From the sustainable living blog Fair Companies, a wonderful profile of a self-titled "Hobo Artist" who lives connected the electrical grid, but off the city water system, and in an underground shelter from which he publishes his "Moonlight Chronicles" zine.
"In his meadow paradise, Price also has a composting toilet, a propane-powered shower (using river water) and a pine wood propane sauna," according to the article.
This story is basically my lifestyle goal. I sure hope it's not a viral hoax.
When Dan Price returned to his home state of Oregon in 1990 he was determined to avoid mortgages or rent (he and his family had just finished caretaking a mansion with a heating bill of $500/month). He found an unused meadow in Joseph, Oregon and began renting it from his neighbors for $100/year (in exchange for cleaning downed trees and repairing fences).
He first erected a tipi on the property, but after awhile felt it was too big so he built himself a 9' by 12' red willow dome hut. Then he began traveling a lot so he made an even more temporary home from a 4-season mountain tent. Eventually he fell in love with a cedar shingle beach shack he's seen in a tiny house book and built a 6-by-10-foot one for himself with an underground room as a bedroom.
He was never comfortable in a square home so when he was robbed (someone entered a skylight and took his photography equipment and computer), he tore down the home and left only the underground portion as his entire home. "That was what 15 years ago. That's when I went into the little hobbit hole. Eventually, of course, I saw the Hobbit movies and made like the porch with the little curved porch on it and I've been in that ever since."
Get a copy of his zine here, or buy his e-book about the tiny house. Follow him on Instagram.
