Tiny house movement is very strong in the United States, and nothing is surprising in the fact that so many interesting projects appear here. This house is the latest model of the Nashville-based company New Frontier Tiny Homes specializing in such designs. The house, which the company called the Orchid, is only 300 sqft (or 28.7 sqm), but it has everything to accommodate four persons with comfort.
From the outside, the Orchid looks like a tiny version of a modern barn-style house. The designers themselves describe it as their take on a contemporary, gable farmhouse design, which is a cool mix of two different styles. The walls and the roof are covered with the same cedar cladding, but the whole volume is visually divided into two asymmetrical parts by using different colors of wood.
New Frontier Tiny Homes: “The Orchid Tiny House’s exterior siding is an application we’ve only seen in a few Scandinavian cabins and certainly the first application of its kind on a tiny house. We spaced and raised cedar boards off of the walls and roof to give each piece the appearance of floating. The boards carry over onto the roof in a seamless line and result in an original, timeless wooden exterior (and fear not, we over-engineered the underlayment, so there is no possible way for any leaks to occur).”
One of the most interesting features of the house is a large garage-style lifting door that opens up the living room to the outside, allowing the inhabitants to spend time in the open air while staying at home. Such an opportunity, in our opinion, is important for a tiny house because staying in a confined space for a long time can cause discomfort for most people.
But if you look inside the house, you will probably be surprised that interior space seems quite spacious, thanks to the large window area and smart layout design. The first thing you can notice here is a podium, where the kitchen and dining area is located. The lower level houses a living room with a custom-designed sofa that slides to unveil a full-size bed hidden under the podium. The master king-size bed is located on the loft accessed by the ladder.
There is no need to describe everything inside the house, but we would like to say a few words about the bathroom. Located under the loft, this room contrasts with other areas of the house by the use of custom black tiles for the walls and floor. With a custom floating vanity sink, a Cinderella incinerator toilet, a full-size shower, and a floating mirror with valance LED lighting, the bathroom seems to be very functional for a tiny house.
One more feature of the Orchid is lighting design inspired by the full solar eclipse of 2017. New Frontier Tiny Homes: “We felt inspired to recreate this experience within the home. After all, an eclipse is the ultimate and original form of valance lighting. To execute this effect, David hides LED strip lighting behind trim throughout the entire home. While you see the light pouring over a wall, creating a shape and mood, the actual source of the light is never directly visible to the eye. The valance lights run along many of the asymmetrical lines of the house and are focused on the central wall within the kitchenette.”
MANUFACTURER: New Frontier Tiny Homes
DIMENSIONS: 32’ (10 m) x 8’6” (2 m) x 13’10” (4.2 m)
FLOOR AREA: 300 sqft / 28.7 sqm (including loft)
WEIGHT: 18,000 lbs / 8,165 kg
PRICE: on request
PHOTOS: New Frontier Tiny Homes