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All Photos/exterior/building type : tiny home

342 Exterior Tiny Home Design Photos And Ideas

All lightHouses come with custom OxBox (oxidized steel) and Barn (wood) siding, as well as a collection of unique exterior steel features.
The first Plant Prefab–built modular lightHouse ADU was completed earlier this spring in Sebastopol, California. This 423-square-foot lightHouse was completed for around $285,000. That figure breaks down to approximate costs of $210,000 for design, engineering and production; $60,000 for infrastructure and site work; and $15,000 for shipping and installation.
Pictured is a rendering of a 570-square-foot 2X lightHouse with a one-bedroom unit stacked atop a two-car garage.
The all-wood Opperland is the newest all-season structure on offer from Dutch company Haaks. The company started by challenging what the outdoor experience can be—and it later transitioned to tiny homes. In less than 100 square feet, their smallest design embodies both the spirit of the outdoors and the functionality of a compact home.
Irmhild Liang's tiny house is tucked behind the main house. It has a separate entrance, which can be accessed by a path at the side of the property.
In the evening, interior lighting interacts with the polycarbonate pergola that extends from the front, creating a lantern-like glow.
The triangular structural support system continues on the exterior.
A pergola made of opaque, corrugated polycarbonate extends from the front facade and guards against bright sunlight, wind, and rain.
The backyard studio that architect Gerald Parsonson designed to expand a young family’s living space features a wraparound deck that connects the hideaway to the garden.
Both ÖÖD Iceland houses have a hot tub at the front overlooking the spectacular scenery. “This makes the experience even more surreal,” says CEO Andreas Tiik.
The glass front half of the cabin blurs boundaries between interior and exterior and completely immerses guests in the dramatic surroundings.
The cabins overlook the Hekla volcano, one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes. It is part of a 25-mile-long volcanic ridge, and during the Middle Ages it was referred to by Europeans as the "Gateway to Hell.”
The two cabins are named Freya and Alva, and feature the runes for “F” and “A” on the exterior timber wall. Signs from Nordic mythology are also found on the back of the houses. “The viking elements and the runes help the cabins fit into Icelandic history,” says CEO Andreas Tiik.
The harsh local climate—including strong winds and acid rain caused by the volcanic landscape—was a particular challenge. The cabin features a copper roof, which is one of the few materials that can cope with acid rain.
The gable decoration is a Viking element traditionally used to protect homes from danger. The “moon” shape comes from the shape of Viking horns.
Two cabins sit in the vast, empty landscape overlooking the Hekla volcano, around three hours’ drive from Reykjavík. The front part of each cabin—for sleeping—is almost entirely glass, while the rear—where the living, kitchen and bathroom spaces are located—is clad in timber for privacy.
ÖÖD offers a range of “mirror houses”—tiny prefab cabins that are often used as guest houses, countryside getaways, and Airbnb accommodations. So far they’ve built projects in 12 different countries, including Estonia, Finland, and Norway. The ÖÖD Iceland home is a bespoke design, based on the clients’ wishes and strict local building requirements. These impacted everything from the dwelling’s structural properties and energy efficiency to the pitched roof.
Minim Homes are wrapped in beautiful shiplapped cypress that will gently age to gray—and they can be outfitted with 960-watt solar systems to go entirely off grid. Production of the homes is currently on hold, but interested parties can purchase plans on Minim’s website.
Hoffman enjoys the deck she built on the house's front facade.
Hinged doors on the house's exterior fold open to reveal more storage space.
Mariah Hoffman stands in the doorway of the 156-square-foot home she designed and built for herself.
The mirrored box disappears into the hillside, reflecting the dense foliage.
Smart storage tactics are combined with a U-shaped sofa to maximize space in this delightful tiny home.
The roughly 160-square-foot modules, dubbed Mini House 2.0, were built in collaboration with Swedish manufacturer Sommarnöjen, and are delivered flat-packed. The homes are painted wood, and include a shaded deck space, plus full insulation and electricity, for a price of about $29,000. The modules come in various layouts, and can be configured and combined to include a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and living space.
If you’re traveling to Puglia in Italy, one of the most iconic sights are trulli (trullo is the singular), an ancient hut that's specific to the Itria Valley in the Apulia region of Southern Italy. Made with dry stone, trulli date back to medieval times.
Campo Loft is a blend of industrial architecture and the natural materials found in the surrounding valleys. It is a contemporary residence where contrast plays a large role—old and new, sleek and rustic, light and dark, rough and soft.
In the woods of Malborghetto Valbruna in the Italian Dolomite commune of Tarvisio reside a pair of egg-shaped tree houses.
If you've never set foot within a shipping container home, you might imagine them to be simple rectangles with no real consideration put into design, proportion, and the division of rooms. Well, think again: these floor plans prove that shipping container homes can be efficient, sustainable, and even exciting.
If you’d like to make room for visiting friends and family without moving to a larger home, take notes from these accessory dwelling units (ADUs), lower-level guest spaces, and other inventive in-law units that treat Grandma right.
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.
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.
"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.
In Texas, where everything is bigger, Ryan McLaughlin is placing his bets on something small. Specifically, a simple 160-square-foot cabin that he hopes city-dwellers will book to get away, find some focus, and reconnect with nature. The result is a laidback, pitched-roof cabin in which every inch of space is thoughtfully allotted so that guests can spend the maximum amount of time outdoors.
In order to create a small yet comfortable vacation home for a young couple, the multidisciplinary workshop TACO, or Taller de Arquitectura Contextual, sited it in the corner of a two-acre lot, then employed built-in elements for an "intuitive" interior layout.
Perched quietly on the dunes of New Zealand’s Coromandel Peninsula, Hut on Sleds serves as a small, sustainable beach retreat for a family of five.
Want to build your own tiny house? Now you can purchase plans for this award-winning home from Minim. Designed with the belief that "humans can and must live more sustainably, but not without style," the Minim House integrates thoughtful, green design into all of its 264 square feet.
Black-framed windows and doors tie in with the black metal roof and dark chimney.
The tongue-and-groove wood boards are divided at the half-height by a contrasting, black steel plate.
A simple material palette of wood, steel, and glass clads the exterior of each house.
The simple structures are a modern play on the traditional cabin with wood-clad exteriors and gabled roofs.
Marilyn Monroe is said to have stayed in the charming guesthouse.
New Zealand–based Build Tiny launches a stylish tiny abode that can be ordered move-in ready or prepped for personalization.
These design-forward home builders on the West Coast are crafting tiny dwellings that are big on style and sustainability.
Hunkered down during a week-long snow storm, three couples hatch a plan to build purposefully designed and expertly crafted tiny homes under the moniker Tiny Heirloom.
Tiny homes may come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but they all share the same spirit—they embrace a simpler lifestyle that can be enjoyed in a smaller, more efficient space.
At under 100 square feet, the 8' x 12' Site Shack includes just the essentials: a wood-burning stove, a desk, and storage.
Acclaimed for being sustainable, affordable, and adorable, tiny homes are also superb teachers when it comes to organization and design.
Affordable, adorable, and in many cases, transportable, these tiny homes made a big impact on our readers this year.
New research shows that downsizing to a tiny home can cut your ecological footprint by 45%.
The Mohican tiny home has a starting price of $62,000, and it’s made by Amish craftsmen in Ohio. The 20' tiny home, which can be built in as little as eight weeks, has an unfinished exterior and a light and bright, minimalist interior that packs all the essentials into a compact footprint.
The 340-square-foot Greenmoxie tiny house is sustainably built, and it can operate completely off the grid. Prices for the customizable dwelling start at $65,000.
The reclaimed hickory facade of the Micro Cabin by BC-OA is punctured by windows that overlook National Forest Service land.
In response to the Bay Area’s housing crisis and a recent relaxation in ADU rules, Emerging Objects has crafted an experimental housing prototype: the Cabin of Curiosities. True to its name, the unusual structure is clad in over 4,500 3D-printed ceramic tiles and features a beautiful front facade full of succulents. The structure is envisioned as a livable or rentable ADU whose one-room gabled structure is weathertight, structurally sound, and designed for longevity.
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Zoom out for a look at the modern exterior. From your dream house, to cozy cabins, to loft-like apartments, to repurposed shipping containers, these stellar projects promise something for everyone. Explore a variety of building types with metal roofs, wood siding, gables, and everything in between.