Kiwi firm Build Tiny's latest model is named the Rourou Iti. The compact but cleverly designed tiny house is arranged around a living area that opens up to the outside with large glazed doors, while upstairs lies a master bedroom and a secondary bedroom/home office that are linked by a gangway for easy movement.
The Rourou Iti is based on a double-axle trailer and has a total length of 8 m (26 ft), so is pretty small compared to most North American tiny houses we cover nowadays (the Denali XL Bunkhouse, for example, measures 12.6 m/41.4 ft). It's clad in vinyl, while the interior is finished in lightweight poplar core plywood – it has a simple, unfussy decor that flatters the small space.
Visitors enter into a snug living room, which is furnished with a sofa. Nearby is a U-shaped kitchen, that contains a breakfast bar for two, a microwave, a four-burner propane-powered stove, an oven, a sink, cabinetry, and space for a fridge/freezer to be installed. Over on the opposite side of the tiny house is the bathroom. Here Build Tiny has shoehorned in a shower, sink, and composting toilet, as well as a washer/dryer and laundry area.
Storage-integrated steps provide access to the gangway, which has a bedroom on each side. This design makes moving between them much easier than in most tiny houses, which would usually require climbing up and down a pair of ladders or staircases.
Both bedrooms are typical loft-style bedrooms with low ceilings. The master bedroom contains a double bed and some cabinetry. The other is a bit more interesting, as it contains a single bed and doubles as a home office. It also has a removable floor section that allows the occupant to sit at a desk with their legs dangling underneath. It's certainly not as ergonomic as a real office chair and desk setup, but beats sitting cross-legged on the floor.
The Rourou Iti was delivered as a turnkey build, ready to move in. It gets power from a RV-style hookup, but is wired ready for a future solar power installation. We've no word on the price of this one, but the somewhat similar Tiny Tāwharau fetched NZD 145,000 (roughly US$93,000).
Source: Build Tiny
