The outside of this house is made from old, recycled redwood and western red cedar wood. The cedar wood on the outside is treated with a special Japanese technique called “shou sugi ban.”
This method lightly burns the wood, which helps protect it from bugs and fire while making the wood’s pattern stand out.
The back deck uses both redwood and cedar and is covered with a special sap-based material that was originally made for surfboards but is now used for boats too.
At the front of the house, there’s a special cabinet that contains the main controls for the house. Inside this cabinet, you’ll find important equipment that helps power the house, including the Magnum charge controller, inverter, and a set of four deep cycle Rolex AGM batteries.
There’s also a Tekagi tankless propane water heater in the front cabinet. The house is insulated with a material called Rock Wool, which is made from stone fibers. It’s a lot better for the environment than usual insulation and keeps heat really well.
We’ve also put in custom double-pane tempered glass windows from Sierra Pacific to help with the insulation. After a lot of research, we chose the Mitsubishi mini split AC unit because it’s the most efficient air conditioner available.
For heating, we use a wood stove called the Hobbit by Salamander Stoves. This stove is great and can keep the tiny home warm even on very cold days. Thanks to the good insulation and windows, we only need to use the heating and air conditioning on days with extreme weather.
When you step onto the back deck where the front door is, you’ll see a lovely bench made from old, sturdy redwood. This bench covers the air conditioning unit.
The front door itself is also made of redwood and features a beautiful stained glass mural of Big Sur, California, created by artist Ron Vogt from Ojai, California. The deck and backyard are lit up by small, energy-efficient LED lights.
As you enter the house, to your left is a room that can be a dining room, guest room, living room, or anything else you might need it for. We found a fallen redwood tree near Santa Barbara and used it for all the countertops, tables, and cabinet tops in this room.
The table, which can convert into a guest bed, is made from a large redwood slab and finished with a durable, sap-based epoxy. The wrap-around couch has storage underneath and blends into the back of the stairs leading to the loft.
Behind these stairs, there’s a space we call our “entertainment station” with office supplies, electronics, and extra storage. A projector screen can be pulled down to turn this area into a mini movie theater.
There’s also a closet, two extra storage cubbies, and another cabinet beside the stairs. The stairs themselves were made from redwood that was once part of a 50-year-old water tank.
The walls inside the house are covered with a flexible plaster called Skimm Stone, starting about 3 feet off the ground. This plaster is off-white and shows the tool marks for a crafted look.
Below this, the walls are covered with western red reclaimed cedar, trimmed with redwood. All the trim in the house is redwood, matching the ceiling, which is made from the same redwood used outside over the deck.
The floor is made from extra tough, twice-reclaimed bamboo. Throughout the house, we use energy-saving LED lighting to keep things bright.
When you walk past the stairs on the left and the wood-burning stove on the right, you’ll find the kitchen. The kitchen counter is made from the same large piece of redwood as the dining table and is finished with a durable sap-based epoxy.
The cabinets below and above the counter are made of western red cedar, and the upper cabinets have LED lights to brighten the area. The kitchen sink, which has a traditional farmhouse style, drains through a hose under the house.
We could have connected it to a tank for holding water waste, but we decided to use a hose with eco-friendly soap to water our plants instead.
The kitchen has a Dometic Origo 6000 Alcohol stove/oven. After a lot of research, we chose an alcohol system because it’s the safest for small spaces. It doesn’t need strong ventilation—we just open the windows.
It’s also possible to make the fuel ourselves, but we haven’t needed to. Finding the right fuel in California has been tricky, but denatured fireplace fuel works best and is cost-effective.
The fridge was hard to find but runs on low voltage, which is great for using solar power without needing to convert the energy, making it more efficient.
The fridge is very efficient, has a freezer inside, and under the sink, there are built-in trash and recycling bins that pull out. The counter has lots of electrical outlets for convenience.
Across from the kitchen, there’s a mini split AC unit. Underneath that, there’s a new desk made from a dense “California Koa” Black Acacia wood, finished with Tung Oil.
Past the fridge, the wall has neutral-colored climbing holds on the cedar cladding. These holds lead to a storage loft above the bathroom. They are easy to climb and provide good grip for standing while you reach the loft.
The bathroom door has a brass handle shaped like a seahorse from Indonesia. The door itself is made from old, reclaimed redwood and features a custom stained glass picture of a wave breaking in Big Sur. Inside the bathroom, right in front of you, is a high-end LG washer/dryer combo.
This unit is covered with wood, creating a handy place to fold laundry and store items. Above the washer, there are custom shelves for storing bathroom accessories.
The bathroom floor is made of river stones with grout in between and has a special turtle tile just before the blue tile that marks the entrance to the shower area.
The walls in the bathroom are coated with a skim stone material, similar to the rest of the house, but mixed with blue and sealed to be waterproof. The washer’s water drains through copper pipes into the shower area.
Next to the washer, before you reach the shower, is a compostable toilet from Natures Head that vents outside. The shower area doubles as the space for the bathroom sink, which is mounted on a round piece of old redwood, making the whole area a “wet room.”
The shower features a flexible shower head and a large 12-inch waterfall shower head.
Upstairs in the loft, there’s a California king bed surrounded by cedar storage cubbies with a top made from blue pine. Since the pine wasn’t wide enough to support the cubbies on its own, a redwood beam was added for support.
Next to the bed is a large window that makes the room feel open and bright, along with smaller windows on the other walls. Above the bed is a Fakro skylight that opens to the roof deck and includes blackout blinds and a screen.
This home is truly unique, and it took us a year and a half to build, with attention to every detail. It was built by Ryan O’Donnell of Humble Hand Craft in Ventura, CA, as a labor of love.
My wife and I originally planned to keep this home forever and pass it down to our children, but sometimes plans change. If you are someone who cares about the environment and wants a one-of-a-kind home, this is a special opportunity.
Price: $150,000
Contact: tinyhouselistings.com
