Tiny Houses

Ultra-compact tiny house embraces space-saving Japanese design

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The Bonzai is small even by tiny house standards, and has a length of just 4.5 m (almost 15 ft)
Baluchon
The Bonzai is small even by tiny house standards, and has a length of just 4.5 m (almost 15 ft)
Baluchon
The Bonzai tiny house is based on a double-axle trailer and finished in red cedar, with a sloping aluminum roof
Baluchon
The Bonzai tiny house is accessed through a door situated at rear of the home
Baluchon
The Bonzai tiny house has a small rooftop terrace area that's reached by ladder
Baluchon
The Bonzai tiny house's multipurpose living room features Japanese-inspired interior decor and generous glazing
Baluchon
The Bonzai tiny house's multipurpose living room has a small wood-burning stove for warmth
Baluchon
The Bonzai tiny house's multipurpose living room contains underfloor storage
Baluchon
The Bonzai tiny house's underfloor storage is surprisingly generous
Baluchon
The Bonzai tiny house doesn't have a bedroom. Instead the owner sleeps on a futon that's stowed away when not in use
Baluchon
The Bonzai tiny house's multipurpose living room has a home cinema setup
Baluchon
The owner accesses the Bonzai tiny house through the bathroom/kitchen area
Baluchon
The Bonzai tiny house's kitchen includes a pull-out worktop area and quite a lot of storage space, for its size
Baluchon
The Bonzai tiny house's shower is situated directly next to the kitchen
Baluchon
The Bonzai tiny house's toilet is situated directly next to the kitchen
Baluchon
View gallery - 14 images

This latest model by French firm Baluchon is very small, even by tiny house standards – measuring just 4.5 m (almost 15 ft) in length. Featuring Japanese-inspired styling inside and out, its diminutive size means that it's very portable, though also required some clever space-saving design.

The Bonzai tiny house is based on a double-axle trailer and finished in red cedar, with an aluminum roof and spruce inside. Its insulation is a mixture of cotton, hemp and linen, and there's a ladder attached to the exterior that provides access to a compact rooftop deck.

To put its size into perspective, the Bonzai is around half the length of a typical North American tiny house, like the Raven, for example. This means that Baluchon has had be get creative for the interior layout. The home's entry point, for example, is into the bathroom, which is simple and contains a shower and toilet.

Directly next to the bathroom is the kitchen, which is also very compact and has a sink and two-burner stove unit, plus a fridge. It has more storage space than you might expect for a kitchen of its size, including a pantry drawer, as well as a pull-out table.

The Bonzai tiny house's kitchen includes a pull-out worktop area and quite a lot of storage space, for its size
Baluchon

A shoji-style sliding door provides access to the only other room in the tiny house. This serves as a multipurpose living room and includes generous storage in the form of underfloor drawers, plus overhead lockers. There's a drop-down dining table, shelving, and a wood-burning stove in there. Additionally, the room contains a home cinema setup with a soundbar, projector and pull-down screen.

There's no bedroom in the Bonzai, nor a sofa. Instead, when it's time for bed, the owner simply rolls out a futon onto the floor that's stored when not in use.

The Bonzai tiny house's multipurpose living room features Japanese-inspired interior decor and generous glazing
Baluchon

The Bonzai tiny house was built for ease of travel and serves as the owner's main home as they journey around England. We've no word on the exact price of this particular model, though Baluchon's tiny houses typically start at €80,000 (roughly US$87,000).

Source: Baluchon

View gallery - 14 images
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2 comments
CarolynFarstrider
This seems more like a caravan but with nowhere to sit and rest, limited storage because you could not access drawers if you had anything on the living room floor etc. a towing caravan would be much cheaper and comfortable!
jerryd
Not very practical or comfortable to live in. 8'x16' is a standard size that better set up can be very comfortable, have a lot of storage done right. This is not that.
The bath, kitchen shouldn't take more than 5' leaving 11' for a far better set up than this.
I like a sectional with storage or couch bed, a lounge chair, desk/table, hanging closet, with room left for other things. Also 2' wide storage lofts on each long wall can store a large amount of things in marked bins.
And I'll build them for $25k-$35k including offgrid solar, water and sewage treatment if wanted. Some even float in flood is an option.
And the price is silly. I built a 10'x16' tiny home and bought land for only $30k, likely $40k today.