Tumbleweed Tiny House Plans are on sale and these aren’t the teeny-tiny ones that are built on a trailer; these are the ones that fall  under the term “cottage.” Both the Enesti (which is the larger of the two) and the Bodega require foundations. The Enesti is quite large compared to its Tumbleweed counterparts at 746 sq. ft. and can be added on to for a total of 843 sq. ft. This is one of my favorite Tumbleweed plans and for a savings of $400 off the plan, it’s quite reasonable in price.

Enesti plans on sale

The Bodega plan is one of the smallest “cottage” plans, but it’s quaint and very similar in style to the Enesti. I liken it to being sort of like the Enesti, but miniaturized. Its square footage ranges from 261 sq. ft. to 356 sq. ft. These plans are on sale for $500 off making it a bargain.

Both homes have nice-sized front porches implemented into the plans allowing a person to stretch out their legs when things are feeling a bit cramped. And the loft in the Bodega plan isn’t counted into the square footage – meaning it’s a little larger than the square feet state.

Which Tumbleweed is your favorite?

When Thomas Kincade’s paintings first started showing up in galleries years ago, I’d imagine myself living in one of his cottage homes near a babbling brook. His namesake is now so commercialized I don’t necessarily think I’d feel this way today. However, the cottage style house plans in his paintings still make me feel warm and fuzzy. Perhaps I read too many fairy tales as a child. Nevertheless, I am still fascinated with cottage-style homes of all sizes. To clarify, cottage really isn’t a style of its own. The term can apply to many styles of homes, but usually describes comfy or cozy plans (quite subjective, I suppose).

A house plan site that has drawn my attention lately is eplans.com. Their site is easy to navigate and allows you to select the features you’d prefer and style that best suits your needs. For a small fee, you can receive an estimate of what your house plan would cost to build, a service many companies don’t offer.

Some of their plans include actual photographs, like the Craftsman below, while others include an illustration.

EPlan's Craftsman cottage style house plan

Another nice feature of this site is you can choose plans that fit within your budget. So if you can only afford to build a house that is under $200,000, you select the minimum and maximum cost variables and only house plans that fall within your range will appear within your search. Quite helpful for people like me who are hoping to save money though building my own home.

Now if only I could find land to build one of these fabulous plans, I’d be set.

Have you thought about building your own home? How far have you gotten on your plans? Do any of these ideas inspire you?

I’m obsessed, I know. I just can’t help myself,  but kit homes from a century ago are just charming and adorable. And of course it doesn’t help that I found this amazing website that lists tons of antique kit homes. I could spend hours drooling over the house plans and advertisements of yesteryear when a bedroom was referred to as a “chamber”. Of course “chamber” sounds a little archaic, but it’s nostalgic just the same.


My current favorite (and this changes on a day to day basis) is the Harris Homes bungalow collection of the 1920′s. Many of the bungalow plans this company offered were on the small end of the spectrum, under 800 sq. ft., but some of the two story versions were a comfy 1,200 sq. ft. I think the large porches with the staunch pillars are what draw me to this style the most.

Harris Home Design

Harris Homes also dabbled in Four-Square and Colonial Revival residential architecture, but the majority of the 1920′s models revolve around bungalow, or Craftsman style, home designs. Their bungalow floor plans were much more open than their Four-Square plans. Most of their kit homes delivered regionally around their business in Chicago, Illinois and can be found throughout the Great Lakes Region.What’s interesting about this company, is they were truly pioneers in the “green” movement before it was ever popular. Their specialty was wrecking and offered “money back for waste” according to the Antique Home Style description. The only thing I see that’s missing in most of their floor plans, was a second bathroom. However, I’m sure that in 1920 it was a treat to have indoor plumbing!

Today there is still a desire for Craftsman House Plan designs. A few companies I’ve come across that sell similar plans, though not necessarily kit home plans, are The Bungalow Company. I’ve written about this company before; they have some amazing bungalow house plans including a small house plans design area. They also have slide shows of sample interiors and exteriors which helps in determining a favorite plan or style.

Another company that offers a lot of bungalow style plans, as well as other architectural designs, is Designs for Living. They have lots of plans to choose from and many of them have actual photos of completed homes instead of just illustrations or mock-ups. Their floor plans are really open and unique and not so cookie-cutter. Also, the architectural plans are quite reasonably priced compared to other companies I’ve come across, however I’m not sure if you’d need additional sets of plans upon construction. Comparatively, some companies include 4 sets of plans for one price that are called “construction” plans.  Since I’m not ready to build my dream home yet, I’m a little unsure of the materials needed.

At least I’ve found companies that offer bungalow style plans. Once I get serious about where I’m going to build my home, find a reasonably priced lot (this is the kicker of them all!), and decide on a design style, I know where to look!

What style is your dream home? Does antique architecture pique your interest?

Small house plans, little house plans, anything to do with residential architecture seems to resonate with me. Perhaps that’s why I named my blog “Little House in the Valley.” However, recently our little rental house in the valley has been the bane of my existence. How’s that? I run into door ways while turning a corner, I trip over  the vacuum that someone’s left in the hallway, I have to leap over hall fans that are placed in our narrow hallways to generate some air flow; all of a sudden our little rental house seems just too little.

But I’m not going to let a poorly designed, 1950′s ranch style house deter me from my dream of a little-not-so-mcmansion kind of house. There are a plethora of options out there, especially if you’re a DIY type of person. I’ve found plenty of prefab designs to drool over, yet one has recently struck a chord with my little house dream: Blu Homes. Not only do their prefab homes start at a reasonable price, they are environmentally friendly, and have open floor plans. Their four initial designs range in size from 408 sq. ft. to over 1,500 sq. ft. (still somewhat small compared to modern-day homes.) The basic floor plan that all four designs include is an open design incorporating the living/dining/kitchen area. No need for walls separating out each room making it compartmentalized, Blu Homes opens up the “living” area for a more natural flow of traffic. A few reasons why an open floor plan appeals to me:

• Increased air flow. This is important considering I own pets and my husband is a smoker. The dust, smoke, and pet smell is easily trapped in smaller rooms, but diluted in larger areas (not so sure this is any safer, but it’s less smelly!)
• Furniture options are innumerable. Instead of worrying about wall placement, or too much wall space, furniture can be moved to the center of the living space giving each area it’s own function, while at the same time, keeping foot-traffic flowing.
• No more running into doorways or tripping through narrow halls. The days of the long, narrow hall are disappearing in modern home plans. Yet, they still do exist. That wasted space isn’t needed in a living area, there’s no need to separate the living room from the dining room or kitchen. An open floor plan makes better use of available space without clouding it up with hallways.

Blu Homes Element two-bedroom floor plan

Blu Homes smaller plan, the  two-bedroom Element, is one of my favorite plans. The only thing I’d add would be a kitchen bar or island for seating 2-4 people, an option available in two of their larger plans. The open floor plan in the living area allows endless possibilities for furniture arrangement and foot-traffic. No more running into doorways!

Does your home have an open floor plan? Are there drawbacks to an open floor plan?

This is the last part of the Half Dome hike. When I first saw this, I said no way! But then I did it and it wasn't that frightening.

As I am remaining to keep my blog quasi-anonymous, I realize that there are some things you should know about me. (I’m kinda stealing this post idea from Ryan’s 8 Random Things About Me post from Planting Dollars – Sorry Ryan!) So here are just a few quick and dirty facts about me:

• I’m short. Barely 5′ 2″. My husband, on the other hand, is a foot taller than me.
• I’m a Starbucks addict. You probably already knew this, especially if you checked out my guest post at gobankingrates.com.
• I love my green, Raleigh, Comfort bike. I bike as much as I can to Starbucks (of course!) to school, to the bank, to the grocery store. (Though lately I’ve been a little lazy !)
• I use Quickbooks to help track my spending. I’m the bookkeeper around my house, including handling all of my husband’s client invoices (he’s self employed), purchase orders, and even help out on projects occasionally.
• I’ve been able to pay down about $8,000 in debt. I still have more to go, but I’m getting there. I should be seeing that finish line in under 24 months, whew!
• My husband and I are hoping to purchase a house in the next year to year in a half. Perhaps a little house, under 1,500 square feet.
• I’ve increased my credit score by almost 200 points this past year. I need to raise it about 60 more points, but if I continue making on time payments and using my credit cards lightly, that should happen this year.
• I love architecture, especially little house plans. For those of you who are looking for terrific house plans, I finally created a ‘House Plan’ category and organized my posts that include links to house plan sites I’ve found. You can see this category on the right side bar. I notice that much of my Google traffic is from people searching little house plans, so here’s to you!
• I like to hike. I’ve hiked the Grand Canyon twice, hiked Yosemite’s Half Dome in a day (up and down), hiked Vernal Falls twice, and I hope to someday hike Mt. Whitney. (I’m not at all interested in Mt. Everest!)

Random facts that confirm I’m boring!