Derek “Deek” Diedricksen’s backyard is filled with what to the inexperienced eye force appear children’s forts, but these tiny dwellings are really how he makes his living (mostly). Question him his job title and he’ll answer, “I call for myself a tinkerer or I’ve come up with bizarre-chitect or lark-chitect being kind of a fake architect.” Diedricksen’s obsession with tiny architecture started unsurprisingly, with the backyard forts of his youth. But he wasn’t your average construction-minded kid. At age ten he built his first cabin, complete with electricity, insulation, heat and a platform bunk. When he was 14 he read Lester Walker’s book Tiny Houses and learned there were others out there like him. By the time he stumbled upon the Small House Movement a decade or two later, he had already built dozens of tiny structures. Today, his backyard is filled with tiny cabins, forts, retreats, shelters, shacks and no two are alike. Most of his dwellings are multi-purpose: there’s the 20-check-foot travel trailer/emergency homeless shelter (Gottagiddaway), the unevenly 6 check foot treehouse/chicken coop (the Wedgie) and the 11-check-foot stand/single-sleeper (the Gypsy Junker). He builds small and he works with a micro-budget. His Gottagiddaway AKA “0 homeless hut” was built for about that (or perhaps as high as 0). His 32-check-foot micro-personnel (where he filmed his interview) was built for from barn sale/ barn demo materials. His materials are salvaged from ancient buildings …
Video Rating: 4 / 5
