A Tiny Home Obsession – What Are My Options?

My post the other day on my own tiny home* obsession has been surprisingly popular this week. It’s opened my eyes to the growing trend of peoples’ interest in tiny homes, whether building one, moving into one, or simply learning how to live in one.

Based on this, I wanted to do some more research to see what options are out there, besides the traditional construction methods.

I was amazed at the range!

Prefab

This is probably the most newly well-known version of the tiny home. Many architects and homeowners are focusing on this mode because it is cost effective, often easily customizable, and can be shipped/built almost anywhere. Usually these homes can be installed simply with a crane and then professionally hooked up to utilities, if necessary.

• Micro Compact Home – extremely small and extremely modern, this ultra-compact home weighs in at just 100 square feet. Available only in Europe.

• weeHouse – based on the maximum roadway width, for transportation’s sake, these modern prefabs run the gamut between 345 square feet all the way to 2150 square feet. As I said before, the Split Pair is my personal favorite.
• Habitaflex – is a foldable house! There are three models, ranging in size from 396 square feet to 748 square feet. Completely customizable and transportable by train, truck, ship, or even helicopter.

Mobile Homes

Really, the homes I listed above are mobile homes in a sense, but these homes have attached wheels. They are actually classified as travel trailers, in most cases.

• Tumbleweed Houses – there is the option to build these yourself, but the mobiles range from the XS-House at 75 square feet to the Tarleton at 120 square feet.

• Sustain – currently there are only three options from this builder but they expect to release 8 more models very soon. Square footage currently starts at the miniHome SOLO SE (PDF) with 350 square feet and goes up to the the miniHome DUO SE (PDF) at 475 square feet. Available only in North America. Bonus fact: These homes are 100% green materials!

Unconventional Materials

For decades, innovators have been experimenting with unusual building materials. Today, some of these options have been greatly refined and available to more builders.

• Straw/Bale Building – homes built with straw bales have excellent insulation properties, are highly resistant to fire if maintained properly, are less susceptible to home-destroyers like termites, and are quite flexible in an earthquake. (Source) Bale homes can be built as small or as large as many materials, even up to 4500 square feet.
• Earth Packed Tires – the tires are stacked like bricks, allowing structures to be completely customized as far as size and shape. The insulation factor of the tires is quite high, and I love that there is a purpose for those landfill fodder!

Container Homes

I could have listed these homes with the above, since in most cases they are recycling used shipping containers and can be bought prefab’d for living from some architects. Yet the building popularity of this option demonstrates the need for its own focus. Shipping containers’ standard width is about 8′ and usually 20′ to 40′ feet long. They can be configured in many different ways to make the most of the space. Home owners can either purchase the containers and convert them on their own, or purchase them pre-built from a manufacturer.

• hybridseattle – these architects have a few models up right now, with more to be added in the future. Sizes range from a sparse 160 square feet up to a rather spacious 2000 square feet. They also have many building options, but my favorite part about this builder is the eco options that are readily available.
• Lot-ek – navigating their site is a bit on the annoying side, but when you do find their container homes, it’s worth it. Their smallest home is 645 square feet and the largest is 2560 square feet.

Starting on June 10th, look for my weekly highlights on Tiny Lifers, where I will be profiling some of the awesome people in the blogverse that have made the choice to downsize and simplify.

Stay tuned!

*My definition of “tiny home” will be any house under 1000 square feet. Considering the median size of the American home (according to the National Association of Home Builders) is close to 2000 square feet, this is teensy.

Some define them as 500 square feet or less, but since part of my interest in this is a goal to live in a tiny home one day, 1000 square feet is more plausible with two adults and two children. Although we could consider this two bedroom, 120 square foot home!

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