10 Radical Tiny Homes That Challenge What You Know About Micro Living

Tiny doesn’t mean predictable. Far from it—the most imaginative tiny homes are both spectacular in concept and practically designed. Take a walk on the wild side of tiny living with the most radical tiny homes we could find—you might just find yourself dreaming about downsizing.

1. Converted Grain Silo by Kaiserworks

Christoph Kaiser, principal at Kaiserworks, reimagined a 1955 grain silo as a 340-square-foot home in Phoenix, Arizona. The corrugated, steel-clad house is 18 feet in diameter and features a 26-foot-high ceiling and a 17-foot operable slot window that fames views of the city. While the exterior displays a wonderfully industrial aesthetic, the interior is surprisingly cozy. "I wanted a warm interior, almost if you designed Wurlitzer to tend to all human needs and then slid it into one cylinder," says Kaiser, who employed built-in furniture, a spiral staircase, and a mezzanine bedroom with an in-wall projector for the ideal movie-watching experience. 

2. Lost Whiskey Cabin by GreenSpur

Located on a 50-acre site along the Appalachian Trail in the tree-covered hills of Virginia’s Hunt and Wine Country, the Lost Whiskey Cabin is an off-the-grid, 160-square-foot dwelling that invites guests to unplug and reconnect with nature. Designed and built by GreenSpur, the cabin is part of a larger development called the Lost Whiskey Club, which includes a communal farmhouse, a mobile whiskey bar, and more rental cabins. Though the dwelling has much to offer, its mountaintop perch and cantilevered outdoor deck—which floats above the trees and showcases a fire-warmed hot tub and a built-in hammock for taking in the landscape—are arguably its best features.

3. Fairy Tale Cabin by Jacob Witzling

"I get my design inspiration from cabins of the past, from the world of fantasy both in movies and books, and in that childlike part of my imagination that I’m continually trying to preserve," says designer and builder Jacob Witzling, who crafts one-of-a-kind tiny homes, using  salvaged scraps from local lumber mills and building sites, as well as materials found in nature. Witzling’s design for a 135-square-foot cabin with an octagonal base and an octagonal pyramid roof was built with plenty of help from his lifelong friend Wesley Daughenbaugh. Each of the designer’s creations are built off the electric grid, instead powered by a 12-volt D/C system using deep cycle batteries. Drinking, cooking, and bathing water is collected from a well, and a composting toilet is located in a separate outhouse structure.

4. Makatita by Liberte Tiny Houses

Gijsbert Schutten and Gijs Coumou of Liberte Tiny Houses designed a 182-square-foot tiny home on wheels in the Netherlands to mimic the shape of a folded leaf. "The window shutters give the effect of the way light scatters through the forest," Schutten says. On one side of the ThermoWood radiata pine-clad home, floor-to-ceiling glass walls make it seem as if there’s no boundary between the house and the natural surroundings. "Those big windows give an unobstructed view of the outside world," Schutten adds. "You almost forget you’re inside."

5. 3D-Printed Pod House by AI SpaceFactory

AI SpaceFactory entered and won NASA’s competition to design a home for Mars—and now their otherworldly creation is a reality here on earth. Named TERA, the eco-retreat is 3D-printed out of the same biopolymer basalt composite used to create the competition-winning prototype.The plant-based, NASA-tested material has three times the strength of concrete, and can be recycled or resorbed back into the earth at the end of the structure's lifecycle. The install process treads lightly on the surrounding ecosystem—for example, a laser scan of the build site will eliminate the need to level the forest floor.

6. Elsa by Olive Nest Tiny Homes

Elsa, designed and built by Olive Nest Tiny Homes, is a 323-square-foot tiny house, complete with a pergola-covered porch, a swing, and a greenhouse. "We wanted to soften the look and the experience and extend the living space with something useful," says designer Melanie Aho, who launched the tiny home company with her parents Mary Susan Hanson and Randy Hanson. Elsa is outfitted with cedar shiplap, standing-seam metal exterior siding, and a standing-seam metal pitched roof. "The look is simple and earthy," Aho says. "We’re of Scandinavian heritage and are drawn to Scandinavian style and design."

7. Pinecone Treehouse by O2 Treehouse

Designed and built by Oakland–based O2 Treehouse, the Pinecone is a five-and-a-half-ton geodesic home that can be installed in the forest or in your own backyard. The treehouse, accessed via a wood ladder and a trap door, is constructed from steel, wood, and glass that integrates into the forest canopy. Inside, 64 diamond-shaped windows provide 360-degree views of the surrounding forest or landscape. Even the floors are composed of transparent panels—enhancing the sensation of floating above the earth.

8. Lunar Lander-Inspired Tiny House by Kurt Hughes

Inspired by a picture of a lunar lander, naval architect Kurt Hughes designed and built a 250-square-foot tiny house that perches in the shrub-steppe landscape of Eastern Washington and serves as his weekend getaway on a remote plot next to the Columbia River. Constructed with plywood, foam and fiberglass (with the same strength as A36 steel), the compact dwelling is epoxy encapsulated (and therefore fire-proof). Hughes painted the exterior white to protect against UV damage. A galley kitchen, a bathroom, a breakfast nook, a lower-level bedroom (accessed via a ship ladder) and plenty of storage comprise the interior. Hughes also incorporated an outdoor deck and a clear geodesic dome that tops the structure and floods the interior with natural light.

9. A45 by Bjarke Ingels Group and Klein

Inspired by the classic A-frame cabin design, architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has created their first tiny home with Klein, a prefab-housing startup in New York. Sited in Hudson Valley, the 180-square-foot sleek black cabin is known as A45. Despite its small size, the cabin’s innovative design creates more usable floor space by rotating the classic A-frame structure 45 degrees. This allows the lower part of the house to only touch on two corners, which maximizes the wall height to a soaring 13 feet inside. The resulting crystal-like shape gives A45 an ever-changing appearance.

1o. Ecological Living Module by Gray Organschi Architecture and the Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture

In thinking about the worldwide lack of reliable water, sanitation, food, and electricity—and the fact that housing sector contributes more than a third of global greenhouse gas emissions—the Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture and the New Haven, Connecticut–based architecture firm Gray Organschi Architecture designed and constructed a 230-square-foot home called the Ecological Living Module (ELM). The construction is a fully off-grid housing prototype that was designed to take advantage of sustainable materials, green technology, and simple construction methods. There's a a rainwater harvesting system, a solar system that provides 100 percent of the building’s energy needs, and a graywater system that irrigates food-producing plants that mark the building’s west facade.

Related Reading: Dwell’s Top 10 Tiny Homes of 2019