Tiny Houses

Tiny house sleeps six and opens bedroom to the elements with sliding roof

Tiny house sleeps six and opens bedroom to the elements with sliding roof
The Stéphanie's standout feature is its sliding roof, which opens up the main bedroom to the elements
The Stéphanie's standout feature is its sliding roof, which opens up the main bedroom to the elements
View 19 Images
The Stéphanie measures 6 m (19.7 ft)-long and 2.55 m (8.3 ft)-wide
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The Stéphanie measures 6 m (19.7 ft)-long and 2.55 m (8.3 ft)-wide
The Stéphanie is a pretty typical tiny house with one neat feature: its roof slides open like a car's sunroof
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The Stéphanie is a pretty typical tiny house with one neat feature: its roof slides open like a car's sunroof
The Stéphanie has a total floorspace of 20.4 sq m (220 sq ft)
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The Stéphanie has a total floorspace of 20.4 sq m (220 sq ft)
The Stéphanie's standout feature is its sliding roof, which opens up the main bedroom to the elements
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The Stéphanie's standout feature is its sliding roof, which opens up the main bedroom to the elements
The Stéphanie includes an electric piano that doubles up as a desk area
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The Stéphanie includes an electric piano that doubles up as a desk area
The Stéphanie's interior is finished in painted spruce
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The Stéphanie's interior is finished in painted spruce
The Stéphanie's bathroom includes a dry toilet
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The Stéphanie's bathroom includes a dry toilet
The Stéphanie's bedroom, shown with the sliding roof closed
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The Stéphanie's bedroom, shown with the sliding roof closed
Top-down view of the Stéphanie's living room
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Top-down view of the Stéphanie's living room 
The Stéphanie's piano/desk area
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The Stéphanie's piano/desk area 
Top-down view of the Stéphanie's electric piano/desk area
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Top-down view of the Stéphanie's electric piano/desk area
Top-down view of the Stéphanie's electric piano/desk area, shown in the desk position
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Top-down view of the Stéphanie's electric piano/desk area, shown in the desk position
The Stéphanie has a total floorspace of 20.4 sq m (220 sq ft)
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The Stéphanie has a total floorspace of 20.4 sq m (220 sq ft)
Top-down view of the Stéphanie's kitchen area
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Top-down view of the Stéphanie's kitchen area
There is a small loft space above the Stéphanie's living room that sleeps one or can be used for storage
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There is a small loft space above the Stéphanie's living room that sleeps one or can be used for storage
The Stéphanie's electric piano/desk area also doubles up as stairs to the main bedroom
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The Stéphanie's electric piano/desk area also doubles up as stairs to the main bedroom
The Stéphanie's piano/desk area also doubles as stairs to the main bedroom
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The Stéphanie's piano/desk area also doubles as stairs to the main bedroom
The Stéphanie measures 6 m (19.7 ft) long and 2.55 m (8.3 ft)wide
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The Stéphanie measures 6 m (19.7 ft) long and 2.55 m (8.3 ft) wide
The Stéphanie has a total floorspace of 20.4 sq m (220 sq ft)
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The Stéphanie has a total floorspace of 20.4 sq m (220 sq ft)
View gallery - 19 images

The tiny house market is so crowded that it can be tricky for firms to stand out, but France's Optinid offers something different with its line of models that open up the bedrooms to the elements with sunroof-like sliding roofs. The firm's Stéphanie tiny house offers another take on its sliding roof design and increases the total sleeping capacity to six people.

Named after its owner, the Stéphanie measures 6 m (19.7 ft)-long and 2.55 m (8.3 ft)-wide, with a maximum height of 4 m (13 ft) and a total floorspace of 20.4 sq m (220 sq ft). It's clad in fir and the interior is finished in painted spruce.

Visitors enter into the living room with a sofa bed that sleeps two. Above this, reachable by ladder, is a small loft space that Optinid says will sleep another couple of people. Adjacent to the living room is a combined office/music space. This has an electric piano that doubles up as a desk area when not in use. Additionally, the office stores a sewing machine and integrates into a staircase that leads to the bedroom.

The Stéphanie's interior is finished in painted spruce
The Stéphanie's interior is finished in painted spruce

The roof in the bedroom is similar to Optinid's previous models and can be unlocked and slid open on rails when the weather suits, but the firm has improved the mechanism and it's now smaller and lighter.

With the bedroom, sofa bed, and secondary loft, that means the Stéphanie sleeps a half dozen, which is pretty impressive for a French tiny house, even if it does seem like it would be a squeeze. As we've noted before, France has far stricter towing laws than in the US which require a home to be significantly lighter.

Elsewhere in the tiny house is a small kitchen with an oven, a two-burner induction stove, a sink, and storage space. A pantry is connected to a fresh air circulation system and a small retractable table provides a dining space. At the far end of the home is a snug bathroom with a shower and dry toilet.

The Stéphanie measures 6 m (19.7 ft)-long and 2.55 m (8.3 ft)-wide
The Stéphanie measures 6 m (19.7 ft)-long and 2.55 m (8.3 ft)-wide

The Stéphanie gets electricity from a ground-based solar power array and also has a standard mains hookup. It's heated with electric radiators and hot water comes from an electric water heater.

We've no word on the Stéphanie's price though the firm's similar Cécile model cost €54,000 (around US$62,000), so is likely in the same ballpark.

Source: Optinid

View gallery - 19 images
2 comments
2 comments
guzmanchinky
I would love a glass roof, not sure about an open roof... Cool house though!
Fairly Reasoner
"bathroom includes a dry toilet," is apparently code for "a hole under which to slide a bucket."