We're Swooning Over the Kitchens in These One-of-a-Kind Tiny Homes
It's funny how attempting to cook dinner in a tiny New York apartment is far from glamorous, but the same size constraints take on new appeal when placed in a sailboat or refurbished vintage school bus. Call it the eternal appeal of the On The Road life. The most recent entry into this aspirational lifestyle is The Tiny Mess, a cookbook/guidebook/photo album by Trevor and Maddie Gordon, who live on a sailboat that's frequently at sea, and Mary Gonzalez, who calls an California avocado farm home.
Trevor, Maddie, and Mary write that they've "gone mad" with the work of trying to live smaller so they can lead bigger, more enriching lives. The Tiny Mess illustrates their experiences along with their fellow adventurers' in beautiful, vivid photos. "It's a raw account of all the blissful and chaotic cooking currently going on in small kitchens everywhere," they write. "Inside you will find stained linens, dirty dishes, works-in-progress and cheap beer but with it comes soulful meals, tender moments, and deeply nourishing traditions. Sure, elbow room may be hard to come by but tasty and healthy food most definitely is not."
Peek inside some of these amazing tiny kitchens below:
Photo by Trevor Gordon1/13The Sailboat in Santa Barbara, CA
Trevor and Maddie Gordon are two thirds of the Tiny Mess crew. They live full-time aboard their 36-foot Catalina sailboat. They dock in the Santa Barbara Harbor but spend the summer and fall exploring the 160 miles of Channel Islands off the shore of Southern California.
Photo by Trevor Gordon2/13Offshore, the islands and surrounding waters provide Trevor and Maddie with seemingly unlimited fishing opportunities. Hefty bonito, 20-plus pound yellowtail, and sabiki rigs jiggling with feisty mackerel provide them with protein-rich provisions. At sunset, their table is piled high with tequila-spiked ceviche, calico bass tacos with fruity salsa, and endless iterations of smoked mackerel.
Photo by Trevor Gordon3/13The small, u-shaped boat galley is just big enough to fit a top-loading fridge and a two-burner propane stove and oven. Trevor and Maddie pack the undercounter dry storage full of canned goods, including Thai curry pastes, coconut milk, fish sauce, and yam noodles.
Photo by Trevor Gordon4/13The Treehouse in Columbia River Gorge, OR
Near the Columbia River Gorge, home to one of the biggest salmon runs on the West Coast, Foster lives 40 feet up in two handbuilt treehouses—complete with wood-burning stoves that never sleep.
Photo by Trevor Gordon5/13Foster's proximity to the Columbia River Gorge salmon run keeps his stoves busy turning Chinook salmon into juicy salmon steaks and burgers. Once off the griddle, the fish is served with nettle mayo and roasted parsnip fries.
Photo by Trevor Gordon6/13The Trailer on the Avocado Farm in Carpinteria, CA
Mary Gonzalez is the other third of the Tiny Mess team. She lives in a 22-foot Prowler travel trailer on her family's 22-acre avocado farm. Parked up on a hill, her home overlooks the Los Padres National Forest, which offers shimmering glimpses of the Pacific Ocean.
Photo by Trevor Gordon7/13Mary spends her days baking, growing food in her own garden, and fixing irrigation and water lines. She also works at a local university helping run their small-scale food production garden.
Photo by Trevor Gordon8/13The Ranch in Big Sur, CA
Tyson is a self-trained botanist who has created a massive greenhouse almost entirely made up of reclaimed or reused products, including thousands of old glass booze bottles that he saved over many years working as a bartender. Tyson's greenhouse was instrumental in his "Zombie Apocalypse Preparation" exercise, where he spent a year living entirely off things he bartered, hunted, or grew.
Photo by Trevor Gordon9/13Ebelskivers, aka fluffy Dutch pancakes, are a breakfast specialty at Tyson's ranch. His kitchen is an old water tower, where the ebelskivers are cooked in a special cast iron pan.
Photo by Trevor Gordon10/13The School Bus in Lopez Island, WA
Lindsey and Zach live in a 1955 Chevy school bus on Lopez, a tiny island in northern Washington's Salish Sea. The bus was converted from a working bus to a home by a woodworker from mainland Washington in 1987 and has had only minor cosmetic changes since.
Photo by Trevor Gordon11/13Lindsey is a baker and Zach is a fisherman, so they can frequently be found in their kitchen, which runs the length of the bus. Their diet is hyper local and seasonal—Lopez Island is home to over ten working farms, providing the island's 2,000 residents with an abundance of truly local produce, cheese, meat, and locally milled grains.
Photo by Trevor Gordon12/13The 1950s Trailer in Santa Cruz, CA
Sierra and Colin purchased their 1950s-era trailer off Craigslist then used their significant carpentry skills to add a new roof, new walls and floor, and insulation, and do a complete kitchen renovation.
Photo by Trevor Gordon13/13During renovations, Sierra and Colin paid special attention to renovating the kitchen area. They added a floor-to-ceiling pantry, a little breakfast bar, a long wall of cabinetry, and ample counter space.
