The company that recently introduced the 60-minute foldable Baby Box also has another foldable tiny home with more creature comforts (like appliances), more square footage, and can be move-in ready within a day. But is it too good to be true?
Boxabl is redefining tiny home living with its clever, foldable designs that can be built in as little as four hours and shipped directly to any destination.
The Casita ships in a relatively compact package measuring 19 ft long by 8 ft 6 in wide and 12 ft 4 in tall (5.8 x 2.6 x 3.8 m).
Once you spend an hour or so unfolding it, the origami house measures 19 ft by 19 ft with a 10-ft 9-in rooftop (5.8 x 5.8 x 3.3 m). Inside, you'll find a spacious 9.5-ft (2.9-m) ceiling; slightly taller than your average brick-and-stick home, giving you a comfortable 361-sq-ft (33.5-sq-m) studio apartment feel.
The Casita has fully pre-installed wiring and plumbing straight from the factory making installation of the 13,000-lb (5,897-kg) domicile a breeze. Outside of a travel trailer, it doesn't get much more convenient than that.
While the Casita is a folding house, Boxabl says it's designed it to a higher code standard than most traditional manufacturer homes. There are two options for the Casita to meet different zoning requirements.
The modular Casita is built to residential building codes, meaning it requires a foundation and the like – though it does come fully equipped with full-size electric appliances, including a refrigerator, microwave, stovetop, and HVAC. It has two entry/exit doors and connects to the grid with a 100-amp service.
The really cool part about the modular Casita is that it's designed to be stackable and/or connected side by side if you want to expand as your family grows.
Alternatively, Boxabl's other Casita option is a park model RV. The park model RV option is built to RV specifications using the standard ANSI A119.5 RV code. The house is permanently attached to a rolling chassis, much like a travel trailer. It has a few other differences as well, like only one entry/exit door and a propane option for the stove. It also uses a 50-amp or 100-amp service, much like a large RV does.
Both options use the same energy-efficient insulation, LED lighting, 30-gallon (113-L) electric water heater, full bathroom, and pre-installed utility hookups (water, sewerage, electricity) to get you living in your tiny home right away.
The Casita was Boxabl's first product released in September of 2020. Oddly enough, the company's first delivery was 156 Casitas for Camp Justice at Guantanamo Bay back in 2020 to house lawyers and juries.
Since its inception, Casitas have been used in a range of ways, from humanitarian relief efforts, to housing a copper mine workforce in Arizona, to building an entire commercial Airbnb community in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
The company hasn't been without its issues, however, as early models were prone to leaking and molding. In June last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Boxabl's waitlist exceeded 175,000 customers but it had only delivered 223 units as of that date, despite having been in business for nearly four years at the time – most of which were for the Guantanamo delivery.
Elon Musk confirmed in 2022 that he has a prototype Casita at his Texas-based SpaceX facility, Starbase, though he doesn't actually stay in it, claiming "the house that I bought [in Texas] actually costs less than the Boxabl."
The Boxabl Casita is currently priced at US$60,000 for the modular and $70,000 for the park model RV (which is $10k more than it was when first introduced).
That being said, the idea of Boxabl's tiny homes sounds great. Hopefully Boxabl sorts out any issues and can get these little idyllic foldy-homes out to the masses in a timely, affordable manner.
Source: Boxabl
