Caravan - The Tiny House Hotel

Now that we had decided we were pretty sure we wanted to do this, the next logical step was to see some in person.

One of the easiest ways to see one is to visit the Caravan - The Tiny House Hotel in Portland Oregon.  Luckily for us, my oldest daughter Noel and her husband are living in Portland, just 15 mins. away from this neat little place.  So, in early March, we took a Sunday afternoon tour. (Note: Darrin and I had originally wanted to book one for a weekend, but this place is so popular is was booked out well into the summer.)

 

It was a beautiful sunny 70 degree day in Portland when we went, and the place is very charming.  We got to walk all of the tiny houses except the Tandem which was closed. More importantly we got to talk to one of the builders.  We had originally decided to go with a Tumbleweed Tiny House Trailer, but after talking to Ben the Builder (not Bob) we learned that a company Iron Eagle had trailers just east of Portland that might be a better option.  What sold us on Iron Eagle was that the trailers are designed for building over the wheel wells, where the Tumbleweed construction plans are meant for between the wheel well construction. Building over the wheel well gives you an extra 6-8 inches of living space, and while that doesn't sound like much, it makes an enormous difference in  how confined the house feels. 

Of all the houses in the Caravan, the Kangablue (above) was my favorite, it has a more spacious feel than the others.  They were all truly wonderful, but this one felt like something I could live in.

We were sold!  Now on to finding a trailer! Hooray!