From May 2019 to October 2020, I lived in a tiny house of my own devising in a meadow behind a very understanding landlord’s house in Fairview, North Carolina.
The tiny house comprised two Starplate-based domes, about 110 Sqft each. One was my kitchen/living room/home office. One was my bedroom/bathroom. They had clear roofs made of Marine-grade transparent vinyl, which taught me power of the greenhouse effect, and were was wonderful as they were a pain in the ass. I wrapped the outsides in plastic, mylar, and a tan covering. I put fabric-faced rigid foam insulation panels in all the wall triangles to feel more like solid walls, and to theoretically insulate the place and hold in heat better.
The whole time I was living in them, the domes were a work in progress. They taught me a lot about living tiny, and a lot more about living closer to nature. In some ways living in the domes was difficult. In some ways it was very difficult! But it was also a very rewarding time, and I’d be lying if I said I don’t miss it sometimes. And I’m extremely grateful I was in a position to do it, with family and friends who were willing to help.
In the end, I was disappointed that I ended up having to move out of them before I really got them “finished”–my landlord sold the house I was living behind, and it made more sense to move into a larger house closer to family for the COVID-afflicted winter than it did running around beplagued Asheville with my asthma-riddled lungs, trying to find a new home for my weird, hard-to-heat, super-tiny dome project. But looking back, I think it was just the right amount of time living that lifestyle for me.
I plan to take all of the things that I learned from building and living in the domes into future projects. The tiny-space living and building experience will undoubtedly help when I finally get around to building my second, slightly-larger-but-still-small camper. And sometime in the next couple of years I’m hoping to put together an off-grid, higher-tessellation dome cabin somewhere scenic and quiet. If we’re ever talking and you don’t particularly need the next several hours, ask me about my current ideas for it.
I designed the domes to be relatively easily to disassemble–and they were! It worked! They currently live in the basement of my new house, neatly stacked up and waiting for Spring, when I intend to set them up in the backyard as a three-season pottery studio. I think they’ll be very well-suited to that purpose, and I’m excited to finally finish them, and spend time in that weird, wonderful, tall, airy, light-filled space again.