S01 E05: 500 Square Foot Rocky Mountain Mansion

[Snarkette]

A 500-square-foot house in Colorado is designed with two separate offices!

 

Pay very very close attention this week. If you don't, you might miss that this "very special episode" of Tiny House Consternation is about a couple whose house burned down a few years ago and they lost almost all their possessions. It's mentioned almost in passing and very easy to overlook this detail. You might think instead it's about fussy people with a week to move into a house whose requirements and engineering they're still adjusting details, and who decide mid-project to build a B&B instead of a tiny house.

Edited August 14, 2014 by Snarkette

[HelenBaby]

Lol. So true snarkette. It was very nice. I didn't see if there was a washer/dryer in the place.

[auntjess]

When I read the blurb about the episode, I thought they were looking for something small enough that , given enough warning, they could evacuate.

Since they just wanted small so that they wouldn't accumulate lots of things, or that is my take, why not have an add-on shed, insulated and heated, for washer, dryer, freezer, and pantry.

I wondered at the lack of a stair railing at the reveal.  Isn't there any code covering these.  And I'd think common sense would kick in and build one.

It was beautiful country, not my favorite scenery, but beautiful.

[zxy556575]

I didn't understand why it took them two years to rebuild, or why they went so small. Granted, I don't drink in every word of every episode, but it seemed odd. Also odd? The wife coming into his office to shush her husband on the phone. Yes staged, but ridiculous anyway. The guy is purportedly on a business call.

 

Didn't enjoy the couple, didn't like their house.

Edited August 16, 2014 by lordonia

[LittleIggy]

I thought the house was beautiful.

[SmithW6079]

I thought the house was beautiful.

So did I. I think the high ceilings helped make it feel not so claustrophobic.

I liked the wife for the most part, until she told the husband to be quiet at the end because she needed to Write. I'm a writer too, and there's nothing more pretentious than someone who plays the "I'm a Writer" card (capital "W" required).

So no electricity, but good-enough cell phone and wireless reception to run a business?

[Ipse Dixit]

I couldn't help but wonder why they'd build a metal-roofed structure on a high point where lightning storms are commonplace.

This house was one of my two least-faves so far, the other being 150-sf bachelor pad in MA.

I couldn't help but wonder why they'd build a metal-roofed structure on a high point where lightning storms are commonplace.

This house was one of my two least-faves so far, the other being 150-sf bachelor pad in MA.

[psychoticstate]

I just caught this episode and I have to say that while I questioned the 500 sq ft at the beginning, the end result was gorgeous.  It's one of the very, very few (if not only) tiny houses I've seen so far that I could actually possibly live in. 

 

I also wondered about the lack of railing on the stairs.  I also wonder if ladder-like stairs are going to be quite so easy once people start getting older.

 

The scenery was beautiful but there is no way I could (or would want to) live that far off the grid.  25 minutes to the closest town?  What if there's an emergency?  And didn't they think about kitchen storage in the beginning if they knew they needed to buy in bulk?

[qtpye]

The Colorado couple whose house burned down and they wanted a tiny house to replace it, have moved out of the tiny home.  They gave an interview where it seems like there was some shoddy workmanship on the part of the show.  However, the main reason they moved out was there is no longer any internet service in the area.

 

The bad workmanship made me a little disappointed in Zack, but those timelines must be impossible.

 

Here is the link  http://www.techinsid...ny-homes-2015-7

Edited December 15, 2015 by qtpye

[SmithW6079]

The Colorado couple whose house burned down and they wanted a tiny house to replace it, have moved out of the tiny home. They gave an interview where it seems like there was some shoddy workmanship on the part of the show. However, the main reason they moved out was there is no longer any internet service in the area.

The bad workmanship made me a little disappointed in Zack, but those timelines must be impossible.

I made a similar comment on another Tiny House thread. I forget which one.

[EricaShadows]

If you want quality craftmanship, excellent workmanship and everything else, don't build on a shortened timeline or go on a television show.  Every tv show I've seen where things are built, most everything is on a shortened timeline, with deadlines, and everything else where they're trying to cram too many things into a small timeframe.  Mike Holmes is the only one I've seen do anything resembling decent work and the timelines there are MUCH longer than practically ever other home building/home reno show I've seen.  I don't know about the show hosted by Ty Pennington (where a home is either built from scratch or reno'd to suit the needs of a "deserving" family/homeowner), but that one MIGHT be a distant second.  All others, I'd side-eye them.  I also wouldn't go on a television show to get a new house, but that's just me.

[Terrafamilia]

Just caught this one this morning. I thought the bathroom was way too dark. Personally, I like to see what I'm doing.

[debraran]

I just read about the couple who left the home. I was too disappointed that they rushed this job, why the short time frame? On TV they could make it fit with editing the way they do now, but some jobs are just harder. They seemed more mature, I thought they would have known what being alone was like but I agree, without computer access today, it could be too isolating with work. It was a beautiful home though, with some work, maybe viable for the future.

 

I also read one of the first families with the young daughter Lily, sold their house. That seemed unworkable when they returned a month or two later, but sometimes I wonder why they pick the people they do. They seem so young and naive at times. There are so many people, older and younger, that would love to have a smaller home, understand the limitations, and appreciate the chance to downsize.

 

I hope this "escape" show for me, doesn't dummy down to a real reality show in the sense they care more about the sensationalism and not the product.