Tiny Houses

Compact tiny house pays homage to the American Craftsman

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The Fuchsia measures just 24 ft (7.3 m) long
Abel Zyl
Access to the Fuchsia is gained by a stable door
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia features handmade windows
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia measures just 24 ft (7.3 m) long
Abel Zyl
Access to the Fuchsia is gained by a stable door
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia's living room has a high ceiling
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia is clad in cedar siding
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia's stable door has a stained-glass window
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia's under-stairs closet space
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia's bathroom features a pebble tile floor
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia's stable door, half opened
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia's living room has a high ceiling
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia's door area is lit by a small lantern
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia measures just 24 ft (7.3 m) long, so is on the smaller side for an American tiny house
Abel Zyl
Plenty of operable windows in the Fuchsia
Abel Zyl
Closeup shot of the stained glass in Fuchsia 's door
Abel Zyl
Design-wise, Zyl Vardos draws inspiration from the American Craftsman style
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia's kitchen sink
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia's loft bedroom, notice the space lost to the jutting down roof
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia's lounge area
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia gets all its power from a standard RV-style hookup
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia pictured has already been sold to a client in California but the price to build another one is US$90,000
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia downstairs living area
Abel Zyl
Zyl Vardos is based in Olympia, Washington
Abel Zyl
Design-wise, the firm draws inspiration from the American Craftsman style
Abel Zyl
The Fuchsia kitchen includes propane-powered range oven
Abel Zyl
View gallery - 25 images

Olympia, Washington-based Zyl Vardos consistently produces some of the most eye-catching tiny houses around, like the Moon Dragon for example. The firm's latest model, the Fuchsia, stands out from the crowd with an unusual roofline that angles downward. Inside, the compact home sleeps two people and features a high quality finish.

The Fuchsia measures just 24 ft (7.3 m) long, so is on the smaller side for an American tiny house, which tend to be around 30 ft (9 m) in length. It's clad in cedar and weighs a total of 10,250 lb (4,649 kg). Design-wise, Zyl Vardos drew inspiration from the American Craftsman style for this project (think bungalows with distinctive gabled roofs).

Access to the towable dwelling is gained by a few steps and a stable door with decorative stained glass window. The interior is finished in wood. With its compact size, there's not a whole lot of room to play with, but the decently-proportioned living room has a high ceiling (with skylights), so it doesn't seem too cramped in there, judging from the photos at least.

The nearby kitchen area is a lot more snug and includes propane-powered range oven, a small sink, and shelving (it's not fully-furnished yet so fridge, etc, haven't been installed).

The Fuchsia downstairs living area
Abel Zyl

A compact sliding door separates the kitchen and the bathroom. This obviously isn't ideal, but with the size constraints it appears there was nowhere else to put it. The bathroom itself features a pebble tile floor and includes a flushing toilet and concrete shower cubicle.

Storage-integrated stairs lead to a small loft bedroom (there's also a sizable closet under the stairs offering more storage). Unfortunately, some room up there is lost due to the jutting down ceiling.

The Fuchsia gets all its power from a standard RV-style hookup and hot water comes from an on-demand propane-powered water heater. The model pictured has already been sold to a client in California but the price to build another one would be US$90,000.

Source: Zyl Vardos

View gallery - 25 images
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8 comments
LeoRodolfo
The long lines for signing up to buy these abodes no doubt don't contain many afflicted with claustrophobia.
kenkeyessr
The detail to the front door and inside looks nice. Too bad their outside trim work looks like crap especially on the end peaks.
P51d007
$90,000?? Spend a couple thousand more and buy a REAL house. But, for the "yuppie/hipster" types, they will throw their money at stuff like this.
Tom Lee Mullins
I think that is beautiful. I would not mind living there.
toyhouse
Can't knock the craftsmanship or creativity. We're still not convinced however. If the purpose is to be portable, it'd make more sense to buy an rv trailer. These things weigh tons. I can't imagine towing something like this without a monster of a truck. Most of them are overbuilt for their size using standard home building practices and materials by folks who often don't know any other way. And all that effort to make best use of space, yet almost none of them have slide-outs. Maybe because the builders don't know how or it'd add even more weight. But I get it - they have personalized character that rv trailers lack. They look like little houses and many are very beautiful. Seems there's a niche market out there for trailers that could transform into something a bit more like a tiny house that rv manufacturers could take part in. Not a park home but a smaller trailer. They already use the latest weight-saving materials and have been designing space-saving products for decades. And maybe offer a product that would leave some of the inside and or outside bare so the buyer would be free to customize a bit,...like a real house? Just thinking out loud.
Bob Stuart
Why don't tiny homes ever have sliders? There's too much constraint on floor plans, and a bad surface to volume ratio. I'd rather have a short double-wide with greenhouse pillow wall arches over the decks. A day to pack up is not excessive.
ljaques
People, please stop abusing the beautiful Arts and Crafts home era with these pitiful comparisons. That trailer is as much a Craftsman home as toy popsicle stick house is in the same class as the Gamble House. Ptui! They're getting $500+ per square foot for these things! OMG. This is a Craftsman home: http://tinyurl.com/ya5oarwj
Bryan Sorensen
I do have a fondness for tiny homes but from the models I have seen from this company their pricing is exorbitant, especially considering how cramped and small their designs seem to be compared to other tiny-home builders.