Cottages
and Cabins People are Building for Themselves
Owner-built
and Owner-managed Home Projects
Scroll
down the gallery and click the photo or links for more
information.
Last update: 1/6/2009
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Also... Be sure to visit the CountryPlans Owner-Builder Forum where owners can post photos and descriptions of their project directly.
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Short Review |
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20' wide
1-1/2 story (20x30) with full loft room and basement
John McElroy served as owner-manager on this project and had his house built in 60 days using a local builder. (Hard to do for an owner-builder!) This is pretty straight version of the 1-1/2 story 20' wide plan. There is a lot of additional storage in the full basement below and the full length loft room above. |
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20' wide
1-1/2 story w/ shed dormer
Amy
and Dan have built a richly detailed 2 bedroom cabin with many good
ideas for plan modification and material choices. This is an extended
version of the 1-1/2
story 20' wide plan.
There is a full history of this project on this thread at the Owner-Builder forum. |
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Two Story
Universal cottage with a living attic The
Gritter cabin is built on a steep hillside using a pier foundation. The
owner is managing this home building project and used the 20 x 34
Universal Cottage plan to turn the attic into usable living
space with the addition of a small dormer. Updated photos Jan. '09.
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Shortened version of the 2-story Universal Cottage Here is an interesting redo of the 20 x 34 Universal Cottage plan. Demian is building this 24' long version near Lynchburg, VA. There is also an on-going thread on the construction of this house at the Owner-Builder forum. |
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Panels built in a barn are quickly assembled on a slab foundation Here is an interesting version of the 20x30 single story cottage being built by a young family in Kansas. Read Cody's story of this evolving project here. |
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Victoria Cottage Example Project This is a modified version of the Victoria plan with a metal roof. Read about the project by clicking here or on the image. |
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A Boat Builders Little House
Here is an innovative version of the Little House plans done by a careful boat builder. The owner used double 2x4 framing, cotton insulation, reflective foil insulation and strawboard interior finish to build a snug and handsome 16' x 16' cabin in the mountains of eastern Washington state. You will see in the update how an addition was built onto this cabin. Click to visit the Nicolaisen Cabin. |
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Victoria and Enchilada Cottage Compound Progress photos of an ongoing project with the 16' wide Victoria Cottage and linked version of the 14' wide Builder's Cottage. The two buildings are connected with a mudroom entry. Updated photos in summer 2006. |
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Updated 1-12-07 A 16 x 24 version of the Little House cabin These progress photos show how an owner modified this cabin for their needs. While the plans are designed for a 14' width, the owners adjusted these for a 16' cabin. Includes a shot of the "L" shaped cottage stair. |
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14 x 24 Backyard office/studio Three photos of a simple Builder's Cottage design from the Enchilada plans. Dale has built a very nice small building here and has more plans for future upgrades. |
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Buildings Under 200 sf - A Tiny house Design Contest! In many code jurisdictions you can build a shed or storage building of under 200 sf without a permit. These little buildings can provide a place to store materials and work on your house. For country property they can even be outfitted as a rustic retreat for glorified camping. They are also a great way to learn building skills! Here is the Design
Contest Winners. |
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Larry's 20 x 30 1-1/2 story cottage Here are a couple of links to Larry's version of the 20x30 1-1/2 story plan. Click the picture at the left for Larry's PDF of the old forum posts and Here for his on-line photo update site.
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20' wide 1-1/2 story cottage in Alaska Progress photos of a modified 20' wide 1.5 story cottage. Mike flipped the plan over and then put two nice gable dormers in the upstairs. He wrapped the porch around two sides. All this on a remote Alaska island where you barge or fly most materials in. |
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16' wide cottage over a daylight basement Here are some progress photos of the modified Victoria's Cottage that Dennis Kuhn and his family is building. He worked with a local engineer and had the plans modified to be built over a full basement foundation. He has used some interesting owner-builder products in this fine little house. Things like EcoBlock insulated concrete forms that provide a fully insulated basement level living space. Dennis reports he loves the light from all the skylights (there are 6 in his plan). They also installed their own metal roof. Several updates to the project are shown. |
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SIP panels and log siding Here is another owner-builder house where they started with the Victoria Cottage plans, then modified it for a basement foundation, full sized stair and larger bedroom wing. The actual structure was built using 12' long structural insulated panels - SIP - thick foam insulation panels with OSB sheathing on both sides. This eliminates the framing, but involves assembling some pretty good sized panels into a 3D puzzle. I'll let owner Brad Raby tell the story. Click here for the photos and narrative and find out how a log cottage can be built that is both very well insulated and won't settle like normal log structures. |
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Modified 16' wide Victoria Cottage
Project
Click here or the image to view the 2-story version of the 16' wide Victoria's Cottage. This creative family has designed and built a simple but spacious small house on a very handsome site overlooking a small lake. |
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Nash Cabin - a 14x24 Little House
Project
Interior picture update: 5/11/07 Click here (or the image) to view the story of the Nash cabin - a version of the 14x24 cottage plan. At the top of the page you will see updated photos of this great little rustic Wyoming cabin. Further down is the full story of how Hal built his cabin and made his choices. This project started life as an A-frame that morphed into a frame cabin or cottage home. |
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12x18 Little House Project Here is a set of progress photos of the 12 x 18 cabin built by Mike Nyikos and friends. This plan is part of the Little House Plans kit, but most people build the largest of the three cabins in that set. This is the medium sized building and the owner decided to get some practice for when he later builds a larger cabin in Canada. He built this plan as a storage shed for his current property in Texas. These photos clearly show the construction of the low-impact post and pier foundation and the framing sequence for a simple building. |
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Here are two more examples of owner-built small buildings. The first is a 12 x 18 gable roofed workshop/office. The second, a shed roof used to cover a 16 x 24 floor plan. Click the images for more pictures and information. |
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Here is a short movie on the building of the 14x24 Builder's cottage in Hawaii. This lockable cabin has used the easy to build Little House post and pier foundation. The owner's have used T1-11 siding and have closable panels to cover the windows and door openings. This is a movie (mov) file, you will need to have Quicktime or Window's Media Player to view it. Double click the image to download and play. |
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An inexpensive 14x36 Little House Project The house at left was built for $10,000 using the 14' wide house from the Little House Plans Kit. The owners extended it to 36' for a downstairs bedroom with a large storage loft above. It was owner-built with family and friends and about $500 worth of professional help. Click here, for additional photos. |
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Another 14x24 Little House Project
Click here to view progress photos of The Wing Cabin — a 14' x 24' Little House being built in central New York state. This cabin uses a modified post & pier foundation for colder climates. This foundation is further explained HERE. |
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Little House Project in Eastern WA
Click here (or the image at left) to view progress photos of Troy Cleghorn's 14' x 24' cabin going up in a pristine area of Eastern Washington. |
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14x20 Little House Project - Must
Read!
Click here to read the story of how the14 x 20 Creswell cabin was built. You will be amazed! |
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16' wide Victoria Cottage Project
Click here (or the image) for progress photos of original Victoria's Cottage and the Builder's Cottage out behind that is used as a separate guest house. |
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The Grandfather Cottage Project
Click on the image or Grandfather Cottage to see progress photos of this one-story shingle style retirement house. |
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14x24 Little House Project in the Yukon Here is a 14x24 cabin that Stephan Mead built up in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Click the photo or this link for more pictures and a 2 page description of the project. |
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Small cabin built by teenage girl
Heather's House. Built by a 17 year old girl who saved her own money and worked alone and with friends. Her proud mother reports, "(Heather) is out working with a carpenter today....being paid to put up drywall for someone else. Thanks to her experience building her own house, she has gotten jobs from $10-$22/hour doing carpentry. Now she has been asked to talk about her experience building her house at a women in the trades conference. She will also teach folks how to build a picnic table at the conference. The house building has been a huge boost to Heather's self-esteem.....and it has been opening a bunch of doors." |
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Carol's Little House is a modified 12' wide cottage with a shed roof extension built on a basic concrete post and pier foundation. Built in Chatham county, Georgia these photos show what can be done with a little help from your friends. This is a link to Carol's text and progress photo site. She used the Enchilada Plans kit to design this little house and submit the modified plans to the local building department. |
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The Velsko Cabin. A 16' wide by 24' long configuration with a beam and deck loft floor and a 10' wide dormer. Project is in process. This cabin could be built using the simple post and pier and decking layout of the Victoria Cottage plan's "simple 16' wide plan" included with this kit. The owner of this cabin gives you a pretty good description of his construction system. You may be able to configure your own set of plans from his ideas. |
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Raabe
Retreat Cabin
(with step-by-step "how-to" photos)
This is cabin that started these plans and a good example of the simplest of the three cabins in the Little House Plans Kit. Walk through these step-by-step photos of the10'x14' flat roofed cabin my two sons and I built for about $1400. For another example... This version of the smallest cabin in the Little House Plans Kit was built by a builder who now has a business building these as upscale playhouses and backyard workshop/studios for customers in his area. A house such as this can be built for less than $2,000 in materials using standard lumber and a simple "no-concrete" foundation. These sturdy little houses can sell for several times their cost. Here's a photo of a similar type of simple tarpaper (in process) cabin using just some of the information from the Big Enchilada plans. Click here for a quick shot of a project by Manny Cauto. |
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Click the image or link to visit Glenn Kangiser's unique underground house. Glenn is a very experienced owner-builder and has helped many visitors to this site with his informative postings to the Discussion Group. (Here is a link to an abstract of Glenn's postings.) Glenn's low-cost earth and timber project was built using some initial techniques learned from "The $50 and up Underground House Book" by Mike Oehler. |
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