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**Rocinante** · 10-23-2015, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

Is this site closed down during the winter months?

Kelvin

You may have to ask them directly. The TCPC website says it's closed to visitors in winter, but says nothing about residents / owners. I see nothing else there at the moment.

Jaxon · 10-23-2015, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

Just checked that out. There is a site with covered storage and an air conditioned quest house for sale.

I wonder if you could put one of those tiny houses on a lot next to your covered Airstream.

Can you receive mail?

Is owning one of these considered a domicile location. Kelvin

.
Dunno, yes and yes.

We looked around at some of the 'casitas' and were impressed with a few of them. Nice place!

Tater · 10-23-2015, 04:35 PM

I have a place at Tennessee Cumberland Plateau Campground. It closes to visitors in the winter but members can go at any time. There are members there now and they have a dinner planned for the 31st. We just bought our site in September and plan to return for New Years. The people really made it an easy choice.

KJRitchie · 10-23-2015, 06:30 PM

So it appears buying a lot there doesn't constitute residency. I could domicile in Texas but keep a lot in Tennessee. Question is do I want to spend the winters in Tennessee.

Kelvin

Tater · 10-23-2015, 07:21 PM

TCPC has mail boxes and you have a street address. Some people use the TCPC address as their residence and receive their mail there. We spend our winters in Florida since we live here but we visit TCPC whenever possible. Right now I'm servicing our trailer (waxing, corrosion X, cleaning windows, treating rubber seals and respraying the part of the frame I can access) so I couldn't suggest where you might want to domicile. Tennessee has no state income tax as does Texas. Tennessee does have a high sales tax though 9.75%

Bill M. · 10-24-2015, 06:51 AM

We winter near Dade City, Florida in Travelers Rest Resort. Check the website. TRR has park models, a section with Cabanas, and a section of houses. 55 plus, very nice and well run. Low cost. One thing it does not allow is covered storage for the trailer. You have to live in the trailer in the open, or store it in a lot, or have one of the houses which do have parking for the trailer alongside. The houses are owned privately. In the $100,000 range plus the $3000 per year maintenance fee.. The rest of the sites are leased. Somewhere around $3000 per year. Several of the residents here also have a lot at TCPC in Tennessee and move back and forth between winter and summer.

TCPC closes for the winter. Not sure what that means. But I think it means the water is off and the clubhouse is closed. I doubt if they plow snow or treat for ice on the long driveway in. I do not think anybody actually lives there in the winter.

Land Yacht Harbor in Olympia WA seems like it would be a good base. There you can have a home with covered storage. Rainy weather though. Squim, WA would be a nice place to winter or live year around. But I bet you will still have a mortgage to move there.

We stayed in a campground in Moab, Utah that was selling lots for people to build permanent places to park their trailer and to live in. But it was very expensive.

KJRitchie · 10-24-2015, 08:54 AM

I guess we will have to get on the road to see how things work out. We will use our trips to also look for a future place to settle. Not sure I want to invest in any ownership during our travels. We would probably alternate travels between West and East. I supposed if we start feeling we need a little space while on the road we could stay in a Resident Inn or something similar for a week. I'm not sure we could settle down in one place over several months in the winter. Things would get boring for me.

Kelvin

martin300662 · 10-24-2015, 09:09 AM

We have had a set of tiny house plans drawn up based on a 28' by 8' trailer specifically to support our retirement plans (when we just need a base from which to use out motorhome).

Basically it is a pent roof, single floor design, peak at 12' plus the trailer bed, and is designed to be abutted a pent roof car port. It has no bedroom (we will sleep in the motorhome) but has a full size bath and kitchen (in a studio apartment layout), with the side opposite the carport a full set of sliders to walk out onto a wrap around deck. With the height of the trailer bed the house roof peaks at 14' of the ground, which allows a 12' high carport but space in the vertical wall above where the carport joins for a set of skylight windows to allow light in both sides. The roof is large enough to take enough solar panels to be self-sufficient when it comes to power.

At the moment we are just deciding where to base it as it is better to build locally, but all we need is somewhere that will take a 28' by 20' slab, and provide services. But not sure if that means buying some land rather than buy an RV plot. Of course the advantage of the tiny house concept is, if after a few years we want to move it, we can.

bganso · 10-24-2015, 09:50 AM

I think what you're (KJ Ritchie) specifically referring to is something like this:
RV Garages - Cottage Court - Luxury New Homes Laughlin Nevada or this:

Cal-Am Resorts -

KJRitchie · 10-24-2015, 10:12 AM

Are you planning to winter in this arrangement in Massachusetts or have it towed to warmer winter climes? I think a tiny home may be a good alternative but when looking at some of the prices to get one built it starts to encroach on traditional house prices.

Kelvin

KJRitchie · 10-24-2015, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bganso

I think what you're (KJ Ritchie) specifically referring to is something like this:
RV Garages - Cottage Court - Luxury New Homes Laughlin Nevada or this:

Cal-Am Resorts -

Yep. After further researching, these types of developments, they are way over our budget plus most are in places I wouldn't want to live.

Kelvin

martin300662 · 10-24-2015, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

Are you planning to winter in this arrangement in Massachusetts or have it towed to warmer winter climes? I think a tiny home may be a good alternative but when looking at some of the prices to get one built it starts to encroach on traditional house prices.

Kelvin

Definitely not Kelvin, we live in Massachusetts because I work here, as soon as I don't, we won't.

I agree what you say about tiny houses....they are 'trendy' so there are plenty of companies trying to sell to affluent downsizers, not for what they actually cost to make. I often see prices above $150K for what is basically a timber construction on a trailer. The current plans were priced at $35-50K dependent on finish and fittings.

I don't like hot temps, so we really looking for somewhere where the yearly max-min typically is 40-90F. This could also be our US base after we return to the UK after I give up work. I say could because we are bringing our motorhome back to UK, if we do we will have to get a second to leave in the US.

m.hony · 10-24-2015, 11:48 AM

I don't get the tiny house movement.
Why don't those people just buy an RV?

87MH · 10-24-2015, 05:53 PM

Sorry for the repost, but the previous info was posted from a phone.

Here is a better description (with a working link) to the Texas Airstream Harbor, Inc.

Give Deep East Texas a look.

One of the perks of Airstream ownership (besides this Forum) are various Airstream only parks across the nation. One of the most affordable is in East Texas. The Texas Airstream Harbor Inc (TAHI) is best suited for me - for many reasons.

You can read more about the Harbor on Lake Sam Rayburn (SE of Lufkin) at:

Texas Airstream Harbor, Inc.

We are not on the "WBCCI" server, so the link should work.

Full hookups are only $15 per night if you decide to stay for a week or so. You need not be a WBCCI member to stay at the park - the only requirement is an Airstream product.

TAHI is a non-profit organization, and relies on volunteer labor to keep costs at a minimum. Lots start at 1500 dollars. Annual (not monthly) assessments are only $400 - that's per YEAR.

TAHI is a secure gated community - lots of road and park area to ride bikes on. Birding is second to none in Texas. We are right on the shore of Lake Sam Rayburn, so most any type of fishing is available almost from your parking spot.

TAHI (Texas Airstream Harbor) is a couple of hours north of Houston, so plenty of medical and entertainment are close at hand. Lufkin, Texas (more than 33,000 population) is only a half hour drive away.

It is possible to purchase an existing "cabanna" (usually a 12' X 20' room) with an attached cover for the Airstream for a minimal price - depending on availability. Yearly assessments at this time are only $400 per year. The assessment covers pretty much everything except for phone and electricity. The real benefit of a cabanna is the ability to leave your winter "things" in a secure, locked environment while you travel to cooler climes in the summer.

PM if you have any questions.

martin300662 · 10-25-2015, 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m.hony

I don't get the tiny house movement.
Why don't those people just buy an RV?

To me they are very different, but then I am sure they are just different places on a spectrum an there could be a point where they serve the same purpose.

I regard an RV as a small light vehicle/trailer which contains the essentials you need when travelling (many it appears don't). A tiny house does not 'travel', although some can be moved, and it doesn't just have essentials it has a full service bathroom and kitchen (ie normal domestic fixtures and fittings), just has minimal space, ie is a 'tiny house'. In our case we are an exception in not wanting a dedicated bedroom in our tiny house design, because we regard the bedroom in our motorhome as 'full service' and don't need to duplicate.

The pluses of a tiny home as a base and an RV for travel are the we can have a proper kitchen, bathroom, living room etc when we aren't travelling but still not be tied to a fixed location.

m.hony · 10-25-2015, 07:27 AM

My travel trailer has everything my house has except square footage and a washer/dryer.
The people on the tiny house television programs on DIY or HGTV all want it to be towable and inexpensive. What is that? A travel trailer! Then, some of the people live in them in an RV campground!
The larger ones are just higher quality /higher priced mobile home trailers/modular homes/pre-fab homes- nothing new under the sun- except maybe marketing angle-

Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

AWCHIEF · 10-25-2015, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m.hony

I don't get the tiny house movement.
Why don't those people just buy an RV?

It is sort of like owning an Airstream, either you get it or you don't. There are no explanations for affairs of the heart.

martin300662 · 10-25-2015, 07:51 AM

I'm in the same boat...but to use some examples

Our 20ft MH has a shower/wetroom/cassette toilet (approx 2ft by 4ft), our tiny house design as a domestic size toilet, separate shower and basin (6ft by 8ft). The kitchen in the MH has a small (less than 3cuft) fridge, two burner cook top/sink combo (so the 'galley is 7ft by 2ft); the tiny house has a regular range, double drainer sink, and the galley is approx 18ft by 2 1/2ft, including a domestic double fridge freezer.

This isn't about 'functionality', we have the same functions in the MH as the tiny house design, it is more a case of having essentials with us when travelling vs the full service version at base, and I don't want to drag another 20ft of MH around with me when we travel.

I agree with you last statement, I call our design a modular pre-fab house (on a trailer chassis)...the whole tiny house nomenclature is just media hype.

gmw photos · 10-25-2015, 08:07 AM

Doug mentioned the Voyager in Tucson. I stayed there a couple months two winters ago, and then spent a couple months across town at Rincon West. Rincon is similar to Voyager in cost and amenities. Each place has enough slight differences to say that one has advantages over the other. A person really needs to look at and stay at both to see which is a better fit. If you buy a "park model" they are really very affordable, and the annual fee is around $5K. For me, the major advantage of that part of the country is a virtual guarantee of nice weather all winter long. I'll be at Rincon again this winter. I will look again this winter at buying a place there. I could see making it my winter home, and taking the trailer up to Colorado for the summer/fall months.

dkottum · 10-25-2015, 10:35 AM

Ive seen snowbirds come to visit the large 55+ Rv resorts with their camper and learn how much fun retirement can be. Some are astonished. Very, very often they buy an inexpensive winter dwelling there for winter and go home in the spring for a "normal" life, a little rest. Lifetime friendships are established.

Most keep there campers, travel around the country to and from or during the winter sojourn. The resorts make a good base camp for exploring interesting regions of the country.