The best tiny houses of 2019

The First Light Tiny House, by Build Tiny, is one of our favorite tiny houses of 2019

Throughout 2019, we've reported on a range of tiny houses. Some are simple homes on wheels, while others boast novel ideas like sliding roofs and elevator beds. Whichever the model though, each one offers an interesting approach to downsizing. Here's our pick of the very best we've seen.

Heidi-Ho

The Heidi-Ho can be towed on land or float on water

Granite Peak Photography

The Heidi-Ho, by Arizona's Scott Cronk, is a cabin on wheels that's in turn based on a pontoon boat. It can be placed on a trailer and towed on the road or travel along the water using its 115 bhp (85 kW) Suzuki engine.

The interior measures 18 x 6.5 ft (5.4 x 2 m) and is split into a kitchen area and a combined living/dining area that can be used as a bedroom thanks to its folding benches. There's also a small toilet inside the Heidi-Ho, but the shower is outside.

Stéphanie

The Stéphanie is a pretty typical tiny house with one neat feature: its roof slides open like a car's sunroof

Optinid/Agence Argo

The Stéphanie, by French firm Optinid, is topped by a sliding roof on rails that allows its owners to open up the bedroom to the sky.

Aside from that headline-grabbing feature, the Stéphanie is a fairly basic compact tiny house. Its 20.4 sq m (220 sq ft) interior hosts a living room with a sofa bed for guests, while nearby lies a small kitchenette and a bathroom.

Canada Goose

The Canada Goose is one of the biggest tiny houses on the market

Mint Tiny House Company

The Canada Goose, by Canada's Mint Tiny House Company, is a massive 43-ft (13-m)-long tiny house that has a total floorspace of 400 sq ft (37 sq m), making it one of the largest models we've seen this year.

As you'd expect, its interior is spacious. Its ground floor has a kitchen, a living room, and a large bathroom, while there's also a generously-proportioned master bedroom in the gooseneck (raised) part of the trailer. There are two lofts in the Canada Goose, one is used as a bedroom and the other is used for storage.

The Acorn

The Acorn will suit those who like their tiny houses to be actually tiny

Backcountry Tiny Homes

As the tiny house scene has grown over the years, the average size of the homes has grown with it. However, for those who still like their tiny houses to be, well, tiny,The Acorn, by Backcountry Tiny Homes, should fit the bill.

Measuring just 16 ft (4.8 m) long with its exterior deck, The Acorn has an interior floorspace of 90 sq ft (8.3 sq m). Most of this is taken up by a combined living room, bedroom, and dining area, which includes a sofa bed and folding table. A kitchen and bathroom are adjacent to this space. The Acorn can also run on or off-the-grid for those wanting the freedom to travel.

Noyer

The Noyer is built to handle extreme cold but can also take hot weather in its stride

Minimaliste

Being based in chilly Canada, it makes sense that Minimaliste builds its homes to withstand extremes in temperature, whether hot or cold. The Noyer is both well-insulated and nearly airtight, meaning that it requires little heating or cooling to maintain a steady temperature, which is the main principle behind the stringent Passive House green building standard.

Its interior consists of a compact kitchen, a spacious raised living room with storage underneath, and a small home office area. The bathroom is nearby and the loft bedroom is reached by a storage-integrated staircase.

Unnamed $15,000 tiny house

Canadian engineering graduate Tyler Bennett recently completed his very own tiny house on wheels with an impressive budget of just US$15,000

Exploring Alternatives

Some of the most innovative and interesting tiny houses we cover are those that built by hobbyists, as highlighted by Tyler Bennett. The Canadian engineering graduate built his own tiny house for just $15,000 over several months with the help of family and friends.

The standout feature with this model is its queen-sized elevator-style bed that can be set to different heights, allowing one space to pull double duty as both living room and bedroom. Elsewhere is a kitchen, a large home office, and a bathroom.

Koda Light Float

The Koda Light Float floats atop a pontoon base, but can also be installed on land if preferred

Riku Kylä

As its name suggests, the Koda Light Floatis essentially a lightweight version of the popular concrete Koda tiny house, with the addition of a floating pontoon base.

Now made from wood instead of concrete, the Estonian-built tiny home measures 25.8 sq m (277 sq ft) and looks relatively spacious and light-filled, with an open plan ground floor containing a living room, kitchen, and bathroom. The single bedroom is upstairs. For those who aren't interested in life on the water, there's also a non-floating version and a much larger extended model too.

Ref: newatlas