The concept of a “tiny house” is all about making a big impact while living in a smaller and more efficient space.
Whether people decide to downsize in order to reduce their footprint on the environment, minimize expenses, have more freedom, or just live a simpler life, living in small houses has become a sort of social movement.
The idea of living in tiny houses has spread across the United States and beyond, and it is now a worldwide phenomenon. There are even community-based and university projects dedicated to building sustainable tiny home communities.
One example of such a program is the Tiny House in My Backyard (THIMBY) initiative, led by an interdisciplinary team of UC Berkeley graduate and undergraduate students. The team worked together to design and build an affordable, off-grid, 100% solar-powered “tiny” house at the Richmond Field Station in Richmond, CA. The house is a 170 sq. ft. one bedroom, one-bathroom home that generates its own electricity, and is small enough to fit in urban lots.
Why Tiny Homes?
While the standard measure of housing affordability is 30% of pretax income, Americans spend nearly 40% of their budget on housing. This means a lot less savings available for retirement, and a lot more stress.
A typical American home is around 2,600 square feet, and an average tiny house is between 100 and 400 square feet. It might be difficult to imagine downsizing from a four-bedroom house to a one bedroom tiny home, but beautiful and thoughtful designs along with significant savings that come with the change create compelling incentives to consider the change.
Smaller houses are not only less expensive than traditional homes in terms of taxes, but they also reduce energy consumption and maintenance. When built on wheels, they provide an additional benefit of mobility. And even if a tiny house is not for everyone, there are so many adorable ones that it’s worth at least checking them out.
Our Favorite Tiny Homes
There are so many gorgeous tiny houses all around the world that it was not easy to choose just a few. Below is a list of 20 cutest, yet very functional tiny houses we found.
1. The Nugget
This beautiful tiny house offers 102 sq. ft. of amenities, ranging from copper fixtures in the kitchen to pine siding and vinyl flooring throughout. The Nugget also has a composting toilet and full off-grid package if you want to take your home with you on a cross-country adventure.
2. Minim Micro House
This multifunctional tiny home can be ordered as a trailer or foundation-built structure and has 265 square feet of usable interior space. The Minim includes a 5’ long closet that can fit much more than you might think. The building crew tried to push its storage limits – they could fit 25 hanging dress shirts, 20 t-shirts, 15 pairs of socks, two coats, two suits, 21 ties, 6 sweaters, 7 pairs of shoes, a wetsuit, and guitar bag.
This multifunctional tiny home can be ordered as a trailer or foundation-built structure and has 265 square feet of usable interior space. The Minim includes a 5’ long closet that can fit much more than you might think. The building crew tried to push its storage limits – they could fit 25 hanging dress shirts, 20 t-shirts, 15 pairs of socks, two coats, two suits, 21 ties, 6 sweaters, 7 pairs of shoes, a wetsuit, and guitar bag.
Then they added a roller suitcase, large backpack filled with camping gear, a 10-tray food dehydrator, a toolbox, a small welding machine, a printer/copier, cordless vacuum, 3 kites, 4 bike panniers, a folding BBQ grill, and the battery bank, inverter, and charger that allow the house to be off grid. And there is still some room to spare – it’ll get you thinking it’s a tiny mansion!
3. The Escher Tiny House
The Escher is a tiny house for a young family – it offers a standing height, a bedroom that fits a king-size bed and a loft on the other end of the house with separate space for a baby.
It even offers some extras, such as a luxury bathroom, a walk-in closet, and an office/hallway – all built in a contemporary style.
4. Roanoke by Tumbleweed Tiny House Company
This cute tiny house comes in three different styles (Clear, Pacific and Alta), offering different lengths and sleeping areas. You can even design your own if you are interested in getting one!
5. The Alexander
This South Carolina tiny home community offers a variety of designs to prospective residents. The Alexander looks particularly charming, offering a cozy fireplace and a loft area upstairs. The Lake Walk Community focuses on simple living and higher quality of life, and its tiny houses can be either leased or bought.
6. The Seabreeze
Another tiny house offering from the Lake Walk Community, the Seabreeze is a smaller version of the Alexander. Equally charming, the Seabreeze features a beautiful porch and spacious living area.
7. The Future
If you are looking for a tinier, cheaper version of luxury, the Utopian Villas may have quite a few options for you. The company offers many customizable tiny homes in several sizes to meet different individual and family needs and expectations of a luxury park model home.
“The Future” is one example of a tiny house that boasts a unique modern vibe that gives it its name. Using a fifth wheel design, the Future includes the same amenities you would have in a full-size home, including a full-size fridge, stove, a washer and a dryer. The floor plan was designed to accommodate for ample cooking space and entertaining in the main living area.
8. The Schooner
The 200-square-foot tiny home called The Schooner is a unique offering from the Utopian Villas series, with slanted interior walls and sunken roof deck. It features a full-size bathroom, stairs, and two upper lofts, along with an enclosed, elevated roof deck to give you a more unobstructed view of the sky.
Even though it is a tiny house, residents can comfortably use washer and dryer, a full-size refrigerator, and then relax in a 60″ tub.
9. The Denali
This 400-square-foot tiny house is also a part of the luxurious line by the Utopian. The Denali features Kohler plumbing products and a patented insulated floor system, as well as access to an upper deck via spiral stairs or the loft entry.
The model offers a unique wrapping kitchen island, custom-built Merillat cabinets and a spa-like shower to complete the comfy experience.
10. The Firefly
The Firefly, as one of the Utopian Villas’ offerings, was designed to capture attention with the hinged decks and vaulted ceiling designs. Despite its seemingly small 189-square-foot area, this tiny home is filled with unexpected abundance such as custom storage areas, a single twin size bed in the loft area, and a pull-out sofa couch in the living quarters.
It has plenty of natural light shining through two skylights and two separate double French doors. As this is a tiny home on wheels, you can take it with you anywhere.
11. The Magnolia
Following the theme of the Utopian Villas’ “tiny luxury,” Magnolia has a unique design and delightful features carefully crafted throughout its 378-square-foot area. The house’s interesting angles, big windows and deck space are perfect for entertaining.
It also has high-end finishes like solid surface countertops and Whirlpool appliances, two full-size decks on either side of the home, 12-foot vaulted ceilings, large eating area for four, and enough space for a king size bed in the bedroom.
12. Brown Bear
The Brown Bear is one of the most interesting Alpine Tiny Homes, offering 224 sq. ft. of simple comfort with some additional loft area. Its cozy interior and clever design make this one of the most irresistible tiny homes.
13. El Gato
Another one from the Alpine Tiny Homes family, El Gato looks like a trailer from the outside yet feels like a home inside. It offers 331-square-foot footprint, loft and an upper deck, along with fully equipped bathroom and kitchen.
14. Tiny House® UK
If you travel around Europe and see these cute tiny house cabins in the most improbable places, they might be some of the custom built by Mark Burton mobile or static homes. Quite popular in Europe, these tiny homes spread their charms on the other side of the pond.
15. Momo
The Momo is a tiny house on wheels built by the Tiny Wunder House team.The team began building tiny houses on wheels as a hobby that evolved into a full-time job of building tiny houses on wheels for the European tiny home lovers.
The friendly duo builders, Christiane and Catalin, welcome anyone to contact them with questions (or even if you just want to say hello).
16. Farmhouse Tiny House
This 200-square-feet tiny home is both pleasing to the eye and functional. The fold-down cabinets tuck away for hidden storage, a sliding glass garage door opens up to a pop-out deck, and the custom dining table slides out seamlessly for dinner.
This tiny home holds even more surprises when you explore more of its details, such as lighting, kitchen appliances and a beautiful living area.
17. The Pequod
The Pequod is one of the most elegant and complex tiny homes built by The Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses to date.The wavy shape of the roof aims to maximize heights in the lofts, lowering ceiling heights elsewhere, and creating a “whimsical” design aesthetic.
18. Cabinet of Curiosities
Emerging Objects is an independent, creatively driven, 3D printing MAKE-tank. The team believes that 3D printing is the medium where good ideas become real. A housing shortage in the Bay Area led Emerging Objects to use the relaxed codes in Oakland to experiment towards addressing housing problems at a micro scale. They used 3D printing technology to create a cabin made through the combination of material, software, and hardware experiments.
The living front wall composed of “Planter Tiles” is made out of different shades of Portland cement and then arranged in patterns that enable them to hold plants. This beautiful tiny home demonstrates the architectural potential of additive manufacturing on a weather tight, structurally sound building.
19. Pacific Harmony
This stunning tiny home offers mighty extras, such as 3 lighting fixtures at front door and 2 exterior power outlets, the main level bedroom with murphy bed and solid oak dining table, a combination of quartz stone and oak countertops, solid oak hardwood flooring, and a quartz breakfast bar with space for 3 bar stools – to name a few.
You can also find an array of built-in storage cubbies, cabinets and closets. This beauty is equipped with 2 High-Efficiency electric wall heater with thermostats, stainless steel 24″ 4 burner LP gas range, exterior-vented hood fan with LED lighting, and stainless steel 2 door energy efficient 10-cubic-feet refrigerator/freezer with automatic defrost.
20. Wood and Heart – The Legacy
The Legacy is one of the tiny houses built by the Wood & Heart Building Co. It features 3 skylights and 13 Andersen windows, full-size GE gas range and vented GE artistry range hood,
Pioneer 9000 Seer mini-split unit with heating and A/C, full-size bathtub, tile shower, live-edge black walnut dining table with a built-in bench, and the list just goes on.
In addition to selling beautiful tiny homes, the company dedicates 10% of their profits to building homes for those in need, both domestically and internationally.
Buying or Renting a Tiny Home
If you want to check what it would be like to live in a tiny house, you can try renting one.
Websites like Dream Tiny, Tiny Home Builders or Tiny House Listings specialize in aggregating information pertaining to tiny houses.
You can read about the latest ideas, builds, news and products from the industry experts, sign up for workshops and newsletters, research different available models or simply browse the listings, and of course look for your dream tiny house – whether you would like to rent or buy one, you will find plenty of options to choose from.
