Tiny houses can range from ridiculously cheap to relatively expensive, depending on how much work you do yourself, the materials used, and how well-furnished the interior is. Monarch Tiny Homes offers what looks like a good compromise between these two extremes, with its Half/Half tiny house. For US$22,000 the firm sells a well-insulated home that's finished on the outside, with the interior left a bare shell for the owner to complete.
Half/Half sits on a towable trailer and measures 20 ft (6 m) long, 8.5 ft (2.5 m) wide, and 13.6 ft (4.14 m) high. Like a lot of the tiny houses we've covered, the roof and walls are built using SIPs (structural insulated panels), and Monarch Tiny Homes reports that these have a rated R-value (a measure of thermal resistance) of R-14.
The SIPs are covered by siding from composite wood firm Newtechwood, which is made from reclaimed wood fibers and recycled plastic bottles, and requires no maintenance. The windows are Low-E (low-emissivity), to aid heat and sound insulation.
Since Half/Half is delivered as a bare shell, it's not going to come looking as swish inside as the firm's press images, which depict a finished interior. That said, it certainly has potential; you enter the single front door into a cozy lounge/dining area, which is followed by a kitchen area and snug bathroom with toilet, sink, and shower. A small loft bedroom is accessed via ladder. Since it's just a shell inside, this layout could no doubt be tweaked to taste and requirements.
In addition to the option of adding a standard hookup, Half/Half could also be outfitted with solar power by the customer, and Monarch Tiny Homes told us that any standard system – like a SolMan for example – should do the trick.
Source: Monarch Tiny Homes
