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 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 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