Updated Jun 3, 2009 - 4:26 pm

Couple looking for a place to park home

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• Mini-Mobile Cottage
  

They're just looking for a place to park. "We only need a parking space sized area. Our utility use will be very minimal, and we'll be outside of your home so you'll still have privacy," say Jeff and Arlene Hemsley of the space needed to support their new home.

The couple worked together to construct a 8.5' x 24' "mini-mobile cottage," complete with composting toilet and recycling water system that can be used to water nearby plants.

"In this country, house sizes continue to grow. Larger houses create more land fill and waste, have larger power consumption needs, require larger lots, and more furniture...Paring way down to the minimum that we need, plus a few items that simply make us smile, and moving into a healthy, small, energy efficient environment is our reaction to all of this," says the pair of their motivations to take on this experiment in downsized sustainable living.

The couple would like to find a location near the University of Washington to park their mobile cottage. They're willing to pay up to $400 rent and Arlene's offering up help in the garden as well.

In a poll on the couple's blog page, viewer response to the question, "Is building and living in a tiny house crazy?" was resoundingly positive, with 87% responding, "Naw. It'll be fun!"

The couple plans to continue blogging their experience at their Mini-Mobile Cottage blog page.

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• AGW Denier wrote...

  A couple of suggestions...

  If they really wanted to make a statement and "help in the garden" perhaps they would consider parking under the viaduct, on a side street in SODO or Georgetown, or under the West Seattle Bridge on Harbor Island. There is plenty of trash to pick up and graffiti to paint over. I'm sure the other folks that call these areas home would benefit greatly from the life lessons Jeff and Arlene would provide. Of course, that's not what this little publicity stunt is all about, is it...

  June 4, 2009 6:06 am

  62675

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• PixiePal wrote...

  I know, I know,,,

  they could park in red square with the tents. Oh wait, then they would have the larger power consumption, create more waste and have more furniture and they would not be holier than everyone else. This is quite a dilemma...

  June 4, 2009 6:59 am

  62683

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• KBN wrote...

  How about another passive aggressive...

  comment? Nah, there are far more important things to complain about than a couple trying to live in a small house. If you did a quick google search you'd find that these aren't the only people making an attempt to live in "tiny" homes, there's actually a fairly strong movement developing. It's just a shame that there are so many regulations and restrictions on building here in Washington, it's not quite feasible. Yet

  June 4, 2009 8:28 am

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• The way I see it! wrote...

  Wow nice place!

  Looks real nice! With all that Home Depot money spent they probably could have bought a little chunk of dirt to set it on!

  June 4, 2009 10:24 am

  62753

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• Laura111 wrote...

  What a cool project !

  Well, I read a bit of their blog and I really like their cottage project. I believe that you'll see that smaller places to live will become more common (though probably not this small) because of the economy and/or concerns about environmental issues. The McMansions are (hopefully) a dying breed! I know that I was disappointed with many things about places that I've rented to live and I always felt that I was paying too much. To live in a tiny, energy efficient, custom home for so little is a great solution to those problems! I don't live close enough to Seattle but I have friends near there that I'm passing on this article link to. They'll find this interesting and would love to have some nice, new neighbors who want to get involved in the community. I'm sure Jeff and Arlene will have lots of offers...

  June 5, 2009 7:40 am

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• pro_steel_header wrote...

  do these people work?

  why cant they afford their own piece of property to put that thing on? after all, its supposedly saving them tons on lower energy costs right...?

  June 6, 2009 10:58 pm

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• Jeff_Hemsley wrote...

  Hello Everyone

  Thank you for the comments. I guess it came across like we're trying to make a "statement" or grab publicity, which isn't really the case. It's actually just that this tiny house fits our personal values. It also makes financial sense to us since we expect our income to drop when I get up there. Building this home wasn't meant as a criticism of anyone else's choices. In terms of buying property, we'll, I'll be a PhD student at UW for about 5 years, so being up there may be temporary. And while we have the funds to build this little house without going into debt, we don't have enough to buy any land within a reasonable distance from the UW. Anyway, thanks again for the comments. ~~Jeff~~

  June 7, 2009 7:54 am

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• daveismenotyou wrote...

  It's a trailer

  Out it in a trailer park

  June 7, 2009 2:04 pm

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