The Purple Palace isn't actually a palace, nor is it even purple, but what it does offer is a compact tiny house at a relatively low budget. During the design process, New Zealand's Build Tiny went to considerable lengths to keep the price down by focusing on the basics and leaving the interior decor unfinished.
The Purple Palace has a total length of 7.4 m (24 ft) and width of 2.4 m (7.8 ft), making it a lot easier to lug around New Zealand than the massive North American models we regularly feature, which can be almost twice as long. It consists of a steel frame and is finished in vinyl. It gets power from a standard RV-style hookup but has been pre-wired to accept solar panels in the future, when the owner is ready to upgrade to an off-grid setup.
The decor inside is simple and the poplar plywood walls are left unpainted to save money (the owner plans to do it herself – and has already added a splash of purple). Additionally, to further cut costs, the number of windows were kept to the minimum required for light and ventilation.
As visitors enter, the living room is to the right. This is furnished with a small sofa, and is also home to a wood-burning stove, which is the sole source of warmth. The kitchen is nearby and contains a small drop-down breakfast bar area, washing machine, sink, a small two-burner stove (but no oven), and a fridge. The bathroom connects to the kitchen and looks quite compact, containing a shower, sink, and a composting toilet.
There's just one bedroom in the Purple Palace, though the owner does plan to install a second loft at a later date. The bedroom is reached by a storage-integrated staircase and is a typical loft-style tiny house, though it has the clever addition of a lowered platform area, which makes it easier to get dressed.
Build Tiny estimates that the home would have cost anywhere between NZD 150,000-170,000 (US$104,000 - 11,8000) without the cost-saving measures, but says that it came in closer to NZD 115,000 ($80,000) – which is obviously still a lot of money, but works out relatively inexpensive for a custom made tiny house..
Source: Build Tiny
For a TINY house that has a price over a typical price of a regular home (by regular, I mean out here in flyover country, not LA or NY), just nuts.
But, people routinely lay down $1,000 and more for a stupid "smartphone".
If your gonna tow it around to live all over, but a camper, it's cheaper & better.
If your gonna stay in one spot, then get a cheap modular home or trailer.
Either option you'd be better off, and have less debt.
As to comparing them to RV’s - those are two different use cases. Tiny homes are not intended to be mobile RVs. They are transportable homes. And as anyone who has lived full time in an RV trailer will find out, they simply do not hold up under those conditions. Look at the resale value of a full time lived in RV - nobody wants it because it is worn out. For full time living, I’d much rather live in a Tiny Home than a dark, flimsy RV a trailer. If a community’s zoning and ordinances resist Tiny Homes, good luck getting them to accept living full time in an RV trailer.
As to cost, to get an RV trailer built to home standards and building code, good luck finding one - a “$14-25,000” trailer certainly isn’t it. These Tiny homes have most of the components of a permanent home and those infrastructure components drive a lot of the cost, not simply square feet. And yes, they are custom-built, driving up costs.