The Birdhouse

Since our last three featured homes were all tiny houses that cater to single-level living, we decided it was time for something different. Today’s home is also tiny, but this one is a three-storey tall and skinny house with the kitchen, living room and bedroom each occupying one of the three floors.

The tiny house has just 401 ft² (37.3 m²) spread over the three storeys. We estimate the outside dimensions as roughly 10’ wide by 15’ long. With three tiny floors, stairs and other circulation space eat up a very large portion of the floor area. Normally with so little floor space, it would hardly be worth having even two storeys. Besides the space they take up, stairs are fairly expensive to build. However this tiny house is an expansion of a garage that likely dates back to 1920, when the adjacent house was built. Our guess is that the owners were allowed to build upwards but were not allowed to expand outside the original garage footprint.

You enter the home at the middle level, where the living room and bathroom are. Calling it a living “room” is actually a bit of a stretch, as there isn’t room for much more than a pair of upholstered chairs and a small table. Those sit along the right wall, next to a grouping of three windows, while the bathroom is along the left side of the house. The bathroom is so tiny that there is space for only the toilet and shower. The sink vanity had to be placed outside the bathroom, in a nook by the front door. The front door does swing out, saving a bit of space inside and keeping it from hitting your backside as you brush your teeth.

A circulation corridor leads from the front door to the back of the house, where stairs lead up to the bedroom and down to the kitchen. Notice that the stair down is a steep spiral staircase while the one going up is a regular staircase. People often suggest the use of a spiral stair to save space, but be aware that most building codes do not allow them to be used as a fire escape. It was likely allowed here because the kitchen and living room both have direct access to the outside, so occupants can escape the house without using the stairs. That is not true of the top-level bedroom, so a regular stair was required there.

The bedroom is certainly snug but it does at least provide enough room for the required furniture and clothes storage. There is even a washer and dryer hidden away in a curtained alcove.

Down on the ground floor, the kitchen is compact but complete with the usual appliances. There is also a small dining space, next to a pair of swing-out double doors that replaced the original garage door.

We found this tiny house on Airbnb. It is just a block from downtown Asheville, North Carolina, so keep it in mind if you plan to attend the Tiny House Conference being held there in early April.

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Photographs courtesy of Airbnb / The Birdhouse.

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