THE MICRO-PALACE
Gallery
Features
Built on a custom designed 20ft. x 10ft. trailer.
Exterior dimensions: 20ft. Long, 10 ft. Wide, 13ft. 6″ High.
12,000 lbs Gross Vehicle Weight.
2 x 6000 lb axles.
Thermasheath 3 solid foam insulation in ceiling, walls and floor.
Grace – Vycor Plus fully adhered flashing.
Grace – Ice & Water Shield roofing underlayment.
Tyvek housewrap.
Breathable Radiant barrier in exterior walls.
Sheet metal barrier below floor to keep out uninvited wildlife.
American Clay earth plaster walls in Living Room and Loft.
Decoliss Limestone plaster walls in Kitchen and Bathroom.
NuHeat Radiant electric underfloor heating on 3 separate Thermostats in 3 zones:
Bathroom, Kitchen and Living Room
11 foot high ceiling peak in the Living room.
Electrical Service with meter.
Standard National Electrical Code wiring and phone wiring throughout.
GFI receptacles in the Bathroom and Kitchen as per NEC.
Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Detector.
Architectural grade receptacles and Lutron Maestro dimmers throughout.
Takagi Junior on-demand propane water heater.
2 x opening Velux electric skylights with electric blinds.
Custom designed Fir kitchen cabinetry.
4 burner Propane stove top.
Refrigerator with separate freezer.
Custom tile shower.
Custom 3/8″ glass shower door and panel.
Nickel Kohler fixtures in shower including recessed “rain” shower head.
Conventional toilet.
Bathroom exhaust fan with exterior mounted industrial blower fan.
Engineered bamboo flooring.
Raised metal seam roof ready for solar panel attachment using Roof Clamps.
Western Red Cedar lapped siding with breathable gap behind siding.
Caeserstone kitchen countertops.
Jeld-Wen double-pane casement windows.
Towing requirements in the U.S.: Wide Load sign only. No Pilot Car required.
No Building Permit required because the micro-Palace is not a permanent structure.
ABOUT CHRIS AND THE MICRO PALACE
Hello!
It occurred to me that I’ve had my micro-Palace website up for some time now and I haven’t introduced myself, so I’ll rectify that now…
My name is Chris. I designed the micro-Palace. I was born in the UK and currently live in Northern California.
I’ve always been drawn to compact living spaces and in the 1970‘s I used to live on a converted barge on the River Thames in the middle of London. I later bought a 36ft. passenger boat which had been licensed to carry 78 passengers!
After enjoying it as a passenger boat for some time I found an old shipwright in London and he started converting “The Twickenham” into a houseboat.
In the early 1970’s I started traveling to the USA as part of the touring entourage of the popular music group, Jethro Tull. Most of my time with them was spent as the House Sound Mixer. I sat with my mixing equipment about 250 feet out in front of the stage and mixed the sound that the audience would listen to in the concert halls and arenas. Some highlights were 5 nights at Madison Square Gardens and Shea Stadium. I also toured with some other interesting bands such as Frank Zappa, DEVO, Herbie Hancock and the Beach Boys.
The houseboat conversion was not a complete success, as I had very little knowledge about how to do this sort of thing. However, I did have a lot of great times on the boat cruising up and down the River Thames, and on one occasion took it all the way upstream from London to Windsor with some of the band and road crew from Jethro Tull.
In the late 1970’s I moved to the States and continued to live in compact dwellings such as small cabins. After a while I felt that I wanted to upgrade a bit and have some more conveniences in general, so I designed the micro-Palace based on ideas that I’d seen around me.
2 great builders that I already knew, Rodger and Randy, completed most of the work as I was also running a solar electric installation company at the time. As I am an Electrical Contractor I installed the wiring in the micro-Palace.
Please write and ask questions if you would like any more information about it.
Thank you for visiting!
Chris.
