The House
We start with the construction of the tiny house and her builder, Thor. Victorian and Thor were quite innovative and successful incorporating the outside with the living area of the home. THE HOUSE is 540 square feet, while the covered porch is 360 square feet and the courtyard adds an additional 375 square feet. We refer to this concept as bringing the outside in and the inside out.
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Thor and Victoria
We meet THOR AND VICTORIA - Welcome to the show, Thor, thanks for joining us. In turn Thor thanks GardenSMART for including him. And, Victoria, thank you for being with us as well. In this episode we're talking about tiny homes or small houses and their role in a community. Eric would like to first talk about what the objective was with this tiny house and what the hopes were for it. As you thought about this home what were you trying to design and build, tell us what your inspiration was.
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Changes To This Tiny House
They did make some CHANGES TO THIS TINY HOUSE based on what was learned with the first tiny house. Victoria wanted a slanted roof to make the rooms look bigger, she wanted an ADA with 36 inch doors, plus a shower with no threshold. And, small adjustments were made with the floor plan to make this livable for her long term. Victoria added about 115 square feet to her original Tiny House then incorporated the outside living space. That was one of the things she didn't have with her first tiny house.
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Inspiration For The Outside
Thor was the INSPIRATION FOR THE OUTSIDE. The concept of how to make it fit in and how to design the outside is where he has really helped Victoria. Thor wanted to start with an architect's drawing and had an architect in mind. That was very helpful. It made getting building permits and the overall approval by the planning department much easier. Eric addresses Thor. You’re a master carpenter with quite a bit of experience with these structures.
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Kaylin Kittle - The Landscape Design
We next meet with Kaylin Kittle and Bailey Taylor. KAYLIN is a landscape architect at SPG planners and engineers in Athens, Georgia. Kaylin works with Bailey Taylor, a landscape designer at SPG. Both of them conceptualized THE LANDSCAPE PLAN working closely with Victoria from concept through completion. Kaylin is a true find and very talented, plus was a joy to work with throughout the process.
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Be Out In Nature
With the concept plan she wanted to have enough room for Victoria to be able to BE OUT IN NATURE. Originally Kaylin had a little bit of lawn in the front and was glad they deviated from that because it is a small space and plants are much more interesting. Now it's nice to see the paths enable one to wander through the garden providing that nice connection to nature. A water feature was important, so Kaylin wanted to have a place for the water feature.
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Planting Design
With the PLANTING DESIGN Kaylin's goal was to use plants that are native to the area. Deer are frequent in this neighborhood, so she included deer resistant plants. She wanted to benefit the environment by providing good pollinators that were sure to attract birds and butterflies. That makes it fun for Victoria. As the homeowner she will able to see color through the seasons.
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Bailey Taylor
And as with every every project it certainly is a team effort, thus was so thankful for her colleague and teammate BAILEY TAYLOR. Bailey collaborated with her on this project, especially this spring when Kaylin had her son and was out on maternity leave. Bailey really stepped in and took the reins and did a wonderful job to see this project through. Her guidance and insight throughout have proven to be invaluable to this project. Eric welcomes Bailey to the show, thank you so much for joining us today. Bailey, you've been designing gardens for quite some time. You and Kaylin did an amazing job on this design. We talk to garden designers often, and one thing Eric finds really, really fascinating is to hear from them their philosophy of garden design, for example, how do you approach the task of taking something that's a less attractive space and turn it into a little slice of heaven?
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Victoria - This Whole Project
VICTORIA, talk to us a little bit about THIS WHOLE PROJECT. What were you thinking and what were your desires? Victoria thinks it worked out beautifully and Bailey and Kaylin were so patient when she kept changing things. Things moved, she added the turnaround, for example. They really worked together well. It was a joy to work with them both. Eric thinks that's wonderful, it's that interaction between the homeowner and the designer that actually makes for great design. There’s something very intimate and personal about a garden and great design is able to capture that emotion and what you want and then render it on paper. At the design stage you're imagining something that doesn't exist yet. There is something very, very fanciful and creative about the whole process.
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Many of us come to gardening later in life. Our guest today is diving in feet first. In this episode GardenSMART visits a family that built a tiny house then landscaped it beautifully.
Victoria, our guest host this week, cared for her mother in her latter years. Then when her older sister needed home supervision Victoria decided to handle the situation similarly, but she needed living space for herself. Fortunately, her sister had a larger in-town lot, which allowed Victoria to build a tiny house. We chronicle the transformation of the ignored lot from idea to completion and the journey is fascinating.
We start with the construction of the tiny house and her builder, Thor. Victorian and Thor were quite innovative and successful incorporating the outside with the living area of the home. THE HOUSE is 540 square feet, while the covered porch is 360 square feet and the courtyard adds an additional 375 square feet. We refer to this concept as bringing the outside in and the inside out. This means the living space is dramatically increased. Plus, and most importantly, those outdoor spaces are large and inviting.
We first meet THOR AND VICTORIA - Welcome to the show, Thor, thanks for joining us. In turn Thor thanks GardenSMART for including him. And, Victoria, thank you for being with us as well. In this episode we're talking about tiny homes or small houses and their role in a community. Eric would like to first talk about what the objective was with this tiny house and what the hopes were for it. As you thought about this home what were you trying to design and build, tell us what your inspiration was. Victoria explains, this is actually her second tiny house. She and Thor built one in 2010 in her mom's backyard so she could be her caregiver without being her roommate. Once she moved out of that home she spent many years saying she wanted another tiny house. She likes living that lifestyle, having a house she could vacuum, clean and mop in ten minutes. That was the inspiration that got her thinking about it. She came to stay with her sister while she had knee replacement surgery and realized that she was going to need help on a longer term basis. And after discussing it, they decided to build a second tiny house in her sister's backyard. Her sister's lot was large enough to allow a 540 square foot tiny house. But, the backyard had been neglected, it was pretty rough and and unattended, although it was an ideal space to build her second tiny house. It was very exciting to see the tree man come and take out five trees and make space for the house. Then the fence came down so they could start grading the lot.
They did make some CHANGES TO THIS TINY HOUSE based on what was learned with the first tiny house. Victoria wanted a slanted roof to make the rooms look bigger, she wanted an ADA with 36 inch doors, plus a shower with no threshold. And, small adjustments were made with the floor plan to make this livable for her long term. Victoria added about 115 square feet to her original Tiny House then incorporated the outside living space. That was one of the things she didn't have with her first tiny house. She had set ideas to begin with - She wanted light walls and light tile so that it would feel bigger, even though a small space. She wanted a full size refrigerator, a laundry area and wanted to upgrade the quality of the cabinets and countertops. She wanted countertops that would be bulletproof. Her first tiny house was built rather quickly. They used pre-made cabinets and vanities from the big box stores. After a couple of years, she was rather disappointed. The hinges started giving way, the press board crumbled a little bit, they looked great to begin with, but they just didn't have durability. She kept some features from the first house - It was also on a slab foundation plus had French doors and glider windows, which were low maintenance. The wet wall was also on one wall. It is cost effective to have all of the plumbing run down one side of the building. The day they came to pour the foundation was really exciting because she realized there was no turning back. It was roughed in pretty quickly. It is a small building and to see the walls go up and the roof go on was exciting. The mini splits, for heating and air conditioning, were an upgrade. Previously she had wall units and the mini splits were a wonderful addition. They're quiet, they're cost effective, it's been a very good addition to the house. The biggest addition to the new floor plan was adding the outdoor space and adding the front patio that then turned into the front porch and then turned into the covered front porch which really made the idea of having an indoor/outdoor space come together. One way she connected the living areas was by extending the indoor-outdoor tile all the way out to the yard and making it literally a third room.
Thor was the INSPIRATION FOR THE OUTSIDE. The concept of how to make it fit in and how to design the outside is where he has really helped Victoria. Thor wanted to start with an architect's drawing and had an architect in mind. That was very helpful. It made getting building permits and the overall approval by the planning department much easier. Eric addresses Thor. You’re a master carpenter with quite a bit of experience with these structures. Tell us about your path from becoming a carpenter to someone who is now building structures like this. Thor started out doing finished carpentry in Nantucket but still resided mainly in Athens. He really likes the ADU's, the smaller homes. They allow him to still be hands on and a part of the process, not just calling subs and managing. They allow him a level of creative input. And these homes provide the perfect timeline for patience and satisfaction. Eric adds, we talk on this show, a lot, about about design, it's often in the context of a garden or hardscape but he finds the design of these kind of structures really, really interesting and would like Thor to talk to our viewers about the way he approached the design process as well as about space and the way that it's going to be ultimately utilized in these homes. Thor feels with a tiny house or accessory dwellings you have to maximize everything. You want to keep hallways and dead zones to an absolute minimum. It's always a challenge with smaller buildings because you're limited by building codes thus can only build it so big.Thor enjoys the challenge. He's a big believer in efficiency. It allows tight living and allows one to live instead of just kind of constantly dealing with more space than is needed. It's a great way to go, it allows one to build affordably which is very challenging in this day and age. One of the features he loves about this home is the slope roof, it really does make it feel spacious when you walk inside. He also loves the way the front porch roof slopes down towards towards the road, it's like creating a whole additional room in the house, yet it still feels cozy and intimate. It is most likely a place that one will spend a lot of time, because you can enjoy the garden throughout the year without the blazing heat of the sun. Eric asks Thor as a master carpenter and a builder how important do you think the gardens are to these types of buildings? As soon as you landscape it, which of course, is tied into the property it immediately becomes a part of the neighborhood. At that point it's not kind of this oversized storage looking unit behind the house, it becomes so much more inviting and so much more pleasing to the passers-by. And, that's what makes it home. It's that personal, intimate touch that makes it home and a wonderful, wonderful place. Eric thinks they’ve done an amazing job. What an incredible vision on both of your parts, then seeing it come to fruition must really be fun.
It was exciting to see the great landscape design plan come together. The plan started coming together in early May. But because of the odd time of the year, it was sometimes difficult to find the exact plants on the landscape architects drawing. Natalie and Mark helped with the plant substitutions that would work with the landscape architects plan. The installation started with the soil amendment. To see this shipping container sized dump truck maneuver under the electrical wires around the original house, then put this incredibly large pile of soil amendment in the backyard was just amazing to see.
We next meet with Kaylin Kittle and Bailey Taylor. KAYLIN is a landscape architect at SPG planners and engineers in Athens, Georgia. Kaylin works with Bailey Taylor, a landscape designer at SPG. Both of them conceptualized THE LANDSCAPE PLAN working closely with Victoria from concept through completion. Kaylin is a true find and very talented, plus was a joy to work with throughout the process.
Victoria once again, meets with Kaylin. During the build and landscaping Kaylin had a baby. It’s been awhile since Victoria and Kaylin have met personally. It is so good to see you again. And how is baby Alden? Everything is good. He’s doing great. He's a very happy, happy, healthy baby. Victoria so appreciates Kaylin coming back. Kaylin thinks it's great to see how how things are starting to grow in a little bit and it'll be wonderful to see how everything looks next year in the spring. Victoria thanks Kaylin for her patience because when she started sourcing plants it was like, oh, we've got to tweak this, nope, we're moving some plants over here, oh, we can't get those plants, let's get these plants instead. But it's turned out great and it makes a statement as they say. Yes, for sure. That's always a part of the process. Speaking of process that was sort of the question of the day. We would like go back and talk about what Kaylin's thought process was coming into this project as basically an abandoned lot and then developing a plan for the space. Kaylin recalls, it essentially was a blank slate, an unused area of the yard, Kaylin thought it was such a fun project to be able to turn what was a completely unused lot into a space that can be enjoyed by Victoria, an enjoyable area that truly is your home. Kaylin really wanted to connect Victoria to the outside by creating nice views from the French doors out into the landscape, plus from the bedroom door out into the landscape as well as all the views out the windows. That indoor-outdoor connection is so important. And then to observe the site to see what they would be working with, not only with this small footprint, but also taking into consideration where that small footprint is within the neighborhood Kaylin wanted to create something that was pleasing for everyone. Additionally Kaylin needed to evaluate sun conditions and the grading conditions to consider drainage. Drainage was a big factor. They had to revise the plan once because of drainage issues discovered during the initial stages of building.
With the concept plan she wanted to have enough room for Victoria to be able to BE OUT IN NATURE. Originally Kaylin had a little bit of lawn in the front and was glad they deviated from that because it is a small space and plants are much more interesting. Now it's nice to see the paths enable one to wander through the garden providing that nice connection to nature. A water feature was important, so Kaylin wanted to have a place for the water feature. And it has a nice view corridor, a focal point in the garden plus it is nice to be able to open the doors and be able to enjoy that fountain. Victoria has really enjoyed it. The patio sort of evolved from a patio to a porch to a covered area to, now, a quasi third room. It's been very enjoyable to have.
With the PLANTING DESIGN Kaylin's goal was to use plants that are native to the area. Deer are frequent in this neighborhood, so she included deer resistant plants. She wanted to benefit the environment by providing good pollinators that were sure to attract birds and butterflies. That makes it fun for Victoria. As the homeowner she will able to see color through the seasons. Thus she specified plants that have spring and summer bloom and fall color, plus attract birds, butterflies and hummingbirds so they can be enjoyed as well. Kaylin feels this was just a really fun project for her.
And as with every every project it certainly is a team effort, thus was so thankful for her colleague and teammate BAILEY TAYLOR. Bailey collaborated with her on this project, especially this spring when Kaylin had her son and was out on maternity leave. Bailey really stepped in and took the reins and did a wonderful job to see this project through. Her guidance and insight throughout have proven to be invaluable to this project. Eric welcomes Bailey to the show, thank you so much for joining us today. Bailey, you've been designing gardens for quite some time. You and Kaylin did an amazing job on this design. We talk to garden designers often, and one thing Eric finds really, really fascinating is to hear from them their philosophy of garden design, for example, how do you approach the task of taking something that's a less attractive space and turn it into a little slice of heaven? Bailey tells us they really like to focus on how the site is already taking into account the existing conditions. They really love to preserve the integrity of the landscape. So they look at the site and see just how it can be improved to transform it into something where one can feel that it's always been there, just making it more manicured and beautiful. There are so many things you've got to keep in mind - the architecture of the existing home, the existing trees, sight conditions and municipalities that you have to work with. Eric would like for Bailey to talk about this site in particular, what were some of the considerations they had to take into account as well as any challenges they encountered? Well, Athens, as a whole, is a wonderful place to work. It does come with slight challenges, for instance, working in very historic districts. There they want to make sure to be working with the Historic Preservation Society and making sure that everything they are proposing in their landscapes meet their expectations and how they want to see their community grow, develop and transform over time. With this space they wanted to make sure that not only the backyard, but the front yard, just the entire project was enhanced. Putting in new plants, making it look good for not only Victoria and her sister, but for the neighborhood as well. When you first visited the site, what were the things that you noticed and what got the creative juices flowing as you were considering Victoria's needs? What does she want to see here? And then how do you make that happen? Whenever they were speaking with Victoria, they got a general idea of her vision and her goals. They knew they wanted to create an outdoor space that Victoria could hang out in and listen to water features and watch birds and other pollinator species, really just enjoy being in a garden. This site, is slightly constrained in size, so that gave them the idea of creating a courtyard feel, making sure that it feels like it's a large amount of space while actually being quite a small site. One thing Eric thinks is very interesting with any design and with any implementation of a design is the way that people address problem solving. There are changes that are occurring all the time and Bailey and Kaylin have to evolve as designers on the basis of rain or materials not being available. What were some of the problem solving aspects that that you had to implement with this project? With our original design, I think our dreams were massive. We wanted to include absolutely everything that Victoria could ever dream of and over time as projects progress it becomes a little bit smaller and a little bit smaller so they then revise the plans to account for a little bit more constraint.
VICTORIA, talk to us a little bit about THIS WHOLE PROJECT. What were you thinking and what were your desires? Victoria thinks it worked out beautifully and Bailey and Kaylin were so patient when she kept changing things. Things moved, she added the turnaround, for example. They really worked together well. It was a joy to work with them both. Eric thinks that's wonderful, it's that interaction between the homeowner and the designer that actually makes for great design. There’s something very intimate and personal about a garden and great design is able to capture that emotion and what you want and then render it on paper. At the design stage you're imagining something that doesn't exist yet. There is something very, very fanciful and creative about the whole process. And he thinks Bailey and Kaylin did a really, really amazing job of capturing Victoria’s vision and then translating it into reality. It's a really, really wonderful project. Thank you. Victoria would like to add when Bailey and Kaylin brought over the first rendering it was practically euphoric to see what it could be and the transformation from the biggest mud puddle in town into this. It was like, oh, it's going to be wonderful and it truly is.
It's so exciting to see a project come together. Getting involved with a tiny house has been a real treat. A lot has happened and we've learned a lot throughout the process. Importantly, by bringing the outside in and the inside out, the possibilities for plant material and other design options expand exponentially, plus the living space increases dramatically.
Building and landscaping the tiny house has been a blast. We've covered the initial stages in this episode, but there's a lot more to come. Keep tuning in. In upcoming tiny house episodes on Garden Smart we'll dive deeper and take a close look at proper plant selection, caring for the plants, landscape installation, improving the soil, incorporating the hardscape, including edging the pathways, watering tips, selecting containers, indoor-outdoor furniture, and even selecting a great grill. So stay tuned as we highlight the building and landscaping of this exciting project.
Agastache in the past was just offered by a few nurseries. There are new cultivars in the works and some beauties in the market, our friend Dan tells us about three. For an interesting article,
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