I was in Luling, Texas yesterday at the famous City Market, meeting some friends old and new for the first of what may turn out to be many BBQ Pilgrimages. It was a good and improbable comma placed smack-dab in the middle of the long run-on sentence that my life has become lately.
Slowing down was good. Breathing is always good. Not being in a hurry to get back anywhere in particular is good.
On my way out of town, I passed Tiny Texas Houses, like I had a dozen times before, but then I circled back, took the turnaround, and decided to indulge my eyes and my imagination a bit. See, I'm fascinated by microhousing. So much so that for years this blog has had a category entitled "micro housing fascinates me."
And Brad Kittel, founder of Tiny Texas Houses, seems to share my fascination for small homes, architectural salvage, and design. He builds houses that are made from "99% Pure Salvage."
What he says inspires me:
"…Everything from the doors, floors, windows, lumber, porch posts, glass, door hardware, and even the siding has been saved and re-used to create houses that we hope will last for a century or more. I believe that there are presently enough building materials sitting on the ground to build much of the next generation of housing. All it takes to make it so is pure human energy, spirit, and the desire to build something that will last for several lifetimes.
I also believe we don't need as much space as we have become accustomed to in this country. ... After a generation of having it all and wasting so much, perhaps it is time to consider keeping it small and preserving what we have before we waste more of our limited resources. Please check back as I unveil my ideas for a simpler world built from the past with the best trees we ever grew, the best hardware we ever made, and the best ideals we once had when we lived life in a different way. [via]"
Here's an iPhone photo of the exterior of one house, and a stitched-together montage of the interior of another:
Recent Comments