S03.E03: 340 sq ft Steampunk Adventure Home

[auntjess]

In this one, the single mother in Utah, wants a steampunk style home, to take a 6-month cross country trip with her son.
At the end of the first month, she's still in Utah.
I don't know, but that house sure didn't look designed with aerodynamics in mind.  I wonder if she ran out of gas money, hence still in Utah.
I can see that after the trip, they might enjoy living in the tiny house, but to me, it would be the trip from hell.
And those steps were a bit far-spaced for her son still.

 

[SmithW6079]

You mean the steampunk house that had to be steampunk so John and Zach learned about steampunk and steampunk. Steampunk, steampunk, steampunk?

 

Geez, could they have said steampunk any more?

 

They might have still been in Utah, but at least it did appear as though they did move the house, unlike the other set-ups where people said they wanted to use the tiny house to travel, but they were fairly permanent looking, with trellises to cover the trailer wheels.

 

Did anyone get the sense that the son might have been transgender? His dolls weren't "action figures," they were, I believe, the Monster High dolls (my nieces have them), plus he wore his hair pretty long. I thought John was pretty good with him (and that built-in dollhouse was awesome), but I still find John annoying.

[auntjess]

On traveling, as I understood it, they had the long trip planned out, and were leaving as soon as the lease was up, as opposed to those with vague "want to be able to travel" people.
I just kept thinking there must be a pretty steep leaving curve for a big rig like that.  Hope she used a trucker's road atlas to plan the route.
And I thought her son might be transgender, but he seems pretty happy, and seemed to have a good friend.
On the steampunk bit, I wonder how much weight was added by all the metal. 

[Granny58]

"You mean the steampunk house that had to be steampunk so John and Zach learned about steampunk and steampunk. Steampunk, steampunk, steampunk?

Geez, could they have said steampunk any more?"

 

OMG SO MUCH!!!!  After a while son and I starting counting, it was that annoying.

[mojito]

 

Did anyone get the sense that the son might have been transgender? His dolls weren't "action figures," they were, I believe, the Monster High dolls....

The boy was different, that's for sure. I'm glad that his mother is going with the flow because without a doubt, her son is clearing his own path. He unabashedly treasured his doll house and dolls and he liked doing the dolls' hair. 

 

I know nothing about steampunk, but liked how they incorporated that contraption with the bathtub.

[SmithW6079]

The boy was different, that's for sure. I'm glad that his mother is going with the flow because without a doubt, her son is clearing his own path. He unabashedly treasured his doll house and dolls and he liked doing the dolls' hair.

 

Although I brought up "transgender" originally, I realize I was probably too quick to label. Maybe he's just a boy who likes to play with dolls at this moment in his life. In the Bruce Jenner special, one of the psychologists interviewed mentioned something about almost all kids going through phases like that. When I was a young pre-homosexual, I often pretended to be a girl during playtime. Doesn't mean I really thought I was one or that I wanted to be one; I just liked girl things. When I grew up, I realized I liked being a man who liked men.

[Granny58]

Although I brought up "transgender" originally, I realize I was probably too quick to label. Maybe he's just a boy who likes to play with dolls at this moment in his life. In the Bruce Jenner special, one of the psychologists interviewed mentioned something about almost all kids going through phases like that. When I was a young pre-homosexual, I often pretended to be a girl during playtime. Doesn't mean I really thought I was one or that I wanted to be one; I just liked girl things. When I grew up, I realized I liked being a man who liked men.

I used to pretend I was a dog.  Still human.

[Granny58]

My living room ceiling is 14 feet high.  Aren't a lot of these tiny houses that high? I can't imagine driving one down the highway...imagine a gust of wind!

[mojito]

 

I used to pretend I was a dog.  Still human.

Someday, maybe we'll all be  as honorable, faithful, and forgiving as a dog.

 

What I'm learning about transgender stuff is that you can't pigeonhole people. We quickly want to interpret....well, if you're not a man anymore but a woman, does that make you.....etc. My takeaway from limited personal exposure, reading, and people I've seen on television (anyone watch Netflix's "Transparent"?), is that the number one thing to focus on when it comes to a transgendered person (though it's not any of our business, we still do focus) is the person. They are new people who are adjusting to a new personhood (yeah, that's probably not a word). First things first, baby steps and all that.

 

When I watch this show, I find myself quite proud of my decision as a young adult to live within my means, keep my stuff down to a minimum, and never outgrow my home, which is twice the size of a tiny house, but still quite small. That's small enough and since I don't have any desire to hit the road, I'm satisfied with my small-ish existence. Square footage costs seems to be a lot lower, too.

Edited May 7, 2015 by mojito

[DownTheShore]

Just saw the steampunk episode for the first time yesterday.

That loveseat was the only seating in the place, wasn't it? I thought that would get wearisome after a while.

I don't know if Vance is transgender or not, but I was wondering how much of his "girlish" behavior was due to fact that he doesn't seem to have any role models other than his mother, and her letting him have long hair, for example? Did she really want a daughter? I didn't see the beginning of the episode, so, I might be wrong about that. He seems to be a happy kid either way.

[Mike n Mo]

Steampunk tiny house update! We watched a new episode of Tiny House Hunters yesterday (4/11/16) and it turns out this exact tiny house is for sale! I'm not sure how long ago her house was built, but I can't imagine it was more than a year. I feel a bit betrayed. She basically played the show, got a sweet house for 30k and is trying to sell it for 60k! Lame

[debraran]

Wow, another one? I thought she really liked it.

I've seen the castle one for sale, the one with a roof deck (still for sale) and a couple of others. I'm sure some were sold and not on Tiny House listings. The house is the Rocky's isn't sold but they aren't living there, too many issues.

 

Did you see it online? That's a big increase but I guess she wanted bargaining room. I think the one with the roof deck was about 20,000 more too. I think they feel the TH show would help with sales.

[Armchaircheftestan]

I saw that episode too. I kept trying to decide if that dollhouse had been ripped out of the son's loft or if it was just in crappy shape already. As much as I love the idea of a tiny house, when I looked at a 600 Sq ft house, I felt too closed in to make the jump. I don't need a huge house, but these really tiny houses are just a bit too tiny.

Edited April 13, 2016 by Armchaircheftestan

[debraran]

On 4/13/2016 at 10:19 AM, Armchaircheftestan said:

I saw that episode too. I kept trying to decide if that dollhouse had been ripped out of the son's loft or if it was just in crappy shape already. As much as I love the idea of a tiny house, when I looked at a 600 Sq ft house, I felt too closed in to make the jump. I don't need a huge house, but these really tiny houses are just a bit too tiny.

I'm looking forward to seeing a 600-650 sq foot home coming up in a couple of months. It's a foundation home in Gainsville. I've seen homes that size that seem so tiny and others because of floor plan and storage, built in bookcases, hutches, etc. seem larger. I'm claustrophobic  so a trailer tiny home would have to be a weekend/vacation idea, not long term.