To be practical, I’d suggest a one-story building. With accidents or age, it may be difficult to climb a ladder to the bedroom loft.

These are the winners: http://www.countryplans.com/contest.html

Your blog is amazing an so are your houses!

Gable Roofs – Gable roofs are a little harder to build, they provide a more closed in feel, they tend to hold in the warm/cool air better. I’m not sure about this but I think they make the whole house stronger because they rest evenly on the top plate(s) of the walls.

Shed Roofs – Shed roofs are great for passive solar design especially in a tiny house where you can turn the tall side toward or away from the sun depending on the weather and desired effect. The disadvantages of putting a shed roof on a mobile tiny house is that the roof pitch has to be less steep than a gable to stay under the 13.5 road limit. The advantage is that it provides more interior headroom and a more spacious loft.

Lofts – As far as sleeping lofts, hot air rises. The less open a loft the hotter it will be. Jay puts windows in both ends of his tiny houses for cross ventilation. Open lofts would still be warmer but would tend to be more like the main room in temperature.

Towing – Many SUVs can tow 5000 pounds, even some of the imports. Check the rating on the truck/SUV to be sure. Many of the smaller tiny houses (120 sq ft) tend to be under 5000 pounds. The tortoise shell homes that are build from steel studs tend to be about 1000 pounds lighter than the wood houses. So your choice of materials will greatly effect the weight. My pallet house for example will be heavier than a Tumbleweed but I suspect you could build a tiny house without all the decorative wood that’s lighter than a Tumbleweed.

Hope that helps!