2016 | United States

The Simple Life

Living small across America.

Morrison, CO – 240 sq. ft. – $68,000
This tiny home was built for someone who loved everything about trains and had dreams about living in a caboose.

In order to build a dream home, it takes spending hours and sometimes days getting to know what the individual wants and needs. For this one, we studied cabooses and noticed specific details we did our best to include. There are metal ladders on both ends. The end windows were painted to look like doors and include hinges and doorknobs. A smokestack sits on the roof even though there will never be any smoke. What is included doesn’t end there, and, to be honest, it would take pages. 

Cowlitz County, WA – 320 sq. ft. – $65,000
With rent in the Pacific Northwest rising out of control, we were looking for a solution to pay off my wife’s school loans. We had joked about how a tiny home would get us out of the burden of renting and throwing our money away. In the end, it seemed to make the most sense. I designed it myself. We never actually lived there because shortly after graduation my wife was offered her dream job in Las Vegas, and since the cost of living is so affordable there, we decided to put the tiny house in storage. Its stairs are made of old advertising crates. Bathroom storage is an old basket locker from a school. The ladder to the storage loft is actually a cat ladder that I designed myself. (The cats enter at the bottom and jump from one level to the next until they pop up out the top.) It pains us to sell our tiny home that we designed specifically for us and our two cats, especially without ever living in it, but at this point in our lives, it only makes sense for us to let it go.

Archie, MO – 312 sq. ft. – $47,900
This modern forty-foot home, made from a shipping container with a covered front porch, has smart lap siding on the exterior with a raised sloped roof. Wow, the interior! It is all stained-pine tongue and groove with painted trim. The barn-wood accent wall in the living area gives this unit a touch of rustic on the inside. The bathroom will remind you of a normal bathroom. 

Marion, NC – 272 sq. ft. – $9,000
We call him Spartacus! This trailer is a Spartan Royal mansion that is thirty-four feet long. We are not sure of the year and do not have a title. It has no license plate. We bought it to restore but don’t have the time right now. If someone wants to buy it who can bring it back to its original glory, we will let “Sparty” go. If not, we are happy to keep him. There are many original features. It is missing a few ceiling lights. The stove is original (not sure if it works), the fridge is not original. Missing one knob. The floor is soft and needs to be redone. It has carpet. There is water damage under the sink. We’ll take the best offer.

San Rafael, CA – 260 sq. ft. – $18,000
Forty-foot-long Bluebird school bus that has been refurbished as a tiny home. Features three removable AC units, on-demand water heater, full-size kitchen (over six feet in length!), full-size shower (no tiny RV shower here!), queen-size Tempur-Pedic bed with storage underneath that can also be made to flip up so you have additional floor space for yoga or an office during the day, solar panels mounted on roof. Beautiful stained-glass stickers and handmade curtains provide privacy when parked. It drives like a dream and cleared smog check. This has been our home for over two years, and we are so sad to see her go, but alas, we are moving and this bus is not equipped to deal with the intense Canadian winters we are heading for. We love our home and have never felt cramped or crowded, even with two people and two giant-breed dogs living in it full time. 

Portland, OR – 280 sq. ft. – $63,000
Tiny house with two lofts: one for storage, one for bed. Open floor plan. Put this in your backyard; it’s great for an in-law’s corner—or to move your children out of your house.

Hayward, CA – 64 sq. ft. – $4,800
This “cozy container” tiny house could serve as an enchanting guesthouse, mini studio space, private hideaway, hacker den, or anything else you could imagine. It comes with a modular dining area, custom speakers, and two overhead cabinets. It’s truly a unique piece you could own. Just imagine the possibilities. Note: there is no plumbing available currently.

Lake Geneva, WI – 400 sq. ft. – $20,000
This is an almost finished home. Sorry for the mess, but it was a construction zone. Built on a triple-axle trailer. This is a huge tiny mansion. You will most likely need a moving company to move it. I know of one who has moved it for me before, but it will be costly. That is why the price is discounted.

Lynnwood, WA – 123 sq. ft. – $5,000
Live mortgage free—the American dream! Portable small house for sale. Great for hunting or vacation cabin, playhouse for the kids, planting or toolshed, guesthouse, mobile coffee stand, or awesome man cave. It’s portable—put it on a trailer for a mobile home, or just park it. 

Front Royal, VA – 194 sq. ft. – $13,000
We have a self-built tiny house for sale. My wife and I have been living in it for a little more than a year, but we are expecting our first in November and need to move into a house more suited for a growing family. The house itself is built on a trailer frame and is very open, with high ceilings and a loft. Feels very open and comfortable. Doesn’t feel at all like a tiny house. I am six foot two, 220 pounds, and I built this with my size and height in mind. All water pressure is driven by a standpipe, though we never got around to getting a gray-water collection tank. Our grand plan was to hook the bathroom and kitchen up to a septic when we towed the house back to Michigan. But babies change everything.

Portland, OR – 160 sq. ft. – $43,000
I have loved my year living in my tiny house, built right here in Portland, but life has led me in another direction and I must sell it. Well insulated. Bamboo flooring. Extra-large kitchen sink. In the bathroom, an Air Head compost toilet and a shower stall with great water pressure. The wide-open living area provides a feeling of much more than 160 square feet. This tiny house doesn’t feel so tiny.

About This Text

From the website Tiny House Listings. In 2016 the U.S. Census Bureau announced that home ownership was at its lowest rate since the bureau began tracking it in 1965, while the average size of an American house hit an all-time high of 2,687 square feet. Small houses such as those listed for sale on this site are part of a growing movement of tiny-home living that traces its roots back to at least 1998, when architect Sarah Susanka published The Not So Big House, a best seller. The lifestyle’s popularity has risen sharply since the 2008 housing-market collapse.