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Tiny Houses

Non-towable Sakura tiny house features clever transforming interior

By Adam Williams
November 13, 2023
Non-towable Sakura tiny house features clever transforming interior
The Sakura's interior will measure 225 sq ft (21 sq m), all arranged on one floor
The Sakura's interior will measure 225 sq ft (21 sq m), all arranged on one floor
View 12 Images
The Sakura is currently on the market, starting at CAD 149,000 (roughly US$108,000)
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The Sakura is currently on the market, starting at CAD 149,000 (roughly US$108,000)
The Sakura will measure 21.5 x 10.5 ft (6.5 x 3.2 m)
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The Sakura will measure 21.5 x 10.5 ft (6.5 x 3.2 m)
The Sakura's interior will measure 225 sq ft (21 sq m), all arranged on one floor
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The Sakura's interior will measure 225 sq ft (21 sq m), all arranged on one floor
Visitors will enter the Sakura into a multipurpose flexible room that serves as both a bedroom and a kitchen
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Visitors will enter the Sakura into a multipurpose flexible room that serves as both a bedroom and a kitchen
The Sakura's multipurpose room, shown here on the right with its kitchen on display
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The Sakura's multipurpose room, shown here on the right with its kitchen on display
The Sakura's living room will include a sofa bed and a pull-out office desk, which will be integrated into the entertainment center
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The Sakura's living room will include a sofa bed and a pull-out office desk, which will be integrated into the entertainment center
The Sakura's pull-out office desk, shown in position and ready to be used
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The Sakura's pull-out office desk, shown in position and ready to be used
The Sakura's bed is stowed below the living room floor when not in use
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The Sakura's bed is stowed below the living room floor when not in use
The Sakura's multipurpose room, shown with the double bed pulled out into position
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The Sakura's multipurpose room, shown with the double bed pulled out into position
The Sakura's kitchen is hidden when not in use and includes fridge/freezer, an induction stove, an oven, microwave, a sink, a dishwasher, a washer/dryer, and cabinetry
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The Sakura's kitchen is hidden when not in use and includes fridge/freezer, an induction stove, an oven, microwave, a sink, a dishwasher, a washer/dryer, and cabinetry
The Sakura's bathroom looks quite small and will be topped by a skylight
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The Sakura's bathroom looks quite small and will be topped by a skylight
The Sakura's bathroom will include a shower and a sink that's integrated into the top of the toilet
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The Sakura's bathroom will include a shower and a sink that's integrated into the top of the toilet
View gallery - 12 images

Canada's Acorn Tiny Homes, the designer of the Elevate and Purple Manor, has revealed a new tiny house that offers a definite break from the norm. It comes without wheels, however what it lacks in portability, it makes up for with an interesting space-saving interior that includes a transforming bedroom and kitchen.

The Sakura (or cherry blossom in Japanese) is inspired by Japanese design trends, says Acorn Tiny Homes. Its roof is metal and its siding is available in various finishes, including faux stone, wood and metal.

To be clear, it's up for sale but hasn't been built yet, so the images provided are renders. Once finished, it will measure 21.5 x 10.5 ft (6.5 x 3.2 m) which is quite small for a North American tiny house and more in line with European models, like those by Baluchon. The interior will have a floorspace of 225 sq ft (21 sq m) and sleep two, plus a pair of guests at a squeeze.

The Sakura is currently on the market, starting at CAD 149,000 (roughly US$108,000)
The Sakura is currently on the market, starting at CAD 149,000 (roughly US$108,000)

The layout is unusual on this one. Visitors will enter into a flexible multipurpose space that takes up a lot of the available floorspace. This room will transform into the bedroom by sliding out a double bed from under the nearby living room floor. Additionally, its cabinetry will hide a fully functional kitchen, which includes an induction stove, an oven, a microwave, a fridge/freezer, a dishwasher, and a washer/dryer. An extendable, pull-out kitchen counter will offer a little extra prep space too.

The multipurpose kitchen/entrance/bedroom will connect to two other rooms. On one side is the bathroom, which will be arranged as a wet room and has a shower, skylight and a novel toilet with integrated sink that's fed by greywater.

The Sakura's multipurpose room, shown with the double bed pulled out into position
The Sakura's multipurpose room, shown with the double bed pulled out into position

Over on the other side of the multipurpose space will be the living room. This will be raised to enable room for the sliding bed and include a sofa bed, a pull-out desk area, and a large entertainment center.

The Sakura comes with optional off-grid packages and home automation systems, and is currently on the market, starting at a turnkey price of CAD 149,000 (roughly US$108,000), with the furniture included.

Source: Acorn Tiny Homes

View gallery - 12 images

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Tiny HousesTiny FootprintHouseHomeMicro-HouseBuilding and Construction
5 comments
Adam Williams
Adam Williams
Adam scours the globe from his home in Spain in order to bring the best of innovative architecture and sustainable design to the pages of New Atlas. Most of his spare time is spent dabbling in music, tinkering with old Macintosh computers and trying to keep his even older VW bus on the road.

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5 comments
BlueOak
Yawn, yet another does-not-exist, artificial rendering. A not particularly innovative, nor attractive design to boot. And who willingly submits to a wet bathroom in a land-based dwelling?
Jinpa
$108,000 / 225/sq.ft = an astonishing $480/sq.ft. Compare that to the cost of either a manufactured home or traditional mobile home, or to the cost of a new simple shipping container, and you'd realize you have some serious arithmetic to do before your commit to buying one of these "tiny houses". And there are other factors to consider before you can take title (not necessarily a deed) and move in. Rent the space (if a trailer part would have you), and consider the rent-increase history, especially in the last 10 years since the wealthy and their companies have been buying up MH parks as greed targets for rent hikes. If you could find a zoned piece of land to buy to put the tiny house on, there is ground prep and all of the utilities to get permitted and installed. And you'd better get an engineer to vet the drainage and percolation values of the land. Look here for other factors: https://www.moving.com/tips/how-much-does-a-new-mobile-home-cost/ And given the experience since Hurricane Andrew in south Florida, any of these alternatives to stick-built homes have to be very securely anchored to the ground (there are statutes and regulations on this), lest they be flung to smithereens by any really high wind. No wheels? Then it can't be towed out of the path of any such threat. Only concrete-block structures are allowed now in hurricane/tornado-prone areas, and even these have to have their roofs securely anchored to the foundation.
Midblur
That price is insane, I live in a house that costs $183.34 per square foot. I could build a house for about 10-20k. Don't forget our humble government has to take a cut(through permits, inspections, etc). also getting plumbing, power, gas, and internet would add a huge price to this. I would either buy a mobile home or just a manufactured home.
White Rabbit
$480/sq.ft. doesn't seem that bad compared to say, a 396 sq.ft. condo for $468,800 (a random choice from a local listing). That's $1183.84 per sq.ft. not including $1,674.93 annual property taxes plus $689.32 monthly maintenance fees ($8271.84 per year) ! Of course, a full comparison would need to include the price of a lot on which to build, but luckily there many places to look other than somewhere that you need the ability to tow your home out of the path of a hurricane!

jerryd
I'd be happy to build that for them at about $40k. And it is about normal size for a US tiny house. Not that well set up though with a lot of wasted space. I get 50% more things in my 10'x16' one that cost just $6k to build, parts and labor.
Not having a trailer is smart as all it does is add a lot of cost then rots under the TH. Just use a flat bed trailer or flat bed tow truck to deliver it and still have a trailer to use or not have to buy.
I'll make my future ones to float so they can easily survive floods.