cottage likely started out life as… Continue reading

The Totems | Henry Yorke Mann

Surrounded by towering trees and the tranquil water of a man-made pond, “the Totems” has an almost mystical quality. The roof of the log cabin is carried by massive abstracted totem pole figures… Continue reading

An architect’s own self-built family home | Michael O’Sullivan

This light-filled home sits in a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It was designed and built by architect Michael O’Sullivan for his own family of six.

The Wee House Company

The Wee House Company is a recent Scottish startup offering energy-efficient small houses designed to appeal to first-time homebuyers, downsizing empty-nesters and anyone wanting to add a rental cottage or “granny flat” to… Continue reading

Tiny beach cottage in Denmark

This tiny cottage is just a few steps from the beach in Kerteminde, Denmark. Kerteminde is a small harbor town about a two-hour drive from Copenhagen. Built in 1945 as a vacation getaway,… Continue reading

The Shepherd’s Cottage at Annandale farm

Annandale is a working sheep farm on the rugged Banks Peninsula east of Christchurch, New Zealand. While continuing to operate as a farm, several vacation rental units have been added to the property.… Continue reading

A bright and spacious little backyard cottage | ART Design Build

The owner of a house in Maryland asked ART Design Build to replace an old one-car garage with a small accessory dwelling unit. She also requested that her new backyard cottage be made… Continue reading

A lakeside log cabin in Finland

Villa Maria is a family-sized vacation cabin on a small lake 40 km west of Helsinki, Finland. Though modern in design, the cabin was built using traditional methods. Each of the large-diameter logs was… Continue reading

A tiny Icelandic cabin under the Northern Lights | Maja Siska

Nordurnes is a vacation rental cabin located on a 130 hectare farm in the south of Iceland, 80 km from Reykjavik. An older tiny house, it was renovated by owner and architect Maja Siska to… Continue reading

The rustic off-grid Woodsman’s Cabin

Surrounded by birch, ash and oak trees, this tiny owner-built cabin sits on the shore of a small lake in the Dordogne region of France. Despite initial appearances, the Woodsman’s Cabin is a… Continue reading

Three Victorian-era railcars restored as vacation suites

Ever thought about converting an old railway coach or caboose into a tiny house? The folks at Railholiday have done just that, rescuing and restoring several Victorian-era railcar bodies, then outfitting them as… Continue reading

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