“My house took roughly five years to complete,” says Mariah Hoffman, a self-taught designer and builder. “I completed it when I was 28 years old. The project was paycheck to paycheck, as funds would allow.”

$2,081 Trailer & Demo	$1,959 Framing	$1,609 Siding
$941 Windows & Doors	$335 Roof & Gutters	$508 Flooring
$481 Bathroom	$165 Kitchen	$335 Trim & Millwork
$255 Paint	$885 Electrical	$1,801 General Work
$707 Plumbing	$322 Insulation
Grand Total: $12,384

For Mariah, the impetus to craft her own home came out of necessity as much as her deeply rooted love of architecture. Growing up, she often lacked a sense of safety and security at home. “Since early childhood, I’ve planned my dream home,” she says. At 10 years old, Mariah moved from Chicago to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, where she continued to scheme. “I was quickly drawn to desert architecture, from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West to Paolo Soleri’s Arcosanti,” she says. “I [also] became enthralled with the work of Al Beadle.”

For years, she familiarized herself with desert modernism—she took a course at Taliesin West and eventually studied international development with a focus on sustainable, community-driven urban design at the University of Arizona. After graduation, she moved to Northern California and took a landscape architecture course at the University of California at Berkeley. “Instead of pursuing my education, I had to work to make ends meet,” she says. “As a struggling 22-year-old working in retail, I dreamed of becoming an architect.”

As a self-described “broke millennial in a challenging job market,” Mariah discovered the tiny home market. She spent time perusing micro designs online until she was given the opportunity to tour one in person.

“I stumbled across this tiny house while in Northern California and was fascinated,” she says. “I stopped to admire it, and a woman walked out and asked me if I wanted to peek inside.” Hoffman learned the resident was female artist, who’d built the home. “I was amazed that she’d navigated the construction process,” she recalls. “From that moment on, I realized my own permission was enough and decided to design and build my own tiny house on wheels.”

She learned how to build on the job, completing 90% of the construction by herself. “I subcontracted the electrical and some initial structural welding,” she says. “On occasion, I recruited friends, family, and my partner to lend a helping hand, but I worked full-time and built over weekends, nights, and in any spare moment.”

To gain skills quickly, Mariah became a regular at a local DIY maker space. “I connected with welders, cabinet makers, contractors, designers, and builders of all sorts,” she says. “I became the shop manager and took every class offered, including MIG welding, CNC wood routing and laser and plasma cutting.”

Eventually, she purchased a used trailer and began her build. “Armed with research, newfound skills, ambition—and a lot of coffee—I modeled my house in Sketchup and began to build step-by-step,” she says. “One book that helped was Tiny House Design & Construction Guide by Dan S. Louche.” Throughout the process, Mariah checked in with her peers for advice and relied on online research, as well as trial and error. “During the last two years of the process, I worked as a project manager at a boutique design-build firm, which informed the rest of my build,” she says.

The exterior of the tiny home is sided with exterior-grade, shou sugi ban plywood. “By hand-burning each panel, I created a blackened, charred look,” says Mariah, who was taken with the aesthetic and the practicality that the Japanese finishing process yields. “The burning process transforms the material, making it bug-, fire-, and water-resistant.”

Custom, aluminum-frame windows with tempered glass, placed symmetrically on either side of the house, maximize views regardless of how the trailer is positioned. “I built custom window frames using two-by-fours that I painted and sealed,” she says. “To flood my small space with natural filtered light from above my windows, I used polycarbonate twin wall.” To create a dramatic door handle on a budget, Hoffman also used two-by-fours on either side of the front door.

The interior features an open floor plan and an exposed, black-steel structural frame that informs the material palette for the furnishings. “As a nod to midcentury architecture, I exposed the frame to honor the beauty and integrity of the structure I’d welded,” says Mariah, who kept the space light and airy by avoiding heavy, built-in cabinetry and a lofted bed. She clad the walls with light-toned birch paneling that contrasts with the matte-black structural frame, adding warmth and texture.

The birch paneling is carried throughout the interior in an effort to create simplicity and continuity. “It’s on the walls, the ceiling, the interior door, the kitchen shelving, and a long built-in countertop,” Mariah says. “The countertop is hinged, so when I want more space, it folds down.” The counter is used for food preparation and serving, and can function as a workspace or bedside table.

Shop the Look

Mariah aimed to pare back to the basics. “For me, minimalism goes beyond aesthetic,” she says. “It represents an everyday practice of intentionality. It’s an opportunity to curate my surroundings so they add value to my life. By keeping the design relatively simple and adaptable, I’m able to grow and evolve with the space.”

“Sleeping under a roof that I built with my own hands is an incredibly humbling and rewarding experience. Every corner has a story or a memory. This house is my sanctuary.”
—Mariah Hoffman, designer and builder

For Mariah, the most difficult part of the construction process was recreating the structural frame. “It took me nearly a year to weld,” she says. “It was a grueling, labor-intensive, and intimidating process, but by the end, I gained confidence and endurance that fueled the rest of the build. Learning to work with, and not fight, metalwork made the rest of the build more manageable.”

Currently, Mariah’s tiny home is situated in a semi-urban neighborhood in the hilly outskirts of San Diego, California. “The natural light and open floor plan brighten the space and make it feel calm and peaceful,” she says. “Sleeping under a roof that I built with my own hands is an incredibly humbling and rewarding experience. Every corner has a story or a memory. This house is my sanctuary.”

More Budget Breakdown:

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A Playful, Postmodern ADU in Los Angeles Is Built for $249K

Project Credits:

Design and construction: Mariah Hoffman, Micro Modula/@micro.modula

Electrical: Andrew Montoya, ElectriCalifornia