Solar Decathlon 2015 just wrapped up in Orange County, California. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Solar Decathlon challenges collegiate teams to design and build a small house powered entirely by… Continue reading
The Wee House Company is a recent Scottish startup offering energy-efficient small houses designed to appeal to first-time homebuyers, downsizing empty-nesters and anyone wanting to add a rental cottage or “granny flat” to… Continue reading
Our first tiny house from Russia, DublDom (“double house”) is a modular dwelling designed by BIO Architects and fabricated not far from Moscow. There are two DublDom models, the 26 m2 (280 ft2) version shown… Continue reading
This small family house in Spain is composed of six wooden boxes joined together. Its design was the result of two significant challenges. As is often the case, the budget was very tight,… Continue reading
Treehouse Riga is a small modular dwelling with two bedrooms in a compact 44 m2 (474 ft2) floor plan. The tiny house was designed by architects Appleton & Domingos for modular home builder Jular. Treehouse… Continue reading
“ContainerLove” is a new modern home in a rural area of western Germany, standing out among more traditional gabled farm houses and barns. It was designed by Cologne-based studio LHVH Architekten.
A concert violinist wanted a beautiful and well-built retreat for herself and her young child. The cabin would be off-grid, sitting at the edge of a cornfield overlooking a treed ravine. However her… Continue reading
A team from Vermont’s Middlebury College designed and built this small house for Solar Decathlon 2013. InSite, as it is called, is intended to meet the needs of young Vermont families. The team… Continue reading
Team Alberta Solar Decathlon took a unique approach to the Solar Decathlon 2013 competition. Their entry, called Borealis, is designed to be shared by unrelated housemates. The small house features two separate bedroom… Continue reading
The Marfa weeHouse is a modern studio retreat in the high desert outside the artist community of Marfa, Texas. “WeeHouse” refers to the distinctive prefab building system developed by architect Geoffrey Warner of… Continue reading
Harvest Home is the Solar Decathlon 2013 entry by Team Capitol DC, made up of three schools from the Washington, D.C. area – Catholic University, George Washington University and American University. The house… Continue reading
Cúbica is a company in Costa Rica that specializes in alternative construction based on repurposed shipping containers. They have built housing, commercial and institutional projects from cast-off containers. Cúbica cites lower cost, short… Continue reading
The owners of this one-of-a-kind small dwelling wanted a place to get away and relax on their ranch in the central Texas hill country. They had an ideal building site shaded by a… Continue reading
Architects Cecile Bonnifait and William Giesen of Atelierworkshop have recycled a used 20′ shipping container to create the Port-a-Bach. “Bach” is the New Zealand term for a small back-to-basics vacation cabin. The Port-a-Bach… Continue reading
This cluster of small cabins is located at a new resort, the Pedras Salgadas Spa and Nature Park, in northern Portugal. Pedras Salgadas is a spa town where people go to rejuvinate in… Continue reading
The Edge is a distinctive modern dwelling manufactured in Britain by Boutique Modern Ltd. They produce modular houses that are designed with sustainability and energy-efficiency in mind. One design element that makes the… Continue reading
Last year we featured the Længehus, a modular holiday house from Denmark. That was one of our most popular early articles, and so we thought we’d take a quick look a different model… Continue reading
Following the 2006 housing market crash in the United States, Revelations Architects/Builders set out to design a small house alternative to the bloated McMansion that had become so prevalent there. They aimed to… Continue reading
Romania’s entry into Solar Decathlon Europe 2012 is called PRISPA (“porch”). The PRISPA team took a keep-it-simple approach to the design of the house, forgoing a lot of the cutting-edge technology favored by… Continue reading
Continuing our coverage of Solar Decathlon Europe 2012, today we take a look at Ekihouse (“sun house”), a small prefabricated house in two modules. Ekihouse is the result of a collaboration between two… Continue reading
The 2 PLUS Classic is a one-bedroom prefabricated dwelling manufactured by Freedomky in the Czech Republic. Measuring just 42.4 m2 (465 ft2), the 2 PLUS Classic is available with a choice of two different floor plans and with a… Continue reading
The Længehus (Longhouse) is a small modular home from Denmark. Manufactured by Møn Huset, it consists of modules that are a standard width of 4.66 m (15’3″) but come in various lengths. Customers choose… Continue reading
