It's been said that one of the tricks to ensure you don't feel cramped when living in a tiny house is to spend a lot of time outdoors. Another possibility is to give residents the option open up the space completely, as this intriguing design from Nashville's New Frontier Tiny Homes does with its roll-up garage door and fold-down patio that can expose both sides of the home to the elements, allowing fresh air to flow right through.
Dubbed The Alpha, this luxurious, 240-square-foot tiny home features a tasteful contrast between a rustic aesthetic and modern materials. It uses a custom-built double-axle trailer and is topped with a gently sloping roof. The outside is clad with cedar siding, some of it treated with the shou sugi ban method of pre-charring the wood, which helps to make it more pest- and fire-resistant.
Certainly the prime attraction of this tiny home is the huge custom-built 8-foot by 9-foot glass garage door, and 8-foot by 8-foot sliding glass door that can be moved out of the way to further expand the home's sense of spaciousness. The drop-down deck and its awning create an extra outdoor space to enjoy when the home is parked, and raises up to protect the glass garage doors when it's on the move.
Off to one side is the kitchen, which boasts a huge 33-inch farmhouse apron sink in stainless steel, hidden dishwasher in a drawer, and a 5-burner induction stovetop.
For people who love to entertain, the kitchen is elevated on top of a platform that hides a brilliantly designed 8-person dining table and bench storage and seating that can pull out and expand. There is storage galore here, and we imagine one could potentially swap out the storage for another hidden bed.
On the other end of the house is a lofted sleeping area above the bathroom, outfitted with a king-size memory foam mattress. It's accessed by a ladder that can be tucked away under the kitchen platform.
The bathroom itself is enormous, packing in a bathtub and an all-in-one washing machine, and fronted with a space-saving, rolling barn-style door that has a full-length mirror on the back.
New Frontier co-founder David Latimer explains why he got into building tiny houses in the first place:
To me, tiny houses are all about living in a more sensible way – economically, socially, environmentally, and aesthetically. I’ve lived all over the US in the past 10 years and have seen all kinds of change and growth firsthand. Nashville is no exception. While growth brings many positives short term, it can create many negative consequences over time. Property values skyrocket, house prices soar, and affordable housing availability evaporates. The absence of affordable and attainable housing is bad for any city - especially over time.
I believe everyone deserves to own a home – a beautiful home they can afford. Good design should be available to anyone, regardless of socioeconomic status. Extra space you don’t need, won’t use, and can’t pay for should be a thing of the past; New Frontier Tiny Homes is about examining and improving our lives.
The Alpha's pricing starts at $145,000. Now, some will say that this is too expensive – at least in the tiny house world where one could do it yourself for as little as a few thousand or even a few hundred dollars. But the reality is that quality construction doesn't come cheap and not everything can be reduced to a cost-per-square-foot analysis. No doubt there will be people out there who don't want to build things themselves and are willing to pay for the extras in a top-of-the-line custom-built tiny home. Either way, we're heartened to see more options emerging in the tiny house world.
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