A tiny outbuilding offers a cozy living space inside a simple shell.
De Rosee Sa designed and built this black timber cabin on a budget of $32,872. The home’s exterior, which was stained using tractor engine oil, references the rural vernacular of its locale.
GreenSpur and McAllister Architects imagined a cabin sided with Cor-Ten steel, glass, and shou sugi ban–treated cedar for a wooded property outside of Washington, DC.
The exterior of Site Shack is covered in steel panels that are bolted to the framing. Look closely and you won’t see any visible fasteners, as Powers Construction’s welder was fastidious, creating a seamless shell with just steel and glass.
Tucked away on the edge of a small lake surrounded by mountains and topped off with a grass-covered roof, this hunting cabin designed by Snøhetta is made with locally sourced stones. The 376-square-foot prefab mountain hut sleeps up to 21 guests around a central fireplace.
The spruce cladding that wraps around the Vilde tiny house model patinas and eventually turns a silvery-gray tone that blends into the Scandinavian landscape.
The hexagonal backyard studio that Marlin and Ryan Hanson designed and built in British Columbia, Canada, is clad with western red cedar shakes and a metal roof.
Naturally rusted steel sheathes the cabins that Malek Alqadi built on a 1954 homestead outside Joshua Tree National Park. "I loved the idea of stitching the existing structure back together, reinforcing it, and giving it life again without compromising the beautiful setting it’s in," he says.
Measuring only 180 square feet, this exquisite, off-grid tiny home features a big sense of style.
Step inside a pop-up hotel cabin inspired by the cave that King Arthur and his knights would have slept in while traveling—a legendary cave that could be discovered once, and never again.
A sleeping area is tucked away underneath the rafters. Large windows brighten the space and provide views of the forested surroundings.
Generations of family have lived on this wooded, waterfront site, where architect Will Randolph has built a weekend getaway for less than $70,000.
The Lost Whiskey Cabin stands on a rocky bluff overlooking Virginia's countryside.
"Turn off your phone and dial into mother nature," suggests CABN, of their first off-grid, tiny home retreat in Victoria.
Watch the Northern Lights from the comfort of your warm bed at Panorama Glass Lodge Iceland. Designed by the Estonian company ÖÖD Homes, the two 200-square-foot prefab cabins are thoughtfully made for small-space living. Each has a bedroom, living room, bathroom, and kitchen.
The home’s walls are clad in Oregon white oak reclaimed from a dismantled barn on the property. Jessica Helgerson chose to paint them white to create a bright, airy look, but she left the kitchen wall au naturel for a visual pop. With storage at a premium, the kitchen needed ample cabinetry as well as some ingenious solutions—including a pull-out cabinet hidden in one half of the range hood. A vintage cabinet on the left wall provides open storage for everyday dishes.
Dubbed Small But Fine, a student-built 280-square-foot cabin in Finland connects with the outdoors and features a minimal footprint. Not pictured is a detached outhouse with a composting toilet.
Set in the pine forests and beaches of Lubiatowo, these tiny cottages are an idyllic getaway.
A couple’s 269-square-foot getaway features a crimson exterior and an unfinished pine plywood interior.
"We imagined how six people would use the space and developed the shape accordingly," says Hello Wood cofounder Dávid Ráday. "We took inspiration from the design of space capsules, and the cabin was refined step by step before reaching its final form."
The Nook exterior features shiplap cypress siding, a reclaimed oak deck, and an entranceway of oak blackened in the traditional Japanese method.
The Lily Pad is a 280-square-foot shipping container home located near Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio.
The micro home in Warsaw that architect Adam Pszczolkowski designed for his family and friends features expansive windows framed by plywood and white-painted HPL panels. "I chose white because of its modern and timeless character," the architect says.
Koto’s charred-timber workspace is an exercise in wabi-sabi design that embraces imperfection amid the natural world. The carbon-neutral structure is built from natural materials, and it can operate both on- and off-grid.