Info-to-Build-On Small House by Raoul Hennin September 14, 2004 The first structure on your property can serve many purposes through time.

In Maine, it is called a "camp" - the first small structure built on the property. The little building that houses tools, provides a haven from black flies and shelter from rain during the construction process of the actual residence. After the main house has been built, the camp continues to offer guest accommodation or tool or garden shed storage. The first structure is critical to setting the aesthetic and functional tone of the property.

Shelter Institute graduates often begin settling an otherwise wild or wooded lot with a carefully designed small structure. Prior to construction of the "real" house, this little house provides a retreat to which the new property owners can visit and experience the special features of their unique property from afar. A dry, protected space for meeting with subcontractors exerts a remarkable civilizing influence. A little house serves as a stake in the ground - a first rite of organization and improvement to an otherwise unimproved lot.

A composting toilet allows for functional, if not luxurious, over-night visits, and will continue to serve an important function throughout the construction process for visitors, subcontractors and workers alike. After construction, the small house, equipped with composting toilet provides ideal guest quarters (outside the main house) - or perhaps the perfect retreat to write the next great American novel.

The materials are readily available, durable, and affordable. And the structure itself is easily insulated later for true year-round guest house facility. Otherwise, it functions quite nicely as a retreat, tool storage shed, outhouse, and 3-season guest house. Metal roofing comes in all colors and will provide a lifetime of trouble-free shelter. Well placed windows and doors balance privacy/security concerns with daylighting. An inlet front porch is a slight luxury we built into the design - providing an entrance as well as outside handy storage of basic outdoor tools.

Twice each year, Shelter Institute offers a hands-on 5-day class to construct the ideal small house. These structures, easy to take apart and transport, are also on display for sale in Woolwich. Students may purchase the house and deduct the cost of tuition from the $7,500 purchase price. There may still be room in our next class: