Tiny Houses

Micro-cabin with rock-like finish blends into a French forest

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Thérèse is located in a rural forested area of Sergy, in eastern France, and is part of a local artistic residency
Dylan Perrenoud
Thérèse is located in a rural forested area of Sergy, in eastern France, and is part of a local artistic residency
Dylan Perrenoud
Thérèse is nestled into some trees and would be easy to mistake as a boulder from some angles, though its front-facing side has a large porthole-style window
Dylan Perrenoud
Thérèse was constructed from wood formed into a typical cabin before its outer layer of concrete was added
Dylan Perrenoud
Thérèse's interior measures 8.8 sq m (28 sq ft) and is warmed with a small wood-burning stove that can also be cooked on
Dylan Perrenoud
Thérèse includes a dining table area and some seating, plus it has some storage nooks
Dylan Perrenoud
Thérèse includes a loft sleeping area which is reached by ladder
Dylan Perrenoud
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Back in 2014, Bureau (formerly Bureau A) constructed a novel dwelling named Antoine that blends into the Swiss Alps. The firm has now followed up that design with another literature-inspired micro-cabin named Thérèse with a rocky exterior finish.

Like Antoine, Thérèse is inspired by writer Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz's novel Derborence. The story features a protagonist, Antoine, who survives a rock fall and spends several weeks living buried beneath the rubble before his eventual escape. Antoine's wife is named Thérèse.

Nestled in a rural forested area in an artistic residency in eastern France, the micro-cabin was constructed from wood and then covered in a rock-like concrete finish. The interior measures 8.8 sq m (94.7 sq ft) and is finished in natural wood. From the photos at least it looks less claustrophobic than you might expect, thanks to the abundance of natural light inside from the large porthole-like window installed.

Thérèse includes a dining table area and some seating, plus it has some storage nooks
Dylan Perrenoud

Much of the available floorspace is taken up by one room which contains a wood-burning stove that can also be used for cooking plus some storage space, as well as a table and some bench seating. Nearby is some additional bench seating.

The interior also includes a tiny house-style mezzanine sleeping area, which is reached by ladder. However, there's no bathroom in the cabin so if nature calls, any visitors will have to make use of the forest instead.

Source: Bureau

View gallery - 6 images
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5 comments
Fairly Reasoner
making things harder than they have to be
TomLeeM
while I think that is really cool, it is a little too minimal for me. I can see there are many ways that this can be improved; mostly inside. It has - IMO - a lot of potential.
TpPa
kind of neat I guess, but that ladder looks like it needs a big sticker saying 100 lbs max
CraigAllenCorson
"Nearby is some additional bench seating."
In 8.8 square meters, there is nowhere else but "nearby".
Pugi Galante
For this rock-home to blend in better, porthole should be on top maybe with some camouflage too. Didn't see any holes for ventilation.They would probably needed screens to keep out bugs and rodents Overall, the old fashioned branch & leaves lean-to seems to be a much cheaper & better solution unless one plans to be there in the winter. . Pugi