Tiny House Design

I was just wondering… how much living space do most people need? If you’re on this site I have to assume you’ve considered living, working, owning, renting, visiting, or vacationing in a tiny house. You’ve probably also looked carefully at all of Jay Shafer’s Tumbleweed Houses which very nicely document the possibilities of such tiny spaces. I drew this quick picture to try an illustrate the difference between common tiny house sizes based on standard trailer sizes.

I placed a few common objects in these floor plans just to help show scale. Each house has exactly the same furnishings to show you how much extra space is created by each two foot increment of length. Imagine the width and roof height the same. I even drew an area the size of a queen size bed in a loft above the bathroom to help show scale.

If you don’t mind sharing… How much space would you want in a tiny house? Thanks!

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Here is a very nice little tiny house from England, Sockburn’s Shed on Wheels designed and built by Andy Marsden. I’ve contacted Andy for more information but I did stumble on the project blog for the renovation of Sockburn Hall, the larger historic building behind the tiny house.

This tiny house was built as an office and sleeping space while working on the old building. Andy describes it as a “tent upgrade”. Sockburn Hall is a house south of Darlington, England, which has fallen into a state of disrepair, although still lived in by the family. Volunteers are working to find a way to protect the Hall’s history by making its future financially sustainable. I’ll post more details about the tiny house after I hear back from Andy. Photo credit to Laura G.

Hey and thanks to Jill who tipped me off on this via a note she left on the small house society yahoo group.

I just ran across these little houses called LiL’ Lodges. The design pictured is the smallest design they sell and it looks like it’s a little over 200 square feet. It comes with a lot of standard features like custom kitchen cabinets, cathedral ceilings, detachable hitches, 29 gauge colored metal roofing, real wood cedar paneling, etc.

I also learned something new. These little houses are not technically classified as a mobile home or trailer. The Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association actually defines little houses like this as recreational vehicles. Here is their definition:

“Park Model Homes are recreational vehicles primarily designed as temporary living quarters for recreation, camping or seasonal use. They are built on a single chassis, mounted on wheels and have a gross trailer area not exceeding 400 square feet in the set-up mode.”

I’m not exactly sure why they would slice and dice the definitions but I suspect it has to do with how they are used and transported. For example the design pictured is only 8′ 6″ wide. They also offer a wider version that is 12′ wide requires special permits to transport. Check your state’s requirements but you may also need a permit to transport a trailer over 8 feet too.

These little houses also comply with ANSI A119.5 and is certified by the RPTIA. It sounds like compliance with this construction standard assures the buyer of a certain level of quality. These particular houses are also built one at a time and not on an assembly line like most manufactured homes. The same builder that lays the floor is the same builder that builds the walls. They believe this is a better approach because the overall quality goes up by comparison to having large crews do each separate step.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any pricing information on their LiL’ Lodges website. I suspect that right now is a great time to buy because it seems that everyone else building these tiny park models are offering discounts. If you need a quick solution for housing on a piece of land or would consider a park community, these little houses may be the best way to go. Many of the companies that sell these offer financing and it sounds like you can order the house and have it delivered fairly quickly.