building, ADUs, workshops
Lina Menard
Women's+ Basic Carpentry March 2025

I had just gotten back from Wrapping Up Tiny House Design-Build Cert 2025 when Chrissy called to ask if I’d consider teaching Women’s+ Basic Carpentry. This was the first Yestermorrow course I ever heard of - nearly 20 years ago now! I signed up for the catalog - which was snail mailed back then - and I’d flip through it, circling all the courses I wanted to take. It was a couple of years before I finally signed up for the Sustainable Design-Build Certification and got myself to Yestermorrow. But I’ve been going there ever since! So it feels like I’ve come full circle, having the opportunity to teach the Women’s+ Basic Carpentry course.

Women's+ Basic Carpentry March 2025
Community, Intentionality
Lina Menard
Choosing Community (Again)

It’s been a couple of weeks now since we moved next door to my best friend from both college and grad school and her husband. The benefits of community have already been lovely - and quite tasty! Having my fairy godfamily help us unload our stuff the day we arrived and then join us for take out on the living room floor was just the beginning of our participation in this lovely reciprocal community.

Choosing Community (Again)
Travel, Community, ADUs
Lina Menard
Maui, Hawaii

After A Week Long Send Off, My Round the World Trip kicked off with eight days in Maui visiting my sister Sarah who has split her time between Hawaii and Alaska for many years. What an epic way to start this adventure! There was mist falling when my sister greeted me at the Kahului airport on Maui a week ago, so she teased me about bringing the rain from the mainland. We headed straight for Paia where she presented me with a young coconut and a lei, accompanied by the chant for the gifting-of-a-lei.

Maui, Hawaii
Travel, Planning, tiny houses
Lina Menard
Lucky Penny Moves to Walla Walla

A number of circumstances collided recently to compel me to move the Lucky Penny to my property in Walla Walla where I have a ground bound small house called Valencia Cottage. So on Tuesday trusted tiny house movers Linh and Stephanie Pham helped me move the Lucky Penny safely from Portland to my place in Walla Walla.

Lucky Penny Moves to Walla Walla
Minimalism, workshops
Lina Menard
Downsizing Tune Up

As I packed up recently in preparation to travel cross country in my Honda Fit, I did some downsizing… It was harder than it had been during my last couple of moves because this time I had more stuff. I’d been living in a bigger space…My apartment was a studio, but it was still about 6 times bigger than the Lucky Penny! I talked with several people about the experience and a handful of them said “oh my goodness, I need to do more of that!” So I’ve decided to offer a 6-week Downsizing Tune Up…

Downsizing Tune Up

tiny houses

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O'Keefe Build Blitz: Day 2

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O'Keefe Build Blitz: Day 2

Yesterday we kicked off our second build morning by finalizing the detailing of our trailer and floor system so that the two were ready to be joined. Maile sealed the edge between the pressure treated undercarriage and the trailer with a sealant and Kevin and Peter installed lifting plates and put rigid foam around the perimeter of the floor system. Then we were ready for the real excitement to begin... Harold then brought the boom truck around and picked up the floor panel with an aluminum bar and three neverending loops. He hoisted the panel over to the trailer and set it into place.

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O'Keefe Build Blitz: Day 1

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O'Keefe Build Blitz: Day 1

Yesterday was Day 1 of the tiny house build and despite a few setback (there are always setbacks!) we made good progress. We started out the day by leveling the trailer (so fun to do that with John's awesome laser level!) and checking the trailer for square. (Wright Trailers did a great job on this trailer!) We did some tool orientation and safety so we could ensure that we're all on the same page and ready to roll. Then we measured and cut our pressure treated plywood as the undercarriage...

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T42 Built-Ins

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T42 Built-Ins

We've snuck in a few extra build days for our tiny house T42, working on built-ins, including a set of alternating tread stairs, an entry step with shoe cubbies, a closet that doubles as a walkway for our bedroom, and a riser for the bathroom floor. It's so fun to see our house take shape again! 

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Tiny House Jamboree 2016

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Tiny House Jamboree 2016

After attending Tiny House Jamboree last year, you can be sure I wasn't about to miss the second annual Tiny House Jamboree, which was hosted in Colorado Springs last weekend by Darin Zaruba and his awesome team from EcoCabins! It flew by in a flurry of hugs, high fives, and making connections with tiny house enthusiasts from all across the country and around the world.

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Tiny House Design-Build Presentation Day 2016

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Tiny House Design-Build Presentation Day 2016

Today we celebrated the hard work, incredible creativity, and mad building skills of our students as we wrapped up Tiny House Design-Build. As I've noted previously in Less is More Wrap Up and Tiny House Design-Build Wrap Up, Presentation Day feels like Xmas morning to me! Watching the activity of the design studio the night before Presentation Day is a bit like hanging out in Santa's workshop on Xmas Eve. It leaves one with a night of excitedly disrupted sleep, curiosity brewing about what will be revealed the following day. 

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Framing Walls & Embracing Design Constraints

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Framing Walls & Embracing Design Constraints

Over the past two days of Tiny House Design-Build we've been busy on the build site with safety and tool orientation, insulating the wooden floor box of our trailer, and framing our first wall. In the studio we've explored design considerations ranging from siting, climate, and massing to codes, regulations, and what to look for (and ask for) when ordering a tiny house trailer.

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T42 Lofts, Interior Walls, Paint

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T42 Lofts, Interior Walls, Paint

It's been a very productive week for our tiny house, T42. (It's also been a very exciting week for Isha and I because we made A Big Announcement!) This week, with the help of a few friends and a couple Tiny House Sidekicks, we managed to install the sleeping loft, the studio pocket door, the bathroom pocket door, the studio wall, the access hatch for our loo bucket, and do the first coat of paint on the interior of our little house.