- CottageCamper.com
- facebook.com/CottageCamper
- YouTube – CottageCamper
- facebook.com/TakeMeHomeTinyHouse
(Blog for the BIG tiny house build) - GraciousTinyHousePark.com
(New Tiny House Community)
Glad you stopped by to see my progress!
This is the story of my DIY homemade trailer I lovingly call
~~ The Cottage Camper ~~
You can see ALL the updates at my video channel on YouTube.
Please subscribe to YouTube: Tiny Living channel.
(or search “cottage camper” on YouTube)
I’m building a bigger one!
8x20ft while I live in the CottageCamper. The big one I call “TakeMeHome” and you can follow my real tiny house build on facebook.com/TakeMeHomeTinyHouse
As for the Cottage Camper: Here’s the way it looked about a year ago. Cute on the outside, but empty cargo inside. It was only 4 feet tall and I used it only as a cargo trailer.
Then I decided to convert it into a camper
so I lifted off the roofing panels …
and reframed the walls taller to bump it up to a 6 ft peak.
After I reattached the roof & painted it white to reflect some of the Florida sun.
I added upper side windows
Here you see “the boys” sitting on our “porch” and listening to all the great music at a bluegrass festival. Gorgeous weather & a nice shady spot under the live Oaks with whispy spanish moss dangling in the breeze. MANY people stopped to take the tour of our little cottage in progress! We were the highlight of the weekend!
Go check out our youtube channel & subscribe for updates on the build progress & tours of the interior.
Thanks for coming!
Just saw the TH article and your website. You place looks awesome. Do you plan to reside in it? Or is it a vacation cabin? Seems a mite small for full time, but then again, that’s what this is all about.
I have 29 acres here and have plans between my ears to have a somewhat covert THOW there. As I do have an artesian well, water is no problem. And I do have electricity strung out on an auxiliary pole, though I have not turned it on as yet.
Anyway, as yet, I am still trying to decide what I will build. As a fellow Floridian, I am hoping to find a way to defeat the heat (proper insulation) and waterproofing (to counter the usual rotting problems).
I like what I see that you have put together. Very nice. Very talented!
Steve
I just bought a 6 x 12 trailer. However, I’m confused about how to lay the floor down and connect it and the 2×4’s to the floor. I don’t really see in the video’s how to do this. Can you help? Thanks, Eileen
Hey, Eileen. I left the floorboards in that were already bolted to the trailer so I screwed to those and added Simpson strong ties too. (Hurricane straps) Look carefully at the photos of the naked trailer & initial framing/hurricane straps. You’ll see I screwed right into the steel trailer frame. I also kept the side rails and built the walls around them and secured the wood framing into the metal trailer. Remember, I can only tell you what I did, you’ll have to make sure yours is sufficiently secure. I hope this helps, Good luck! You can message me & I’ll try to be more help.
Thank you for the reply information. I’m pretty well set on the plan now. I am under 5 feet tall, but my children are taller. I am thinking of a shed type roof with the lower 5 or 6 foot hitch side to rise at the back to a 6 or 7 foot . On the 12 foot utility trailer I plan to go build around an 8 feet area and have the last 4 feet be like a porch area. Solid steel roof to go over all of the area, though. The last 4 feet will be solid around the perimeter 4 feet high with a picket fence attached to the Porch area. Canvas and vinyl will be around the sides and back in case of inclement weather. I’d like to show it to you some time if I get down to Florida this year. I’m from Michigan where the weather is cold in winter. I also will have a small ice shanty wood stove in the enclosed part. I hope that I can find hurricane straps up here. Other wise I will improvise with what is around here. Can’t wait for the snow to melt and weather to warm a bit so I can get started building. Thank you again for the wonderful inspiration. Eileen