The Mini House

The Mini House (also known as The Studio and The Little House) is a small house known for once being a recording studio in Austin, Minnesota. Artists Mapleview Lounge, Jacob Whalen, and Nam_Dem have all recorded there before it was abandoned. In August 2014, all studio materials were removed from the house except for the couch and small pieces of paracord.

History
The Mini House started as an alleged meth lab before the home owner was forced to move and the house was bought by its next door neighbors, the Meyers. The house sat vacant for a number of years until work began in 2011 to restore it to livable conditions. On February 8, 2012, footage was to be shot by the North American Movie Barons and Lords of Austin for their short film "A Journey Through The Mind of Azura" but it was about 15 degrees and the power was not on in the house. The first musical use of the house took place in March, 2014 by harsh noise duo, Nam_Dem. An extremely loud rehearsal in the basement of the house took place for about an hour before both members called it quits because it was too cold. It was so loud in the house that at one point, both members walked outside into the street and could still hear the noise from the basement even though all doors and windows were closed. In June 2014, Mapleview Lounge, Gary Meyer, Matt Tylutki, and Tyler Amick cleaned out the basement of the house and built a small recording studio in the bottom half of the house.

June - August 2014
During the summer, Mr. Bjorndal spent a large amount of time at the studio. On days where he didn't have to work at Superfresh, he would head over around 12:00pm and work. During days where he was required to show up at work, he would ride Mr. L Bjorndal's 1970s Raleigh racing bike to the studio around 11:00am and ride to work at 2:00pm. On Mr. Bjorndal's off days, Mr. Sharp would often arrive around 12:30pm and they would record guitar and vocals for new songs. Periodically Gary Meyer and Jacob Whalen would also use the studio to record their own music.

Controversy
Numerous events caused tensions to run high throughout the life of the mini house as a recording studio. In it's first days, the week of June 9th, Tyler Amick would be banned from returning to the house after breaking a hole in the drywall a week after it was installed with part of a shelf. In the same week, Mr. Bjorndal and W A Bjorndal were forced to buy a new filter for their parents' shop vac after using it for wet-vacing. Mr. Bjorndal and Mr. W Bjorndal claimed that the filter was already destroyed before this happened, but were pressured into shelling out $13 for a new filter.

Infestation
The first day of surveying what needed to be done to the house, Mr. Bjorndal and Mr. W Bjorndal discovered that the house was completely infested with mice. This had already been known to the Meyers but not to the extent of what the co-founders discovered. The same day, Mapleview Lounge went to walmart and bought 12 mouse traps and set them up all over the house. Within the week, about five mice had been captured by the traps and were discarded in the garbage can behind the house. The problem was thought to be solved but in August, Mr. W Bjorndal discovered baby mice that had fallen from the ceiling on the floor of the larger storage rooms. Mr. Bjorndal knew these mice were going to die so he took the three mice outside and placed them under a tree where they could hopefully die in peace. It is unknown what fate they met because the surrounding area to the north is home to the largest feral cat population in Austin.