Thursday, October 11, 2012

The Field Trip to Little Yellow.

Well, I've been slow to get to it and post this week, but we did see Ella's Little Yellow Tiny House on Monday. My daughter, niece, and I drove out to the mountains, toured Little Yellow, and hugged Ella. And it was super! It was actually awesome. Ella's a sweetheart and her tiny home reflects that sweetness, moxy, attention to detail, and a real freedom to explore her own aesthetic. Tiny Yellow is infused with a whimsical fairytale element grounded in the practical. Quite a feat!

For those of you who haven't really seen a Tiny House and can't quite picture what all the buzz is about, I grabbed a few quick shots to bring you up to speed. The truck gives you a sense of scale. Two things are going on here. That's a pretty big truck. And a teeny tiny house.

Here's an interior shot through the big front
window. Ella had packed up the house for the move and cleared the shelves for the big drive
up the coast
All her worldly goods are packed in the back of the truck for the move. A few more things are stowed in the shower area. Clothes were on the shelves. Can you imagine being this pared down?
Big things are happening in these little houses. Ella has done a great job ensouling her home with her own huge indomitable spirit. I'll post just a couple of shots here and then direct you to her blog where you can get a real sense of the Tiny Yellow and the story of its construction. I've read and followed a number of Tiny House blogs and hers is one of my absolute favorites. Very detailed. I think you'll agree.







Isn't this beautiful? Ella's kitchen sink. Lovely. Simple. She cut the hole in the butcher block and dropped it in herself. I love the sense of peace.












The window seat of this modified Fencl plan. This little detail is single handedly responsible for converting my daughter to the Tiny House project. Now I just need to make sure I end up with one in my final plan. Before it was over, she thought we should build a Tiny House for her to live in while she is in college.







No Tiny House tour is complete without a peek at the loft. I climbed up high enough to take the pic, but restrained myself and didn't crawl into the bed and take in the view below. It really didn't seem like the thing to do. I'm still kind of regretting it, though!

Standing in Ella's Tiny House was like standing inside her dreams. Very intimate. Very lovely. Quite touching. As I stood there and walked around Little Yellow on the inside and then circled her on the outside, I tried to imagine what it must feel like to have worked that long and hard, for over a year, and to have finished. Ella has finished and she is now living in the result of her work. Few things in our world today afford us such a tangible experience of our efforts and their results. So much of our life is done for us. Our food is grown. If we're meat eaters, our meat is raised and slaughtered for us. Our cars are built and maintained by strangers. Our homes are built by "someone", cookie cutter like. We don't typically birth our own children in our own environs or die in our own beds. We don't prepare and bury our dead ourselves. We've jobbed out most the things that constitute living, surviving, and dying on this small planet. Perhaps that's part of the appeal of Tiny Houses. Yes, you can order one and have it built, but you can also build one yourself. Without skills. Alone or in the community of your friends, loved ones, and neighbors. A lot of this world has been built this way. It is something we can still choose to reclaim.

5 comments:

  1. Amazing thanks for sharing. It's almost like being there - nice friend!

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  2. Wonderful tour. Yeah, this is appealing. But without skills??? You've never seen me with a hammer!

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  3. Victoria! It was such a joy to meet you and your family in Frazier Park the other day :) Thanks SO much for coming and showing your support. Love your blog too!
    *Ella :)

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    1. Ahh, thank you, Ella! I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Really loved having a chance to meet you and your mom, see Little Yellow, and kind of drink the whole thing in in person. So inspiring! You've given me a lot of hope I can actually make this happen.

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  4. Isn't Ella inspirational?! I adore the personality she imbued in her littleyellowdoor tiny house. Lucky you to have actually met her and 'toured' it.

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