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HeliHouse

helicopter on pad
helicopter on approach.
micro bath
bed in floor
bed mode
living room at night
stairs down, rails up
helicopter on approach
helicopter on approach

I’m obsessed with learning to fly, helicopters and airplanes. I know a few people with their licenses and it sounds like a blast… real freedom… like owning your own time machine.

The HeliHouse sits on top of a mountain. It would be built modularly one piece at a time. Each sub-2000 pound modular element is flown in by helicopter and assembled on site.

The foundation sits on micropiles like a powerline tower. These five inch concrete pylons are drilled into the ground and filled with concrete and steel so that a platform can be attached.

On top of this, a simple metal frame is attached and clad in mirrored glass. The mirrored walls would make it virtually invisible and blend into the natural landscape except for moments when the sun would reflect off the surface making it stand out like a jewel.

The interior is small, just 16′ x 16′. It’s one room except for a glassed-in bathroom and an alcove for a micro kitchen. The bed is tucked in below the floor and rises into place when it’s time to turn the living room into a bedroom.

The roof is 24′ x 24′ which is just big enough for a small helicopter to land. Rails around the helipad retract during landing operations and a staircase extends when the pilot and passengers need to descend to the house level.

A large deck extends in front of the home so the visitors can exit the elevated house and explore the surrounding wilderness.

Power would be provided by a solar array and lithium battery bank located on the mechanical level below the main living space. Also located in this space is a composting toilet system separating the occupants from their daily business as well as a rainwater collection tank for supplying potable water.

Heating would be provided by its passive solar design and an aircraft diesel-powered heater – similar to a marine or RV space heater. Turbine helicopters are powered by Jet-A fuel which is essentially kerosene, or a lighter-weight type of diesel fuel. The helicopter could offload a position of its reserve to keep the home’s diesel tanks topped off. The entire assembly would be completely self sufficient except for the kerosene powered backup heating fuel.

Visitors could fly in and stay for as long as they have food to feed them. This is an extreme tiny house design, to say the least, but fun food for thought.

A New Beginning

I’m restarting my personal blog, and in the spirit of downsizing I think I might shut down some of my other websites and focus my attention here.

Back in 2008 I started blogging about the Tiny House Movement – mostly as therapy as I watched the real estate market tank. Until then I never thought a home’s value could plummet so far, so fast. The whole experience really changed the way I thought about housing.

I’m a designer, so it was natural for me to start dreaming up tiny house plans. Soon I had a lot of people following my blog who were also interested in tiny house design. My tiny house blogs became a business and I began to rely on it – but like most businesses you either adapt to the changing marketplace or you fail.

At about the time tiny houses began showing up on television shows I noticed a major change in the Tiny House Movement. Everyone was writing about it, shooting video, and more and more professionals started their own tiny house businesses.

Today tiny houses are big business and those of who chose to remain small have not been able to keep up.

So today is a new day when I’m going to sell off my tiny house websites and go back to blogging from my heart and not as a business. So far this decision feels incredibly freeing and I hope it reignites my creativity. I figure sometimes you have to burn something down to begin a new.

I will keep this one blog, michaeljanzen.com to record and share my current thinking, designs, and thoughts. If you’re curious to see what I have in mind, I hope you’ll stick around and subscribe to my new email newsletter – see subscription form at the bottom of the page.