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Breathtaking Essen’Ciel THOW from Baluchon


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This is the breathtaking Essen’Ciel Tiny House on Wheels from Baluchon, a builder in France.

I might have to move to France just to live in one of these! I love the robin’s-egg-blue metal roof, and the gorgeous color scheme continues to the interior on the accent wall and kitchen hardware. The home has a loft bedroom, nifty pull-out steps, and a spacious bathroom and kitchen. The living room even features a pull out full-sized bed for company (or you if you hate steps!).

It was custom built for Marie-Laure, who upgraded from her small caravan to a tiny home!

Related: Calypso Tiny House on Wheels by Baluchon

Breathtaking Essen’Ciel THOW from Baluchon

Images via Baluchon

Related: Avonlea Tiny House

Related: Young Lady’s $18k DIY Baluchon Tiny House

Images via Baluchon

From Baluchon (Translated using Google Translate):

The tiny house Essen’Ciel will not go unnoticed during its travels!
Its blue baccarat cover and its frame give it a unique style.
The house is furnished with many windows and built-in bins to grow outdoor plants. Upon entering the tiny house, we discover a large kitchen, which the owner wanted to dissociate from the living room.
The bathroom occupies a central place to separate the two rooms. It is equipped with dry toilets with stainless steel bucket and chip compartment, storage and a shower of 80×80 cm.
The living room is equipped with a small desk with drawer and a large convertible sofa that can offer two additional beds if needed. Difficult not to notice the large blue wall at the bottom of the living room, on which articulate shelves in the shape of branches all around an eye of beef of 80 cm in diameter.
Access to the bedroom is via a comfortable central staircase that has two retractable steps to save space when not in use.
The window of the room is particularly wide, to be able to ventilate the room quickly, and of course to offer a very clear panorama to its owner morning and evening.
The Essen’Ciel was delivered near Angers. This little house is the principal residence of Marie-Laure, and from time to time Philippe’s companion.

Looking for a price? It’s a custom build, so the new owner didn’t disclose. However, if you’d like a quote get in touch with Baluchon at [email protected].

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Natalie C. McKee

Natalie C. McKee is a contributor for Tiny House Talk and the Tiny House Newsletter. She's a wife, and mama of three little kids. She and her family are homesteaders with sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and quail on their happy little acre.

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{ 29 comments… add one }
  • Barbara
    March 30, 2017, 11:40 am

    I dont see the size of this home. Yes, they do make a tiny sink.

    • Natalie C. McKee
      March 31, 2017, 8:30 am

      Hmm ya it wasn’t included in the write-up I found!

  • Liz
    March 30, 2017, 12:39 pm

    Architecturally, this house is magnificent. Instead of the usual box-like exterior lines, this one breaks up those linear planes in an attractive and appealing way. The center staircase is unique and I like how it provides full separation between kitchen and bath. I think it actually gives the illusion of more space. Too old to build it myself 🙂 so I would buy one in a heartbeat! Very, very well done!!

    • Natalie C. McKee
      March 31, 2017, 8:28 am

      That’s a great point, Liz! I love it, too!

  • Paul Larsen
    March 30, 2017, 2:17 pm

    Great design . I love it inside and out. The center stair case with retractable steps is a great design. Only thing I would like is railings on the stairs and the loft, ( for those of us a bit over 20 ) The loft looks like it has plenty of headroom too. No bathroom sink ? No problem! That’s why those little plastic buckets were invented. Just fill from the kitchen sink and take with to the bathroom. I always thought part of tiny living is also living simple.

    • Natalie C. McKee
      March 31, 2017, 8:25 am

      That’s an idea, Paul!

  • ZACHARY E MOHRMANN
    March 30, 2017, 2:44 pm

    Beautiful…! I love the Lunar Wall Scape looking thru the trees, a very nice touch, and very artistic as well as simple in it’s design… It’s just so thrilling to see that it works so beautifully with this tiny house…

    • Natalie C. McKee
      March 31, 2017, 8:24 am

      Yes it really is like a piece of art!

  • S.R.
    March 30, 2017, 5:29 pm

    Beautiful! I really like this one. One of my favorites!!

  • Brian
    March 30, 2017, 6:34 pm

    Very nice. But…does anybody else think that central staircase is taking up a lot of useable space? I guess technically, the space used is the same no matter what….but that hallway it creates isn’t good for anything except walking. I also question the roof. Where does the water go when it rains? It looks like it will just run off the roof and run onto the windows. There doesn’t seem to be much overhang to channel the water.

    • James D.
      March 30, 2017, 8:34 pm

      Overhangs aren’t for channeling water, they’re for protecting the foundation from erosion but there’s no foundation on a TH on wheels… It’s the shape of the roof and the wall sidings that determines how the water is channeled…

      So the only negative of this design is there isn’t any protection for when you may want to get into the house while it’s raining but the house itself will be fine with rain…

      Besides, rain doesn’t always come straight down, so unless you have a large awning and not just a overhang then the windows are going to get wet no matter what…

      • Brian
        March 30, 2017, 9:21 pm

        Yes, but any water coming off that roof is going to run down the side of the house. I can see that wood siding turning colour. The roof valley is right over the 3 long windows. Anyway, still a nice house.

        • James D.
          March 30, 2017, 11:08 pm

          No, first the roof line isn’t flush with the walls and the roof is specifically shaped to make the water slide off and outward from the house… Metal roofing is practically impervious to rain and snow because of the way it is designed to interlock and because the surfaces are hard and slippery.

          Those lines you see on the roof are there to help channel the water and get them up to speed by the time it reaches the edge.

          So most of that rain would just be sliding right off and out to the sides of the house…

          Second, I already pointed out to you that rain doesn’t always fall straight down so nothing really would ever prevent the walls from getting at least some rain on them… But that leads to the next point…

          Third, it’s the job of the siding to deflect the rain too, not just the roof… This is why the siding is treated and high resistant to water as well…

          You’d have to use untreated wood with no protective layer to have any issue but if you did that then the moisture alone will eventually rot and mold them out… Besides, if you’re really worried then just paint the wood for extra layer of protection…

          Really, the sun will cause far more discoloring over time than the rain ever would… Unless it’s acid rain but if that’s the case then you have a lot more to worry about than just the rain…

    • Marie-Josée Bouliane
      April 12, 2017, 2:57 am

      I think that the staircase put this way makes you gain one window and with it more light !

      • Natalie C. McKee
        April 12, 2017, 6:52 am

        Good point, Marie!

    • Tom Osterdock
      November 11, 2017, 1:35 pm

      I agree with what James said but the staircase, I agree with you. I thought it looked nice and gave the illusion of more space but the problem is that for the length of the staircase all the space is unusable on both sides other than a walkway. There is also the added point of no support for someone on the staircase. If it were next to the wall at least you would have that side for support. I would think the walkways were at least 24 sq ft of unusable space and all the way to ceiling.

  • Eric
    March 30, 2017, 8:08 pm

    I agree – this is one of the best laid out and coolest THOW I’ve seen. I love the wood and the finishes and especially the creative use of space – and really love the shelves! I may steal that idea. For $18,000… you can’t beat it. Imagine what they could do with a little more space and a bigger budget? For me, I’d want an apartment-sized fridge, a flushing toilet or at least a composting one versus a bucket and sawdust. and, of course, I’d want it to be 10′ wide. Which is what I live in now and it’s barely wide enough. (inside dimensions of 9’8″x24′, no loft, and none needed and plenty of storage space, perfect sized kitchen, etcetera). I’ve given up on THOW’s. Too thin for me (I’m 6’4″) and too hard to find a place to park or land to buy that I can park it on without having to build a 1,000sf main house to put it next to. Also not into lofts at all. My dream is for someone to come up with a NICE THOW, like this one, only with pop-outs on both sides to get it to 12′ deep, and then have your normal 28′ length. Then find a THOW community/park to buy into. I don’t want to “rent”. Kinda defeats the purpose.

    • Dianne Longson
      March 30, 2017, 11:37 pm

      Eric,
      I really like your thinking. Even though I love the concept of THOW, I agree with everything you say. And I’m not 6′ 4″ LOL
      Cheers

    • Natalie C. McKee
      March 31, 2017, 8:17 am

      Well that’s a plan!

  • Danielle DiLisio
    March 30, 2017, 8:38 pm

    This is a lovely house and a work of art. I love the stairs and how they placed them in the center of the room instead of the usual wall placement.
    It looks very roomy.

    • Natalie C. McKee
      March 31, 2017, 8:14 am

      Yes “work of art” is the perfect description.

  • Mike
    April 5, 2017, 8:32 am

    Amazing Tiny House. One of the best designs of the last few years. I get that the space under the stairs opens up into the bath in part so the central stair makes sense. My thought is one of those alternating step stairways would take up less floor space and be quirky enough to harmonize with the rest of the design. I still give it a 100 score. Really good.

    • Natalie C. McKee
      April 6, 2017, 8:07 am

      Oh that’s a good idea 🙂

  • Anne
    July 25, 2017, 9:32 pm

    This is probably my favorite genuinely tiny tiny house designs… well, possibly ever. Would need a sink in the bathroom to feel comfortable though. Sinks are important, especially when you don’t have a dishwasher or laundry machine in your abode. I’d personally need to go a little bit bigger than this though, as a pastry chef I need at least an apartment size fridge/freezer and a decent oven or it wouldn’t be practical. Maybe just stretch it out a few more feet to fit the fridge in next to the door and make a touch more kitchen space and I’d be good to go. I love the finishes and the planters. It’s so lovely and whimsical. Seems to have decent storage as well. What a gem. For someone who doesn’t cook (or moreover, store food) as much as me, it’s quite a practical little home. I always love when there’s at least an easy option for downstairs sleeping even if the primary bed is lifted because then if you get hurt, have a bit too much to drink, or need to sleep an extra body you have options.

  • Pamela
    November 8, 2017, 4:50 pm

    It certainly is an attractive design, but it seems short on storage.

  • carole D
    November 9, 2017, 11:49 am

    Very smart staircase

  • Shawna
    November 10, 2017, 12:46 pm

    LOVE the light wood inside and the central staircase is unique and makes it feel different than all the rest.

  • Tom
    November 12, 2017, 2:34 pm

    Really, really nice.

  • Karen Blackburn
    December 15, 2018, 3:23 pm

    There seems to be plenty of general storage so I am assuming you are talking about clothes and linen storage. I live in a tiny house and all my clothes fit into 3 plastic boxes with one more for bedding and towels etc. I use the boxes as a room divider (I have 2 more full of work stuff) but I also have no shelving though I have just raised my bed to just above table height to add more storage for work stuff. There appears to be storage under the stairs judging by the door at the back of them, plus room over the bathroom, and wall cupboards in the lounge area besides the bathroom door. The stairs could easily have a rail added if you really wanted one plus they divide the bathroom well away from the kitchen area yet ensure easy/close access from both lounge area and bedroom. Seriously this was really well thought out and designed. I agree with Eric about the extra width but if you have no intention of moving the THoW very much you can afford to go wider and move it on the back of a flatbed. As to food storage etc., France had much easier access to fresh food than many countries do and I have friends who would never dream of going more than a couple of days without shopping for fresh food at the local market or village shop (live near Belgian border in one case and the South of France in the other) and the thought of buying ready made meals or ingredients are anathema to many in France. It is also possible to live without a fridge or freezer (did it for many years before being persuaded to buy one) in northern Europe by buying fresh milk etc daily and meat etc several times a week from the local butcher. This is a great design, and I really like the loft and stairs (only for visitors though) but would add another metre onto the length as well as a half metre to the width just to accommodate a downstairs bedroom without having to use a bed settee.

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