Tiny Houses

The best tiny houses of 2022

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Small homes, big ideas: As the year comes to a close, we've chosen our selection of 2022's best tiny houses
Brook James
Stella the Stargazer's bed area can be draped with a mosquito net so the visitors don't get bitten at night
Brook James
Stella the Stargazer's glazed wall can be raised up, allowing its bed to be rolled out for stargazing
Brook James
Stella the Stargazer's interior decor makes use of reclaimed hardwood
Brook James
Stella the Stargazer features porthole-style windows, which add character to the small space
Brook James
Stella the Stargazer's kitchen includes a wood-burning stove that provides heating and serves as a hotplate
Brook James
The Trahan Tiny House's living room can also be used as a small yoga studio
Fritz Tiny Homes
Visitors enter the Trahan Tiny House into a generously proportioned and light-filled living room
Fritz Tiny Homes
The Trahan Tiny House's bedroom is a typical tiny house-style loft bedroom with a low ceiling
Fritz Tiny Homes
The Trahan Tiny House's overall design is envisioned as a mixture of an A-frame cabin and a mid-century modern mansion
Fritz Tiny Homes
The Trahan Tiny House measures a total length of 32 ft (9.7 m)
Fritz Tiny Homes
The Sunshine tiny house starts at a relatively low price of €27,728 (roughly US$27,000), though this will rise considerably as options such as off-grid functionality are added
Vagabond Haven
The Sunshine tiny house's bedroom is a typical loft-style tiny house bedroom with a low ceiling
Vagabond Haven
Visitors enter the Sunshine tiny house into the living room, which includes a sofa bed and some shelving. Heating and cooling comes from a small mini-split air-conditioning unit
Vagabond Haven
The Sunshine tiny house is 6.7 m (22 ft) in length and its interior measures 21 sq m (226 sq ft)
Vagabond Haven
The Sunshine tiny house's toilet can be a composting, flushing, or incinerating model
Vagabond Haven
Kelly Haworth, from Bury, Lancashire, has been crowned the 2022 Cuprinol Shed of the Year winner for The Potting Shed
Cuprinol
The Potting Shed measures 2 x 3 m (6.5 x 9.8 ft) and is installed on Haworth's allotment pot
Cuprinol
The Potting Shed's interior is mostly taken up by an area for preparing plants
Cuprinol
The Potting Shed includes a small composting toilet and gravity fed sink
Cuprinol
The Cabini Edelweiss takes tiny living to another level – literally – by taking the form of one tiny house stacked on top of another
Cabini
The Cabini Edelweiss' stacked form creates a spacious terrace area
Cabini
The Cabini Edelweiss features generous floor-to-ceiling glazing and integrated blinds for privacy
Cabini
The Cabini Edelweiss is finished in fiber cement panels, with wooden detailing
Cabini
The Cabini Edelweiss measures 36 sq m (387 sq ft), spread over two floors
Cabini
The Porter is positioned as a luxury shipping container-based home and is priced accordingly, starting at US$149,250
Bob's Containers
The Porter is positioned as a luxury shipping container-based home and is priced accordingly, starting at US$149,250
Bob's Containers
The Porter is based on a 40-ft-(9.1-m)-long shipping container which has been heavily modified with doors, windows, and insulation
Bob's Containers
The Porter's interior has a total floorspace of 320 sq ft (29.7 sq m)
Bob's Containers
The Porter's bedroom includes a double bed, storage unit, and generous glazing
Bob's Containers
The Adraga's living room opens up to the outside with large double doors
João Carranca
The Adraga is based on a double-axle trailer and is finished in timber
João Carranca
The Adraga measures a total length of 7 m (roughly 23 ft)
João Carranca
The Adraga's interior decor highlights the natural beauty of the wood
João Carranca
The Adraga's living room includes a sofa bed
João Carranca
The Boulder 2.5 measures just 18 ft (5.4 m) length, which is definitely on the small side for a North American tiny house
Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses
The Boulder 2.5's living area includes a dining table/office desk
Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses
The Boulder 2.5 has a basic kitchenette that includes a fridge, sink, and two-burner propane-powered stove
Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses
The Boulder 2.5's loft bedroom is reached by storage-integrated staircase
Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses
The Boulder 2.5 is kept warm with an electric heater and a wood-burning stove
Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses
Vika One is created by Vika Living co-founders Scott Kevern and Jeff Howard
Vika Living
The Vika One compact dwelling is named after the Swedish word for fold (vika) and it is designed to do exactly that
Vika Living
Compact Vika One kitchen comes with all the necessities
Vika Living
Compact Vika One kitchen comes with all the necessities
Vika Living
Vika One bathroom
Vika Living
The Tadpole Tiny House is based on a removable trailer, allowing the owners to use the platform to transport one of their vintage cars
Build Tiny
The Tadpole Tiny House measures 7 m (23 ft) long
Build Tiny
The Tadpole Tiny House is accessed by double glass doors that open up the home to the outside
Build Tiny
The Tadpole Tiny House's interior layout is all arranged on one floor and is mostly taken up by one large space containing a living room, bedroom and kitchen
Build Tiny
The Tadpole Tiny House's kitchen is quite basic and includes a fridge/freezer, sink, and microwave
Build Tiny
View gallery - 49 images

As the year comes to a close, it's time to take a look back at the best tiny houses of 2022. Featuring everything from relatively large and expensive models to those that are very small in size and cost, here's a look at 10 of the most interesting examples of small living we've seen throughout the past 12 months.

Our selection of the best tiny houses of 2022 attempts to convey the sheer variety of the small living movement so we're not being too strict with our definition of tiny house here, and are including everything from towable abodes you might actually want to live in year-round, to less practical but interesting ideas, as long as they are sufficiently small.

Hit the gallery to see more photos of each one – and let us know your favorites in the comments.

Stella the Stargazer – Ample

Stella the Stargazer's interior decor makes use of reclaimed hardwood
Brook James

Commissioned by an Australian tourism and events company, Ample's charmingly named Stella the Stargazer has a length of 10 m (32 ft) and looks like a rural farm shack at first glance, but has a neat trick up its sleeve: its bed can be pulled out to let visitors sleep outside under the stars.

When the weather suits, the occupant simply raises the glazed wall of the tiny house and slides out the bed manually. There's a net installed to keep creepy crawlies away and it looks like a fantastic way to spend a night under the stars.

Stella also includes a living area and a full kitchen, plus a bathroom, and it runs off-the-grid with solar power.

Trahan Tiny House – Fritz Tiny Homes

The Trahan Tiny House's living room can also be used as a small yoga studio
Fritz Tiny Homes

Built for a client who teaches online yoga classes, the Trahan Tiny House from Canada's Fritz Tiny Homes squeezes an impressive amount of features into its compact 32-ft (9.7-m)-long frame.

It serves as a home yoga studio and also has a comfortable living room, a small home office, and a workout area with an exercise bike. In addition, the home is very livable too and offers a well-proportioned kitchen and bathroom, with a typical tiny house loft-style bedroom upstairs.

Sunshine – Vagabond Haven

The Sunshine tiny house starts at a relatively low price of €27,728 (roughly US$27,000), though this will rise considerably as options such as off-grid functionality are added
Vagabond Haven

Some tiny houses nowadays can cost almost as much as a traditional brick-and-mortar home – and can be far too large to reasonably call "tiny" too. However, The Sunshine, by Sweden's Vagabond Haven, goes back to the small living movement's roots with an affordable home measuring just 6.7 m (22 ft) in length.

Its interior is taken up by a simple and unfussy floorplan offering a relatively spacious living area and kitchen, plus a loft bedroom upstairs. Nomads can also cut the cord with an optional off-the-grid package.

Potting Shed – Kelly Haworth

The Potting Shed measures 2 x 3 m (6.5 x 9.8 ft) and is installed on Haworth's allotment pot
Cuprinol

The winner of the UK's 2022 Cuprinol Shed of the Year competition, Kelly Howarth offers an excellent example of the ingenuity found in the shedding scene with her 2 x 3 m (6.5 x 9.8 ft) Potting Shed.

This diminutive hut is primarily made up of recycled doors and wooden pallets. Its interior is arranged around a central space used for preparing plants, and receives lots of natural light thanks to all the glazing in the doors, as well as a roof made up of transparent corrugated plastic. Some storage space has been installed and there's a small bathroom with a composting toilet and gravity fed sink.

Edelweiss – Cabini

The Cabini Edelweiss takes tiny living to another level – literally – by taking the form of one tiny house stacked on top of another
Cabini

Romania's Cabini takes a unique approach to maximizing floorspace in its Edelweiss that essentially involves stacking one tiny house on top of another.

The home measures 36 sq m (387 sq ft), spread over two floors, and its interior looks light-filled thanks to floor-to-ceiling glazing. The furnishings and finish are to a high standard and its unusual overall form offers the added benefit of providing a handy outdoor terrace area outside the upstairs bedroom.

The Porter – Bob's Containers

The Porter is based on a 40-ft-(9.1-m)-long shipping container which has been heavily modified with doors, windows, and insulation
Bob's Containers

The Porter is one of the most ambitious shipping container-based houses we've ever seen. Texas-based Bob's Containers attempted to maximize living space in the tiny dwelling by installing a large garage-style door that opens it up to the outside.

It's based on a 40-ft-(9.1-m)-long shipping container and the interior is arranged on one floor with a simple layout, the majority of which is taken up by the kitchen/living room area. Additionally, the container home is topped by a rooftop deck area with hot tub and relaxation net.

Adraga – Madeiguincho

The Adraga's living room opens up to the outside with large double doors
João Carranca

Madeiguincho's Gonçalo Madeira Marrote comes from a family of carpenters and once worked as one himself, so it makes sense that his tiny house designs are defined by their use of timber.

This is definitely the case with the Adraga, which measures 7 m (roughly 23 ft) long and features an attractive timber exterior and interior. Glazed operable doors really open up the Portuguese home to the outside when the weather suits and the Adraga gets all power from a solar panel and battery setup, while a rainwater collection system is connected to filters and provides water for shower and kitchen use. The layout is in typical tiny house style, with living areas downstairs and a small loft bedroom above.

Boulder 2.5 – Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses

The Boulder 2.5 measures just 18 ft (5.4 m) length, which is definitely on the small side for a North American tiny house
Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses

Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses' Boulder 2.5 is made from recycled and utilitarian materials and measures just 18 ft (5.4 m) in length.

Its interior decor echoes the rustic exterior and is finished in shiplap walls, with a beetle kill pine ceiling and solid oak flooring. There's no living room or sofa since it's so small, and the floorspace is taken up by a combined dining table/office desk, as well as a kitchen area. The bathroom is on the opposite side of the home to the kitchen and the bedroom is reached by a storage-integrated alternating-tread staircase.

Vika One – Vika Living

Vika One is created by Vika Living co-founders Scott Kevern and Jeff Howard
Vika Living

The Vika One is a fascinating little Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) by Los Angeles' Vika Living that would be a good fit for a guest house or even standalone tiny house. Thanks to its prefabricated construction and interesting folding design, it can be assembled on-site in a mere one hour.

The interior measures 42 sq ft (3.9 sq m) and comes complete with furnishings and fixtures like a bedroom area with double bed, kitchen, shower, toilet, and hookups for water, power, and sewage – though off-grid is an option too.

Tadpole Tiny House – Build Tiny 

The Tadpole Tiny House is based on a removable trailer, allowing the owners to use the platform to transport one of their vintage cars
Build Tiny

New Zealand's Build Tiny was commissioned by a couple who wanted some extra space for guests and are classic car enthusiasts. The resulting model, the Tadpole Tiny House, sleeps two people comfortably and is based on a removable trailer, allowing it to be used to transport the owners' vintage cars.

It measures 7 m (23 ft) in length and contains a large open living space that combines living, sleeping, and kitchen areas, plus a bedroom, all on one level. When it comes time transport a car, the house is unbolted from its base, jacked up, and the trailer removed. The trailer then tilts for the car to move onto it and a nose cone is added.

View gallery - 49 images
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1 comment
TpPa
I was always amazed as a child (50 years ago) that one of my Aunt and Uncles lived in a mobile home, and way back then they had a incinerating toilet.