The best tiny houses on the market right now

The tiny house scene has grown so much in recent years that buyers are spoiled for choice, but this can be something of a double-edged sword for newcomers, making it a challenge to separate the wheat from the chaff. We've done some of the legwork for you and have assembled the best new tiny houses available for purchase in North America and Europe.

We can't cover all the tiny houses out there so have concentrated on recent models and firms we're familiar with. That said, we would still strongly recommend you do your own homework before handing over your hard-earned money. Each one is either already completed and ready to pick up, or can be commissioned as pictured for the price noted.

Read on below for our pick of the best tiny houses on the market right now, or head to the gallery to see more photos of each model, along with our honorable mentions.

The Retreat - Timbercraft Tiny Homes

If you're looking for a towable home suitable for six people, then the Retreat, by Alabama's Timbercraft Tiny Homes is a good place to start.

Measuring 33 ft (10 m)-long and clad in board and batten with a standing seam metal roof, the Retreat has a total available floorspace of 416 sq ft (38.6 sq m). Its roomy interior includes a living room, a U-shaped kitchen, and a bathroom which includes a bath/shower.

There are also three bedrooms in the Retreat. The first boasts enough headroom to stand upright and is accessed by staircase, while the other two are smaller and are the more typical tiny house loft bedroom types, accessed by ladder and offering just enough headroom to crawl into bed.

Commissioning a Retreat like the one pictured will cost you US$79,000.

Tradition - Escape

Escape is best known for its contemporary tiny house designs but the firm's Tradition model offers a more, well, traditional looking tiny house and really nails the cottage-on-wheels style that many people still look for in a tiny house.

The Tradition is offered in multiple versions, from a 21 ft (6.4 m)-long model, up to a larger 25 ft (7.62 m)-long model with a porch. Each features cedar siding and a tiny house-style gable roof.

The majority of the ground floor is taken up by an open living room, kitchen and dining room, but there's also a small bathroom at the rear of the home that includes a shower. The main loft bedroom is accessed by ladder (stairs are another option) and a secondary loft is also accessed by ladder and can be used as a storage space or additional bedroom.

As standard, the Tradition gets power from an RV hookup but it can also be upgraded to run off-the grid at cost.

The Tradition starts at $53,000.

The Fuchsia - Zyl Vardos

Zyl Vardos produces some of the most eye-catching and well-finished tiny houses on the scene and its latest model, the Fuchsia is no exception. Drawing inspiration from the American Craftsman architectural style for this project, the firm created an eye-catching roofline that angles downward very steeply.

The Fuchsia measures just 24 ft (7.3 m)-long, so is on the small side, and is clad in cedar. There's not a whole lot of room inside but the living room has a high ceiling, which should make it feel a little bigger. The nearby kitchen area is pretty snug too and joins onto a bathroom that includes a shower.

Storage-integrated stairs lead to a loft bedroom and the Fuchsia gets all its power from an RV-style hookup as standard, however an off-grid setup is also an option.

The Fuchsia pictured has already been sold but Zyl Vardos will build another for roughly $90,000.

Brown Bear - Alpine Tiny Homes

Living in a tiny house seems pretty doable for a single person or a couple, but add a couple of kids to the mix and you've got yourself a far greater challenge. You could go with one of those supersized models but for those who want to retain easy portability, Alpine Tiny Homes made its Brown Bear tiny house family-friendly while keeping the size down to a manageable 28 ft (8.5 m)-long.

Clad in tongue and groove, with metal roof and detailing, the Brown Bear's interior layout centers around a large kitchen and dining area, including a breakfast bar with stool seating for four. A small lounge lies nearby while a bathroom is hidden from view behind a door and includes a large shower.

The parents' sleeping loft is located above the lounge area and accessed by ladder, while a second loft bedroom on the opposite side of the home above the bathroom is for the kids. This latter space is split in half to give both children a measure of personal space and is also accessed by ladder.

The Brown Bear can run on or off-the-grid and is available from $63,000.

The Koda - Kodasema

We're bending the rules by including the Koda, by Estonian firm Kodasema, as it isn't a tiny house per se, but it is very much part of the small living movement. Though not on wheels, it's easily dismantled and transported in pieces and as it doesn't need foundations it can be placed pretty much anywhere that's flat. The concrete micro-home also has a floorspace of just 26.4 sq m (284 sq ft), which is smaller than several of the homes here.

Inside, the two-story home includes a living room, kitchen, bathroom with bath/shower, and a bedroom and laundry room upstairs. It looks surprisingly roomy thanks to the high ceiling and those who want to trick it out with gadgets can do so with optional extras like solar power, digital door lock, and programmable LED lighting all available at cost.

The Koda starts from £100,000 (roughly $130,000) and is available in the UK and parts of mainland Europe.

Honorable mentions

We'd be remiss not to give a nod to the Alpha tiny house, by New Frontier Tiny Homes, which almost a year after we first wrote about it remains one of the most impressive-looking tiny houses on the market.

Tiny Heirloom is worth checking out too if you'd prefer a custom-built home and the firm's previous models include a climbing wall tiny house and a neat dwelling with a motorized platform.

Finally, Rocky Mountain Tiny Homes also puts out unique tiny houses with its own distinct style that are both small and supersized. Owner Greg Parham is organizing the Colorado Tiny House Festival if you're in the neighborhood and want to check out some tiny houses in person.