Smallest House In The World

This article was written on 03 Jun 2008

Since the launch of the Biggest House In The World article there’s been a lot of interest shown on the matter, so obviously my next natural step should be to weed out the smallest house in the world.

Now, this whole issue can be extremely subjective and messy. I mean, by definition, a “house” is simply a building in which people live. Essentially, a garden shed could be considered a house if someone decided to live in one, and I’m sure some people do. So during this crowning, I’d like to declare some guidelines to avoid any confusion. I don’t want another episode similar to the “world’s biggest house” escapade, where a bunch of idiots threw hissy fits because I declared a ‘castle’ the biggest house in the world. I still maintain that by definition a castle is a house! I’m not making up the rules, if you want to query the definition, talk to my mate dictionary.com.

The Guidelines for the smallest house in the world

1. The “house” has to be a structure initially constructed with the intentions of living in, it can’t be a shed, tin can or any other vessel that someone freely chose to convert into a home. Boxes don’t count either.

2. The house has to look like a house E.g front door, windows and 4 walls

3. I think that just about covers it.

Without further ado…

Pictures of the smallest house in the world

Details about the house

• The house occupies a total of 96 square feet, which is smaller than most people’s bathrooms. It is truly TINY.
• The house comes fully equipped with a desk and fireplace in the main room; a kitchen; wet bath; and a loft upstairs.
• For its small size, the house has a large amount of storage space, thanks to its clever design.
• A house like this costs approximately $40,000 to buy
• the house is wired for electricity and ready to be plugged in through a plug on the outside. The house could also be powered by using a standard AC plug-in, or even better, via a solar electric system with an inverter.
• There are two-burner stove, an under-counter refrigerator, a bar sink, an RV on demand hot water heater, and a propane boat heater.
• Tumbleweed Tiny House is very well insulated, easy to heat and cool, and
  meet the State of California’s strict residential energy efficiency standards. Jay typically spent less than $170 (total) on propane to heat his tiny house during the brutal winters in Iowa.

Who owns the house and why?

Everyone say hello to Jay Shafer. He’s the creator and resident of the smallest house in the world, which he has proudly named Tumbleweed. Jay is an artist and architect, who lives in his home near San Francisco. He sells plans for, and builds, tiny homes in sizes ranging from an extremely small 50 square feet to a practically roomy 500 square feet.

Jay has been living in a house smaller than some people’s closets since 1997. Can you imagine living in something so small for so long?

Jay’s decision to inhabit just 96 square feet arose from his concerns he had about the impact a larger house would have on the environment, and because he does not want to maintain a lot of unused or unusable space. Basically, he’s a tree hugger. Truly inspirational or just plain nuts. What do you think?

Since completing Tumbleweed, Jay has continued to make little buildings, which are available to purchase from his website, Tumbleweed Houses.

Guided tour of Tumbleweed

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