1May 16, 2016
An article in the Washington Post today on DC zoning changes that The Coalition for Smarter Growth and the Micro Showcase helped promote through years of the zoning rewrite- new backyard accessory dwelling units (ADU’s- which can be micro homes) are finally about to come to DC! Check out the full article here. More background on […]
2Mar 12, 2015
With the wide roof of the Studio Shed draining an average 680 gallons of water per month (with avg 3” rain/month in DC), and the garden continually growing, it was time to upgrade the rain saving capacity at the Showcase- and make rain catchment front and center. The current cistern is a 250 gallon flexible tank hidden under […]
3Feb 11, 2015
Originally a rather cool modern quonset project was planned to house tools and materials for the DC students tiny house build that will start in February. Alas, DCRA (DC zoning) was not inclined to allow a second, 336 ft2 small shed on a huge 5500ft2 alley lot, despite some earlier signs that this would be entirely possible. No matter, we’ll […]
4Jun 3, 2014
Since summer is here now, thought I’d review some updates on the lot from this rather cold but busy spring. Pictures below! -I planted a medlar tree, a damson plum tree, comice pear tree, three varieties of currants, a strawberry bed, asparagus bed, and jerusalem artichoke (sunchoke) bed to the garden. Also built an additional two […]
5Feb 6, 2014
DC’s zoning has not been comprehensively updated since 1958. After 6 years of drafting and public input, the Office of Planning is about to finalize a new set of zoning regulations that could transform the city by allowing accessory dwelling units (ADU’s- carriage houses and microhomes behind an existing house, or basement apartments), as well […]
6May 24, 2013
2013 is the first real season for the garden, which was planned and started in through the summer and fall of 2012. Like the tiny houses, the garden has to be designed to maximize use of limited space- in this case a 1/11 acre plot, partially shaded, with half the area occupied with the houses/container/parking, and a […]
7Oct 11, 2012
Kudos to DC’s Urban Turf for continuing to cover the state of play with DC microhousing. From today’s article “Is DC Ready for 275-Square Foot Housing?“, it is clear that in some respects DC is far ahead of the country in terms of minimum size regulations. While other cities such as San Francisco contentiously debate […]
8Oct 1, 2012
*Updated Feb 2014* Currently the majority of tiny homes are built to accept pressurized water hookup from a hose. Simple, but also quite limiting if the house is ever moved for a few days (or longer) to somewhere where there is no pressurized water hookup- a music festival, or, say, a vacant alley lot. The […]
9Aug 18, 2012
Lots of exciting progress. The biggest news is that Jay’s tiny house is in full swing, with flooring and insulation in place. Check out the very cool time lapse video he’s making. Lee and Tony are working away on her house, extending the floor one foot in front and back. Brian’s trailer is still sitting idly […]
10Jul 31, 2012
Well progress this month was a bit slower than planned. On July 3 Brian and Tony discovered a DCRA stop work order had been placed on the lot. The bright orange document posted on the shipping container cited ‘commercial activity’ was not allowed in a R-3 (residential) zoned area. This was a surprise, since nothing […]
11Jul 6, 2012
Part of the mission of Boneyard Studios is to support changes to DC zoning and building codes to allow higher density, affordable housing in the District. Currently there are some excellent proposals on the table to allow for accessory dwelling units (typically carriage houses and basement apartments) in low-density parts of town. The accessory dwelling […]
12Jun 29, 2012
Some solid late June progress. After months of plotting, Pepco came out to hook up electricity, and suddenly power tools helped us complete the rest of the fence project in a few days- now just the 16 foot welded fence gate remains. A huge thanks to Tony for some really excellent fence work! With power […]