THE ITTY-BITTY KITTY RANCH

I've got this thing for little houses, and I'm not talking about homes or dwellings where people actually live.  You could live in a little house, I suppose, but that's not for most people.  Here in America, we're into big . . . the bigger, the better . . . and most people want to live in as large a house as they can afford.  In fact, most of those people overbought, got themselves strapped with big payments which come with big houses.  I live in a fairly large home, about 3,000 sq. feet, and it's more than we need.  No kids to worry about, hardly ever have visitors, and it's just me and the old woman now.  We need big because we've got lots of stuff, and I'm always looking for more space.  That's where the little houses come in.

My home had a big patio out back when I bought it back in 2000 - about 15 by 25 feet - and I turned that into a patio room.  Didn't take long to fill it up with stuff, and now it's sort of a catch all room.  I didn't want another room on this house, just a place for plants, flowers, counter with storage, shelves,
etc.  In the back yard, I build a little house, took my inspiration from Sunday houses.  Down here in central Texas, especially around Fredericksburg, there are lots of little Sunday houses, left over from the days the German ranchers and farmers built them in town so they'd have some place to stay when they came into town on the weekends for church, shopping, whatever.  My little house out back is only 8 by 12 with a porch across the front, has two windows and a door . . . and it's full of stuff too.

Across town is the Line Camp, an old house I bought some ten years ago for a guitar shop.  I spent a year restoring it, fixed it to where it was somewhat of a rustic reproduction of ranch line camps, places where cowboys lived in remote areas of the ranch.  My line camp is in town, of course, with a working shop in the back and a place for things I've collected over the years . . . and it's full of stuff too.  It's also full of rescued cats.  That house is only about 1,100 sq. feet . . . and I've run out of room over there too.  I've built a number of little houses, now have another one in the drafting stage.  In fact, come fall and winter, I plan to build several little houses on the grounds over there.

I've always admired those old saloon, or western storefront, style structures, and I've drawn up the plans for one.  It won't be big, but it will be constructed to be a secure place for tools, equipment, etc.  I like working outside when weather permits, and this is good country for doing that most of the year.  Before the year is out, I'll build another small shed that will look like an old time outdoor toilet, an outhouse, only like 4 by 8 feet, and specifically made for little critters - the cats mostly.  Yeah, I'm going to have my very own cathouse.  I'll also construct a western style gazebo house, a dog house that will look like a small livery stable.  That ought to keep me busy a while.

This may sound ridiculous, but the cost of building these things is very affordable.  My saloon style house will be 16 feet thick, including the front porch, and 20 feet long, and I'll get that totally framed in
with a metal roof for around $2,500.00.  No plumbing or electricity, and I'll finish the inside as time permits.  Maybe by next summer I'll wire it so I can run tools there.  The outhouse will cost me about five hundred bucks, total.  The little livery stable house will cost about a grand.  Most of the cost in building little houses is in the labor, not the materials.  If you build properly, know how to utilize space, you can store a lot of stuff in small houses.

I always wanted a ranch or farm, but that won't ever happen.  My ranch is going to be itty-bitty.  I'm thinking about calling it The Itty-Bitty Kitty Ranch.  Maybe I'll post some pictures in a later blog.