The No-Mortgage Natural Cottage

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A Carpentry for Women class inspired Miwa Oseki Robbins to build her own tiny home on wheels.
A Carpentry for Women class inspired Miwa Oseki Robbins to build her own tiny home on wheels.
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The author’s daughter built her own treehouse.
The author’s daughter built her own treehouse.
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Roofing scraps keep the author's daughter snug while she saves up for siding.
Roofing scraps keep the author's daughter snug while she saves up for siding.
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Miwa’s friends help raise the frame of her tiny house on wheels.
Miwa’s friends help raise the frame of her tiny house on wheels.
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Solar panels further lessen Miwa’s dependence on the grid.
Solar panels further lessen Miwa’s dependence on the grid.
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Keeping costs low by living in a tiny home helps Miwa devote more time to pursuing her passions.
Keeping costs low by living in a tiny home helps Miwa devote more time to pursuing her passions.
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Living in a mobile home will enable you to relocate at a moment’s notice if necessary.
Living in a mobile home will enable you to relocate at a moment’s notice if necessary.
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Some abandoned abodes require too much work to rent out. Living in one was a gamble for Stardust, but it saved her a bundle of money.
Some abandoned abodes require too much work to rent out. Living in one was a gamble for Stardust, but it saved her a bundle of money.
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The nonprofit Foxhole Homes builds Earthships in New Mexico to provide transitional, sustainable housing for homeless veterans.
The nonprofit Foxhole Homes builds Earthships in New Mexico to provide transitional, sustainable housing for homeless veterans.
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Building small homes out of “junk” and dirt keeps building costs low.
Building small homes out of “junk” and dirt keeps building costs low.
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This whimsical greenhouse accommodates planters that treat wastewater, and it keeps energy costs low for the Earthship to which it’s attached.
This whimsical greenhouse accommodates planters that treat wastewater, and it keeps energy costs low for the Earthship to which it’s attached.

When our oldest daughter was 9, I caught her dragging my air compressor into the woods, where she had stashed a bunch of my building materials in preparation for building her first treehouse. Fast-forward 10 years: When she started attending the local community college, we were pleased that she chose affordable schooling and excited that she would be hanging around longer. But then she announced that she was moving out — not into a house or apartment that would cost more than her tuition, but into a treehouse that she would build herself.

It isn’t just children who dream of escaping the rent/mortgage treadmill in their own little cottage in the woods, but as we get older — and more weighed down by our jobs, responsibilities, and stuff — we accept the notion that we’re trapped. That only an expert can build a house. That shelter has to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. That zoning and codes make living your no-mortgage dream impossible. That you can’t just go out into the woods with an axe and a saw and build something you can live in. Fortunately, my daughter didn’t get those memos. Instead, the time she spent in her formative years with folks who had done just such a thing convinced her that she could do it too.

Locating Your Cottage

I like to think of a DIY, no-frills cottage as a way out of being trapped. Moving into an apartment of her own would’ve cost my daughter at least $600 per month in our area. Instead, her total expenditure came to a little less than $2,000. If she stays there for four years and pockets the difference, she’ll walk away with more than $26,000.

To someone who’s just starting to dream, or who has their hands full just trying to keep their head above water, this type of living may seem impossible, but variations on this theme are quietly playing themselves out all around us. Most of the people I know who have done something like this haven’t owned the land they put their cottage on. Many of us didn’t have the cash or even a credit card when we started, but we had a plan we were willing to take a chance on.

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