8 ms·

I've lived in a ~250sqft 1940's era wood train car for the past 9 years, with my wife and now a newborn. It is doable if you enjoy the constraints and how it af

I've lived in a ~250sqft 1940's era wood train car for the past 9 years, with my wife and now a newborn. It is doable if you enjoy the constraints and how it affects your decision making. I live about 5 miles from Seattle in a very rich neighborhood (a few blocks from the Paul Allen estate) on a large piece of land that is set aside as a reserve, while most of my neighbors have 5000sqft houses. As long as you have amenities (washer, dryer, full kitchen, shower, dishwasher) like I do then it's not some sort of struggle, it's more a set of limits to optimize against. My neighbors can't tell if I'm eclectic and rich or weird and poor. It's a good thing.

haldora 8y ago
Have you documented this somewhere online, and do you have pictures? Using an old train car sounds very interesting and unique! I'd enjoy reading more.
- irrational 8y ago
  Based on the description and OP's username, I think this might be it: https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/1949-railroad-boxcar-on-mercer-105019 https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/1949-railroad-boxcar-on-mer...
  - nyolfen 8y ago
    op said he's lived in it for 9 years, this says 30. also first name doesn't match his username.
snazz 8y ago
Do you spend less time in your house as a result of its size? I have a feeling this is where your username came from. :)
- CydeWeys 8y ago
  I imagine it'd be easier to do it in a place with a nice year-round climate and no mosquitoes. And you could put up some outdoor shade pretty easily if you have the space and not have it count against your indoor square footage, and effectively get a living room that you can use most of the time.
existencebox 8y ago
I'm fascinated by this. I live near seattle as well, but quite a distance due to finding something affordable with any amount of land, but your setup seems ideal. Small house to maintain, separation from neighbor, better commute. I'm curious how you came into this situation, and if you observe opportunities like this to have vanished since the 08 era? (You seem to have bought at the perfect time...)
- ip26 8y ago
  Smaller doesn't always mean less overhead. Small enough (250sqft w/ 3 people probably hits that bar) and you're constantly moving things around and cleaning things to make space for something else. If you've ever cooked in a tiny tiny kitchen, imagine that feeling spread throughout your entire home life.
ModFightsCron 8y ago
Oh, they can tell you're weird. In a way where you take the bad things in life, and convince yourself they're good. Likely because growing up you were a little weird, so to hide it you made weird your thing and became a lot weird. Here are some things you can't do, which I am sure you have replaced with other things, and convinced yourself you don't want to do them: 1. doing laundry while you're sleeping or your baby is sleeping. I like to load a basket into the washer, take a shower and brush my teeth, then move it to the dryer and go to sleep. Fresh socks in the morning. 2. cooking curry dishes and not having your whole house soak up the smell 3. watching porn while the wife is home. let's face it - if you got a newborn, she's not super-sexy right now. 4. have friends over, let them vape inside, have them sit not on your bed 5. have only one person lose sleep when the baby is crying at night. 6. take a nice long hot bath 7. work out at home. I mean a real one with weights and an elliptical - not push-ups 8. I could go on, but there's clearly no point, since you know all these things.
- orangecalx 8y ago
  did somebody in a tiny house wrong you in some way, good god calm down
- reidjs 8y ago
  I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, but this sounds like a miserable lifestyle to me.
  - module0000 8y ago
    That's funny - I thought it sounded really nice. It evoked nostalgia from the military. Different strokes eh? :)
    - ModFightsCron 8y ago
      you had a newborn and your wife living in a tiny room with you in the military?
    - dvtrn 8y ago
danvoell 8y ago
I'm going to guess eclectic and rich otherwise you probably wouldn't bring it up. I like the fact that how you live is reflected in your HN username.
irrational 8y ago
Is this you? https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/1949-railroad-boxcar-on-mercer-105019 https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/1949-railroad-boxcar-on-mer...
cevn 8y ago
I'd love to see pictures if possible
mruts 8y ago
I'm guessing eccentric/eclectic and rich. Poor people don't make their lives harder than it already is. Also poor people don't live a few blocks from Paul Allen's estate.
georgeecollins 8y ago
You sound like a very cool person. Tip of the hat!

haldora 8y ago

Have you documented this somewhere online, and do you have pictures? Using an old train car sounds very interesting and unique! I'd enjoy reading more.

irrational 8y ago
Based on the description and OP's username, I think this might be it: https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/1949-railroad-boxcar-on-mercer-105019 https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/1949-railroad-boxcar-on-mer...
- nyolfen 8y ago
  op said he's lived in it for 9 years, this says 30. also first name doesn't match his username.

snazz 8y ago

Do you spend less time in your house as a result of its size? I have a feeling this is where your username came from. :)

CydeWeys 8y ago
I imagine it'd be easier to do it in a place with a nice year-round climate and no mosquitoes. And you could put up some outdoor shade pretty easily if you have the space and not have it count against your indoor square footage, and effectively get a living room that you can use most of the time.

existencebox 8y ago

I'm fascinated by this. I live near seattle as well, but quite a distance due to finding something affordable with any amount of land, but your setup seems ideal. Small house to maintain, separation from neighbor, better commute. I'm curious how you came into this situation, and if you observe opportunities like this to have vanished since the 08 era? (You seem to have bought at the perfect time...)

ip26 8y ago
Smaller doesn't always mean less overhead. Small enough (250sqft w/ 3 people probably hits that bar) and you're constantly moving things around and cleaning things to make space for something else. If you've ever cooked in a tiny tiny kitchen, imagine that feeling spread throughout your entire home life.

ModFightsCron 8y ago

Oh, they can tell you're weird. In a way where you take the bad things in life, and convince yourself they're good. Likely because growing up you were a little weird, so to hide it you made weird your thing and became a lot weird. Here are some things you can't do, which I am sure you have replaced with other things, and convinced yourself you don't want to do them: 1. doing laundry while you're sleeping or your baby is sleeping. I like to load a basket into the washer, take a shower and brush my teeth, then move it to the dryer and go to sleep. Fresh socks in the morning. 2. cooking curry dishes and not having your whole house soak up the smell 3. watching porn while the wife is home. let's face it - if you got a newborn, she's not super-sexy right now. 4. have friends over, let them vape inside, have them sit not on your bed 5. have only one person lose sleep when the baby is crying at night. 6. take a nice long hot bath 7. work out at home. I mean a real one with weights and an elliptical - not push-ups 8. I could go on, but there's clearly no point, since you know all these things.

orangecalx 8y ago
did somebody in a tiny house wrong you in some way, good god calm down
reidjs 8y ago
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, but this sounds like a miserable lifestyle to me.
- module0000 8y ago
  That's funny - I thought it sounded really nice. It evoked nostalgia from the military. Different strokes eh? :)
  - ModFightsCron 8y ago
    you had a newborn and your wife living in a tiny room with you in the military?
  - dvtrn 8y ago

danvoell 8y ago

I'm going to guess eclectic and rich otherwise you probably wouldn't bring it up. I like the fact that how you live is reflected in your HN username.

irrational 8y ago

Is this you? https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/1949-railroad-boxcar-on-mercer-105019 https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/1949-railroad-boxcar-on-mer...

cevn 8y ago

I'd love to see pictures if possible

mruts 8y ago

I'm guessing eccentric/eclectic and rich. Poor people don't make their lives harder than it already is. Also poor people don't live a few blocks from Paul Allen's estate.

georgeecollins 8y ago

You sound like a very cool person. Tip of the hat!