Could You Live Like This? See the Off-the-Grid Floating Cabin and a Family of Three in a 70-Sq-Meter Space
- Posted on August 17, 2012 at 10:59pm by
Liz Klimas
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A $25,000 floating cabin and a 70-square-meter “tiny home cube” in one story can only mean one thing: it‘s Friday and it’s time for your weekly dose of “tiny houses” and/or interesting “off-the-grid” lifestyles.
This week, both are brought to you from Fair Companies, which regularly features the tiny house movement and other alternative living situations.
Let’s start with the off-the-grid, floating 620-square-foot cabin that only cost $25,000. Fair Companies reports that Margy and Wayne Lutz discovered their “dream home” while camping in British Colombia. What they found in the early 2000s was a community that floated — although permanently anchored to shore — on Powell Lake.
(Image: YouTube screenshot)
The Lutz’s bought their floating home in 2001 and when they retired a few years later, they moved permanently from Los Angeles. Here are a few interesting tidbits about the home, including that they pay $500 per year to lease their “water lot”:
Today, the Lutzs live completely off-the-grid. There’s no water heater (they boil it on the wood stove as a luxury) and no plumbing. They hand-pump water from the lake (for washing dishes, they remove most food first and use only biodegradable soap and the water is returned to the lake).
There’s no trash pickup. They compost nearly everything- kitchen and garden waste, ashes from the wood stove- in their hilltop heap. Even their toilet biodegrades their waste so it’s clean enough to be dumped in the forest- or an ornamental garden- every few months.
For their energy uses, the Lutzs rely on solar, wind, and thermoelectric power. They have 3 main solar panels, each one for a specific function. Two panels (200 watts & 125 watts) feed into the main cabin, charging six 6-volt batteries (wired in serial pairs to produce the requisite 12 volts they need to run most of their cabin. There’s also a 300 watt panel on top of Wayne’s floating “writer’s retreat”, a boat called Gemini (it can be switched to feed the boats’ needs or the cabins’).
Watch Fair Companies’ tour of the floating home:
The next Fair Companies profile comes to us from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in Barcelona. Monica Potvin and her husband Markel Otaola bought a one-room studio in the city and made it, as Fair Companies describes, “the couple’s ideal apartment.“ They knocked down walls to create more space and made a ”cube“ in the middle of it all for ”useful stuff”:
It houses all the apartment’s plumbing, as well as his and hers closets and plenty of storage space. It also serves as a divider between the open kitchen/living area and the couple’s bedroom (an all natural escape carpeted with tatami and a non-synthetic futon bed).
(Image: YouTube screenshot)
Then Potvin found out she was pregnant. A one-room studio is notably not the easiest situation for a now growing family — or is it? Their son Gaël is now three and although sharing a room isn’t always ideal, Potvin told Fair Companies it worked out pretty well:
“I’m really happy we were here when he was a baby and up to now because having everything just be so easy. So I would wake up and we’d take our shower together and then washing diapers and stuff so the washing machine is right there and it was very kind of fluid and easy. Because you‘re cooking and they’re playing and it‘s not like the kitchen is separate so it’s just perfect.”
Check out how this family of three makes it work in a tiny, open floor plan:
Related:
- See NYC‘s Most ’Offbeat’ Apartments: Indoor Skate Park, Repurposed PanAm Cabinets, and Even a Bus
- ‘Drawers Within Drawers’: 269-Square-Foot Apartment Hides Full-Size Pull Out Tub
- Here‘s the Full ’Tiny House People‘ Documentary You’ve Been Waiting for
(H/T: Business Insider)
This story has been updated to correct that one of the homes was 70 square meters, not 70 square feet.
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Comments (110)
MrObvious
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 9:38amHouse boats aren’t new. Off grid, is not new. Nice local.
Report Post »ChildofJesus
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 8:41amI’d love to try living like that. imagine being able to go anywhere and yet be living in the same place! what a life. :)
Report Post »MsMonsoon
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 9:44amGo anywhere? It’s on a lake… “permanently attached to shore”.
Report Post »mwhaley
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 9:45amI remember life while Renaldus Maximus was our president. We aspired to live in greatness, large mansions, expensive automobiles, and the finest foods from all over the world. Now life under president Pookie, this is our aspiration? 70 square foot shacks, automobiles powered by wind propellers and dumpster diving.
Report Post »3monkeysmomma
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 10:25amYeah, big deal. People have been living in spaces that small for a long time. Growing up, we were a family of three in 640 square feet. We were trying to “be green”, we were just POOR.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 11:43amyes do it but own the area you are at no leases. I see people do this over and over especially in my area on pristine waterfront or water homes on leased tribal land. not a smart move you must own the area or it is just flat out not yours. otherwise this is cute and for my family may be a cute cabin
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 2:00pmA dwelling is simply a Shelter from the OutSide… and given a Vast OutSide, this would do!
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 3:18pm“Maybe, you will not have to wait many more years before the Sans Andrea Fault causes ‘KaliPornia’ to slide into the Pacific!”
That sounds alot like lame stream media (MSNBC and others) type sensationalism and alarmism, and misunderstanding of basic geological knowlege of the San Andreas fault…
As geologists would tell you, the process won’t make Kalifornicate fall in the sea, but rather because its a right-lateral strike slip falt, in time in hundreds or thousands of yeats it would end up being sheared off, western half possibly becoming an island, that would slowly work its way towards Alaska.
It’s a very slow process, it doesn’t happen in a single earth quake. Infact one of the most interesting evidence of the shift is Pinnacles National Monument, which is half of an ancient volcano. The other half of the volcano lies almost 200 miles south, near Neenach, CA. They move part about a rate of 1.5 cm a year! With a big earthquake it shifts a bit further and faster than that, perhaps a few feet at a time.
Infact if one was to believe geology, this process has happened multiple times, these “exotic terraines’ landmasses have accreted onto the southern coast of Alaska already!
But don’t underestimate other earth quake caused flooding due to massive earthquake breaking dams or changing water ways!
Report Post »Restore the Republic
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 5:44pmIf Obama is re-elected, you will probably get your chance to live without electricity, services, healthcare, etc… when he brings our nation to complete ruin.
Report Post »Macman1138
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 8:05pmI’d much rather have a log cabin near the Smoky Mountains.
Report Post »Throw some solar panels for good measure.
Lotus503
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 9:11pmRight out of the Sandra Dee movie, “Tammy Tell me True”…
Report Post »Wolf
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 11:53pmI see nothing wrong with trying to live ‘minimally’, both posession and energy wise- though I‘m ’anti-green/tree hugger/sierra club/earth first’ BS. I’ve known people living in pickup campers, motor homes and tow trailers with less impact than any green weenie, and doing it simply out of love for their freedom. For myself, I‘m content with 800 square feet but often think it’d be great to thin it down to less. (Maybe I’m not content…)
Report Post »watashbuddyfriend
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 7:57amFor sure, they are not on a fish diet! Good location for big rocks to come tumbling down?
Report Post »Stuck_in_CA
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 8:22amLooks pretty neat to me…Anything to get me off this sinking ship called KaliPornia.
Report Post »watashbuddyfriend
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 1:10pm@ Stuck_in_CA
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 8:22am
“Looks pretty neat to me…Anything to get me off this sinking ship called KaliPornia.”
Maybe, you will not have to wait many more years before the Sans Andrea Fault causes ‘KaliPornia’ to slide into the Pacific! Come soon Lord Jesus!
Report Post »FortySixand2
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 1:32pmlearn to swim
Report Post »godhatesacoward
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 9:11pmSee you drown in arizona bay.
Report Post »Flyingfish
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 7:48amInteresting place.
Report Post »Zorro6821
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 12:23pmLess is more…Having lived in Los Angeles I can tell you it was hell on earth. Did my time in the Hell Hole for 25 years. Now I moved to an 850 sq Foot Cabin in the Mountains and I could not be Happier. You forget the simple things that really matter. Clean Air, wildlife, etc….I would never trade it for anything. I get it.
Report Post »toomuchgovt
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 7:47amI love the setting and the peacefulness. I don’t know if my dogs would love it.
Report Post »CaptPK_in_the_Gulf
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 10:33amDogs love boats! Get a piece of out-door carpet and train Fido to do his business on it. It can be dumped overboard and the carpet can be rinsed easily. I had a small terrier that learned to use goggy diapers. She had a tough time adjusting to land after seven years of life on a boat I’ve known several dogs that spent almost their entire lives on sailboats.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 7:17amWhen GOD said, “Live in tiny closets,” HE did not call my name.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 8:29amIt would be kind of fun for a weekend getaway place though, dont you think?
Report Post »Girard1974
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 11:32amI’m curious as to where God told any of us to “live in tiny closets.” To be sure he admonished us that when we pray, to do so in private or in a closet (Matthew 6:6), but to actually live in such a space?
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 11:51amHey Girard, she’s kidding around. Try and develop a sense of humor some day.
Report Post »MIBUGNU2
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 7:00amTo each is own..
Report Post »snupedoug
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 5:28amNot trying to be picky, just wondering what sort of proofreading is done on some of these articles? I tuned into this article thinking I was going to see 3 people living in 70 sq feet of space…she says 70 sq meters, that’s a huge difference!!! I‘m not sure when I’ve read an article on the Blaze that doesn’t have misspellings etc… and this is part of a publishing company I thought.
Report Post »Melika
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 7:03amNo kidding, it’s like morons are running the place. Even the glaring typos and poor sentence structure are caught by any basic typing program. It’s lazy incompetence.
Report Post »pdw
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 10:06amWell if Typos are the biggest problem who cares? Those of us who nit-pik just might miss the greater message, but then who knows to each his own! :)
Report Post »RamonPreston
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 10:27am70 sq feet would be 10 feet by 7 feet. My bedroom is larger than that. What is a jail cell..6 feet by 6 feet???
Report Post »teddlybar
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 5:04amEditors; According to the video, the lady says it’s 70 square “meters”, NOT “feet.” that would work out to about 750 square feet. You might want to correct your copy.
Report Post »The Jewish Avenger
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 6:59am70 sq. meters = >750 sq. ft. = doable
That a kitchen, living room and two bedrooms,
4 rooms about 13.5×13.5 without considering closet space.
70 sq. ft.?
Report Post »One room at 8.5′x<8.25'?
pffft… thats a 2k a month furnsihed apartment in NY isnt it?
or a luxury suite in Japan….
AZgirl9000
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 10:05amThis probably won’t improve your already low estimation of The Blaze. According to the author’s bio, Liz Klimas is the technology and science editor for The Blaze. Keep in mind that some years ago we had a spacecraft plow right into Mars because of confusion between metric and English measures.
Report Post »CaptPK_in_the_Gulf
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 10:46amActually a meter = 39 inches or just over 3 feet so 1 square meter = 10.56 sq ft
70 sq meters = 739.37 sq ft
The question is: is this the living area inside the cabin or is it the overall deck area of the barge?
Report Post »Cadcamtrainer
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 4:51amIf I wanted Tim live like that, I could move to Mogadishu…… That way I could just throw the poop out of the window and into the side walk…..then once a month, when it is dry, we could just shovel it in the middle of the street and burn it….. To each it’s on…. I like my AC, my pool and my large American house. I like my TVs and computers, my phone so I can talk with my family and friends. I could live like these people, actually I did that long time ago but I will not do it unless I need to. I will not voluntarily do that.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 8:43amI’m telling you this is all in preparation for Agenda 21, when they move everyone out of their single family unit into a house that’s been subdivided to accomodate 4 families. I used to live in just such a house. It was originally a very large 2 story structure, but in the 50′s they separated it into a quadroplex, having 2 tiny apartments downstairs and2 tiny apartments upstairs I went up stairs on the inside, to my door (opening 2 doors). I entered my living room, and it was shotgun from there…walk through my sons room, then my room which had the single bathroom, then the kitchen in the back. They provided an escape ladder in the kitchen in case there was a fire. It wasn’t originally set up for 4 units so when I took a shower the pressure was so bad, I had to put my body on the wall to get under the stream of water. You all should read Behind the Green Mask….it’s written by a liberal who is anti-Agenda 21, so our trolls should love it. She’s self-described as a Democrat, pro-choice, ant-war,liberal, feminist and gay. I love her writting…wait, I’m everythng opposite, aren’t I supposed to hate her?
Report Post »Wayne
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 11:31pmThe people in Mog don‘t live that way I know I lived there 6 Mo’s, until the war it was a great place to live.
Report Post »Mr.Fitnah
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 3:48amAlmost heaven.
Report Post »JUSTANOTHEROPINION
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 3:04amI love my RV. My wife and I have enough room for both of us and move when we feel like it. Been thinking about trying out solar power since most thing run on 12v anyway. I don’t think it will work alone but it might ease our electric bill a bit.
Report Post »Azzman
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 2:46amAw snap. I love my 4000 square foot home, five kids, gun collection, four cars, pool, oh and God. Sucks to be these people.
Report Post »sillyfreshness
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 2:52amYou might think you’re “off the grid” but you are definitely on Homeland Security’s radar….because you’re off the grid. They want everyone on the grid so they can watch you and if you’re not on it, you’re a sore thumb. You can’t win either way.
Report Post »Displacedsoutherner
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 9:07amMy gun safe would add a serious list to one of those places and I’m not leaving without it.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 9:16amFunny, but reading between the lines of your post I get the feeling it sucks to be you. :-)
Report Post »mastice
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 2:12amThe second video (with the child) poses an interesting question. (haven‘t read the comments section so I don’t know if it has been mentioned or not)
It works fine now while the child is small. But what happens when the child gets older? Say, 16. Is he still going to be sleeping in ‘mommy and daddys’ room?
Report Post »mastice
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 2:24amAnd… if so …all it will take is one crack-pot neighbor (or teacher, guidance councilor, school nurse, etc) to report them to social services. And then in comes the government.
Report Post »jacobstroubles
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 11:03ammastice,
I would not worry about that… as shorlty..there’s gonna be a pretty big game changer.
People will be living quite differently than they are today.
CPS will be the least of people’s problems.
They have many 1000′s of drones already built, They are ready to fly and will fly pretty much 24 x7.
they are retro fitting them with GPS, thermal detection.
There will be no where to run and hide.
It will be easy for them to build that civillian army bho spoke of at the start of his theft of the presidential election 2008. People, friends, neighbors, family will do horrific things to get food, healthcare, and shelter, when it’s only available from the one who offers it in return for their services to his army.
Rapture soon/Tribulation will begin
Report Post »mharry860
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 1:19amThat’s not 70 square feet, that’s the size of my bathroom.
Report Post »BookGuy
Posted on August 19, 2012 at 9:27pmThe lady states in the video that it’s 70 sq METERS. The headline of this article is incorrect.
Report Post »Delores at CH WV
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 1:17amLove it. Invite me to live with you. I am a good helper. This is great, the simple life!
Report Post »Celeste.Christi
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 12:41amInteresting.
Report Post »Propaganda for Agenda 21, but interesting nonetheless.
JEANNIEMAC
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 12:55amI agree. There are many stories in the mainstream media now, about tiny apartments and how great they are. Mayor Bloomberg of NYC is pushing the idea. Along with his no smoking, no large soda, no fatty foods, etc. he shows more and more every day, he is part of the Agenda 21 gang.
Report Post »TeslanEdison
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 3:23amAgenda 21 would kick them out of the SUB=URBAN areas it would be illegal to live off grid, let alone be so close to free water. Nope they would have to relocate to a shipping container inside a major metro area in Seattle or the west coast, and do all the same things they do there to fit agenda 21 plans, also they would work for consumption credits.
Report Post »Exrepublisheep
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 4:29amWhat’s the big deal? You’re all going to be shipped off to a FEMA camp soon anyway…
Report Post »rharvey23
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 12:26amI have no problem with people living in smaller places if it makes them happy. I could do that myself but I’m stuck in the city having to work for a living. A lot of it has to do with what you want in life. Depends on your priorities. Simpler can be better. Sometimes less is more. I think a lot of it may be people’s attempt to get out of the rat race that is modern society. Get away from the noise and smells and tensions of modern man. And yes people like that are more prepared for an economic collapse.
Report Post »BryanB
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 12:04amIf you want to live on top of one another, with very little space for your personal stuff.
Just join the Army or Marines…….
Report Post »claymoremacm
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 11:57pmYes I sailed around the world…,of course I could…..Dah,,,,,,Hi Jerry
Report Post »OKC08GT500
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 11:49pmWhy don’t they use their solar power to run a water heater?
Report Post »Republic
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 12:11amI live off the grid and it is a “process” to slowly add to your system. I believe the article stated that they did not have any plumbing….yet, so the first thing to do would be to plumb the house. Then add the solar heater, but since I live at 49 degrees north, I understand the limitations with going totally solar; not enough sun year round. They are farther north than me, which means even less sun. I would recommend a wood fired water heater. That is what I use and it works well. For living where they live, they need to use a variety of sources of power.
Report Post »RightThinking1
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 11:35pmNext step:mud huts
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 12:19amDo you suppose they fight about who gets to carry the biodegraded poop into the forest?
Report Post »AZgirl9000
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 11:34pmI didn’t watch the video but I can tell you that unit is bigger than 70 square feet. A room 7‘ x 10’ is 70 square feet, for example.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 11:44pmIt’s the Time/Space distortion device that makes it seem bigger, kind of like Dr Who’s phone box.
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 11:49pmreading is hard
boat cabin is 620 sqf living cube is 70 …………..stated in the first two paragraphs, and even written in ENGLISH
Report Post »AZgirl9000
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 9:46amPsychosis: Nice that you can read. Maybe it‘s reading comprehension that’s hard. Residence number one is the boat cabin. Residence two is the “tiny home cube” that has 3 people living in a 70-square foot space. They probably meant to say 700-square foot.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 11:21pmObama is just trying to get us prepared. They live like this in the Philipines, Indonesia, India, Mexico, Africa, etc…..they live like this in all third world countries, it is called POVERTY. So that is all they are pushing, get ready to live in a hovel. And there were a lot of people that already lived like this in the 1930′s, in Hoovervilles. So why is this so NEAT? I like my 2k ft. house with A/C and Hot Water. And if I have to, I know how to rought it. The problem, is living like this all the time brings up some interesting diseases, like dysentary, typhoid, maleria, etc.
Report Post »PATTY HENRY
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 3:56amReally? Why would Obama care now? He’s only got 3 more months to mess up America…
Report Post »randy
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 11:07pmI could live like that.
Report Post »These people will be ready when the economic crash and our civil way starts
6thdegreeblack
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 7:00amOur civil way? You mean we are going to start being nice to each other?
Report Post »Wow….
jk
mtnrat
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 7:35pmI spend a lot of time on Powell Lake. Actually had one of these floating cabins. They are great, but take a ton of maintenance. Where that one is in Hole In The Wall is very sheltered so less maintenance. That cabin is about 700 sq ft living space. Just looked at it Every so often the “float” needs to be replaced or upgraded. Many have deisel generators on separate floats to run electric appliances and water heaters. Even though the lake is in Canada it is at sea level on the west coast and it never freezes. Cool place, but I need more access to land.
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