Tiny Cottage Views

That is what the tiny cottage looks like today. We finished up with the scaffolding for the forms of the bedroom ceiling which is also the floor of the attic – our storage space. Next we do the bathroom ceiling scaffolding which will be the utility space where the hot water heater goes. Once we have the scaffolding and forms in place we will begin doing cement work for the partitions and then the ferro-cement of the attic and utility floors. It has been cold enough that it has been nice not to be doing wet work – Today got up to 0°F and the wind made things… interesting. One is advised not to wear metal rimmed glasses and look north. Fortunately the pigs are all snug in their hay, including the new arrivals and the chickens are cozy in their new hoop house down by the corner old farm house kitchen and the hay shed. The sheep don’t seem to care.

As I’ve been chronicling the building of our tiny cottage here on Sugar Mountain I’ve received many requests for what does the view look like out the windows, especially after the post of about the view. So, here’s looking out from the Tiny Cottage. The above pan shows the windows of the tiny cottage as if you were standing in the back looking south to the front of the house. Below are larger copies of each thumbnail.

Starting on the far left is the master bedroom. It is literally, a bedroom being just the size for a queen size bed plus a fold out desk for someone sitting on the bed – Efficient. Storage will be built-ins below and above the bed. The window isn’t there yet as we still need to install the two Marvin double hung windows we got.

Moving on to the main room…

This is looking east out of the central room. Across the valley is Hannah Hill. Realize that these images are composites. A camera, especially a digital camera, does not have the dynamic range that our eyes have so it can’t see the outdoors very well from inside – everything whites out. But the photo above is what I see looking out the window.

Looking out the door we see the top of the driveway and mountains. The whey tank is buried in the snow bank on the other side of the driveway so as to protect it from the wind.

This is the big view looking out the front three windows. If you were standing up near the glass and looked out the east window on the left you would be looking across the south field and down the valley. On a very clear day I think I can see to Bradford and perhaps beyond. The house is not facing directly south but rather on magnetic south, by chance, because at that angle we get more light due to the fact that the ridge of Sugar Mountain is to our west.

Above the front room will be a loft for the kids. In the middle will be a window looking out over the upper pond and south fields.

This is the dining nook in the south west corner of the tiny cottage. It offers a 270° view. Right outside the window to the west is a cliff of granite and quartz which we uncovered in the process of excavating the house site – very beautiful rocks. Sitting at the table we’ll be able to see the picnic area by the upper pond and out across the south fields down the valley.

The assistant Fly Lady Hope is washing the kitchen window which looks out to the west up hill into the forest. From that window we can see the tree house and play area. Eventually there will be a little terraced garden climbing up the slope as well as a berm to protect that space so that I can grow more delicate plants than normally survive in our climate. The berm will cause the wind to drop snow in a deep drift so that sensitive things are well protected through the cold winter. Perhaps I’ll even be able to do espalier peaches or plums against the south facing rock wall. We’ll see how the spot is when completed.

We have not yet put in the bathroom window. That is the second Marvin window. Until we’ve gotten the cement work done above it I don’t want to put in those expensive windows less they get dinged.

That is the north wall – no windows. To the left on the west side is the bathroom and to the right on the east side is the master bedroom. Directly ahead, on the floor, is the small wood stove. It won’t take much to warm this house.

This would be the view out the back looking across the north field if we had a window in that direction. The wind comes to us from Sugar Mountain so that is the side we’ll berm to lift the cold winter wind up over the house. Eventually we’ll be able to see out in that direction from the tower.

Outdoors: 3°F/-5°F 3″ Snow all day, Windy
Farm House: 56°F/45°F seven logs
Tiny Cottage: 35°F/45°F Attic scaffold finished
Sunrise: 7:03 am, SunSet: 5:04 pm
SunSet over Bear Ridge: 3:08 pm