Shackteau was my first 4 season tiny living space. It seems that every couple of years, I build something new for myself, and each one is a physical snapshot of that time in my life. This particular cabin was built primarily for two reasons, shedding and to have space from the coop.⠀
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Shedding is an old term for creating a space to learn to play music. At around 27, the age when I built this cabin, I was picking up the fiddle as my first stringed instrument. For nearly the first year, all I played was four notes from one song. This dusty snug home gave me the physical and empathic space to stick to the instrument.
This cabin was also the first structure built at Dandelion Eco-Village, a project I helped to launch in my 20s.
I spent many years with the project in a coop house next door. The cabin became sort of a detached bedroom from the coop that helped to restore my individuality and sanity.⠀
These days I’m scheming my next structure, a load-bearing cob accessory dwelling unit, while I complete a degree with Indiana University’s new Master’s in Architecture program.
This program is not in my home town so I’ve taken to the van life way of life during the week and it’s been great.
My van is super basic with a 300 dollar budget. It was suppose to be the opposite of my box truck conversion wich came out close to $70k.
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