The Rustic "Temporary" Microhouse

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As for such self-indulgences as window curtains, Thoreau wrote, "...it costs me nothing for curtains, for I have no gazers to shut out but the sun and moon, and I am willing that they should look in." As for rugs, "A lady once offered me a mat, but having no room to spare with in the house, nor time to spare within or without to shake it, I declined it, preferring to wipe my feet on the sod before my door. It is best to avoid the beginnings of evil.

Indeed!

But, don't forget that your living room is naturally expandable and happy to accommodate any personal needs or social events that would crowd the microhouse. As Thoreau says: "My 'best' room ...always ready [for guests]... was the pine wood behind my house ...a priceless domestic swept the floor and dusted the furniture and kept things in order."

Invite your city friends out for a microhouse-warming and throw a barn dance in your own "best" room. Thoreau's "priceless domestic" still tidies up for bargain wages.

PART II: BUILDING THE MICROHOUSE

When Thoreau built his house at Walden, he was a robust 26, energized by his new philosophy and motivated by the desire to publish a book about his experiences. He was squatting—paying nothing, with free access to the natural resources of woods and pond—on land that belonged to his mentor, the poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. He even had to borrow his ax. He could take his sweet time. He began in late March, moved in on July 4th, and finished plastering the inside walls in late fall.

Few of us are—or would want to be—as unencumbered as Thoreau or have half a year, full-time, available for building a microhouse. Fewer still of us will have free land with useable timber at hand plus free room and board and the cordial welcome of a mentor a brisk walk away. And only a few specialized builders today have Thoreau's apparent hands-on experience in house building with pegged mortise-and-tenon joints, or somewhere to borrow the timber framing tools to accomplish the work. If you have the bug to build this way, however, see the homesteaders equipment catalogs in the source list and "Tools for Small-Log Building" in our Match issue [#166]. Or get one of Jack Sobon or Tedd Bensons books on building post-and-beam structures. Two older tides that we like and that are still available are listed in the source list on page 84. While you're on that page, you can also get the best book ever written on conventional frame construction, the U.S. Navy's old Basic Construction Techniques. It's being produced again—along with the Navy's excellent old brick, concrete, and foundry manuals—by Lindsay Publications, the quirky reprinter of technical manuals from times gone by.

A Compromise

Thoreau didn't have to contend with building codes and zoning ordinances intended to maintain city property values—and, many claim, to perpetuate the incomes of contractors, regulators, and the building trades. I would like to suggest a microhouse design and hand-building system that will circumvent most such restrictions, that involves minimal cash outlay, and that you can build on evenings, weekends, and vacations.

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