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Zen Den Tiny ‘Om’ on Wheels with Rooftop Deck


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This is the Zen Den Tiny ‘Om’ on Wheels design. It features a contemporary/modern style with a rooftop deck. What do you think?

Modern Zen Den 12′ Tiny House on Wheels!

Photos via ZenDenTinyOm.com

From ZenDenTinyOm.com

Zen Den isn’t a typical tiny home on wheels. Smaller and more travel-ready with a unique lighting and sound system and extra quiet interior, it is designed for:

Tranquility
Inspiration
Reflection

Enjoy daily solitude in your backyard Zen Den then take it off-grid into Nature for a long weekend. Whether you’re a writer, meditator, yogi, or simply looking for some quiet time, Zen Den is your perfect sanctuary.

How Zen Den is DIFFERENT:

Mood lighting system that is music-responsive
Built-in high-quality music system
Dual-pained windows & high-R value insulation for
quiet interior
Eco-friendly & health-conscious materials
High ceiling for yoga
Roof deck for sleeping under the stars
RVIA-certified for easy financing & insuring
Architect-designed with high-end detailing.

Zen Den donates 30% of it’s profits to help the homeless and protect the environment.

Our purpose is to improve lives and protect our planet. How? With our products, processes, and profits. Created by an architect with a devotion to quiet reflection, our aspiration is to inspire others to take regular retreats inwards into Self and outwards into Nature.

Zen Den is a partnership between an award-winning woman-owned architectural firm and one of the most reputable RVIA-certified tiny house builders in the U.S. based just outside Chicago.

STANDARD FEATURES

8-1/2’W x 12’L x 11-1/2’H Exterior Dimensions
9’H Interior Ceiling
Music-Responsive Mood Lighting System
Built-In Music System
Thermasteel Wall Panels
Dual-Paned Windows
Wood Flooring & Walls
Sculptural 3d Acoustical Wall Feature
R-30 Insulation
Off-Grid Power
Heat & Air Conditioning
Smart Thermostat for Remote Heater Start-up
Hot Water Sink w/15 ga. fresh water tank
(No grey or black water tanks needed)
​Standard RV Hookups
Laveo Dry Flush Toilet
Electric Mini Fridge (no propane tank needed)
Cabinets & Microwave​
Roof Deck
Roof Hatch & Ladder
​Open Floor Plan
Trailer Features: Adjustable hitch for leveling during travel on trailer; Stabilizing for leveling at destination on trailer; Multi-height hitch jack on trailer; Hurricane D-ring.

CUSTOMIZATION

Create your completely custom one-of-a-kind sanctuary. As architects, we can turn your vision into a reality. Whether it’s on wheels or on a permanent foundation, we love designing beautiful spaces for self reflection.

Or modify our standard Zen Den. Popular add-ons include:

Custom Size
Custom Colors
Custom Materials
Interior or Exterior Shower
Radiant Heat Floor
Window Shades
Privacy Window Film
Perimeter Planters
Stained Glass Windows
Electric Fireplace
Murphy Bed
Murphy Desk
Sleeping Loft
Stovetop
Skylights
Awning
Patio

Highlights

  • 8’6″ w x 12′ l x 11’6″ h
  • 9′ h interior ceiling
  • Built-in sound system
  • Dual-pane windows
  • R-30 insulation
  • Off-grid power
  • Roof deck
  • Open floor plan
  • RVIA-certified
  • $49,000
  • Financing available
  • Weighs 5,000 lbs.
  • 30% of profits are donated to charity

Learn more: http://www.zendentinyom.com/

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Alex

Alex is a contributor and editor for TinyHouseTalk.com and the always free Tiny House Newsletter. He has a passion for exploring and sharing tiny homes (from yurts and RVs to tiny cabins and cottages) and inspiring simple living stories. We invite you to send in your story and tiny home photos too so we can re-share and inspire others towards a simple life too. Thank you!
{ 18 comments… add one }
  • Van
    September 6, 2017, 2:52 pm

    No pics of the interior. An other 12′ trailer. $49000….really? What is the profit margin? I mean the real margine? Not what’s left after the inflated cost of material and labour.
    I am sure that the builder means well…. but I can’t help and be a bit suspicious about any deal where charity is involved. I hate to say it, maybe it’s the sign of times but people get fleeced way to often with charity organisations or people who ” donates” part of the profits. The public can’t really be privy to the real figures so buye be aware…
    Off subject, but I especially find huge corporations revolting who collects donations from their customers at the cash registers, then use that money to present it as donation, not in the name of their customers, in their own name as if it all came from their coffers.
    Anyhow, looks pretty and I would not be overly surprised is someone would feel compelled to buy this so they can “meditate” while on the road. People really need to get a life.. is this where we heading when we just don’t know what crap to buy to satisfy our American need to waste money on things like this?
    Personally, my zen would be far more tranquil if I took that 49000 and personally finance 15-20 nursing student in Ghana for their three years of education.
    Wish the builder well in selling his, no doubt, important contribution to the peace and tranquility of some retired hippy who made way too much money.
    Are we ever going to return to some old fashion sensibility in our country or is this the oath we choose to travel. If so, I think we should quit complaining. When our main problem is to buy $49000 “garden shed on wheels” for meditation, then we really have no problems.
    Roflmao

    • dana
      September 7, 2017, 9:45 pm

      it seems that this is a “design” but not built.
      all the images are graphic representations drawn on a computer.

      including, i believe, the hut riding off into the sunset.

    • DIANNE KNOX
      September 8, 2017, 7:45 am

      WELL SAID.

  • September 7, 2017, 11:04 am

    ” The purpose of Architecture is to impassion. Architectural emotion occurs when the work resound within us in armony with a Universe Laws, whose we are tribute of Obeying, Belief and Respecting .”
    Le Corbusier

    • Eric
      September 9, 2017, 4:21 am

      Really? And here was me thinking that architecture was there to design buildings. Who woulda thunk otherwise?

  • Kevin M
    September 7, 2017, 6:14 pm

    $49,000??? C’mon already.
    I’ve been a supporter and fan of the THM for many years and I’m so fed up with the ridiculous pricing lately. This lifestyle is about people choosing to live minimal and smaller with less stress and financial worry, not to rip people off on the “hot new trend compliments of the home improvement channel”. Shaking my head.

    • James D.
      September 7, 2017, 10:41 pm

      While, I’m always wary of anything that may come out from in or around Chicago…

      It’s actually hard to tell if this is a rip off or not…

      R-30 insulation means they’re putting in very thick walls as closed cell insulation from say spray foam only gets you about R-7.1 per inch…

      So the walls would have to be equivalent to 2×6 stud stick framing to have that much room for insulation and the roof and flooring are usually even higher than the wall rating.

      Your typical Tiny House usually only gets about 2 to 3 inches of insulation in comparison.

      Things like custom dual or triple pane insulated windows can run into the thousands each and can typically account for up to or even over $8000, just for all the windows in a typical Tiny House.

      Add ethically sourced materials that ideally have little to no VOCs tend to cost quite a bit more than your usual commercial building materials… But people who are concerned about VOCs and the environment will also tend to justify those higher costs…

      While adding a architect to a project usually can account for up to 15% of the total build budget… and this also includes features like off-grid power, which means solar and that can usually add more than $10,000 to the total costs…

      So, it seems fishy but it is possible to have something this size that still costs a lot legitimately too…

      Take something even smaller and with no insulation, like the 2017 Airstream Basecamp Camper RV trailer that can cost you something like $47,000… and that is also a mass produced product that is made far more cheaply than something that is custom built for you…

      However, given that the images are all CG renderings and there isn’t actually a actual model being presented and they aren’t automatically giving the name of the building company they’re partnering with makes me lean towards considering it a scam…

      The fact they also don’t specify the charity and that they’re still a for profit company indicates at the very least that they’re charging a hefty profit margin and without an actual model to look at there’s no way to know what their built quality will actually look like…

      So at the very least they need more transparency, otherwise I’d recommend avoiding… Plenty of more open builders who can build something like this and the buyer can always donate to the charity they wish rather than leave that up to the builder…

  • Scott
    September 7, 2017, 11:20 pm

    A sleeping area is an add-on? WTF? It’s an over-priced psychiatry office on wheels. Seems odd that this would be considered a THOW. Nice to see conceptual ideas, but it needs to be ideas that people could incorporate into their homes. Too pricey, a large tent would be cheaper and much more portable.

    • James D.
      September 9, 2017, 10:16 am

      Not that I disagree with the overall sentiment, but I’d just point out that a tent wouldn’t provide you with R-30 insulation or provide as much structural strength…

      The Thermasteel panels are SIPs/MIPs, which allow for very light weight and very highly insulated structures that are still very strong but it’s not a cheap way of building… SIPs/MIPs are manufactured products that have to be special ordered to the specification you need for a given structure and generally require you to work from architect drawn/engineered floor plan that accounts for everything that will be integrated into the structure…

      While applications actually vary, not everyone is going to use a Tiny House for a home… Like some people already use them for running their business… among many other examples…

      That said, there are valid reasons to consider this offering less than completely trustworthy…

  • DIANNE KNOX
    September 8, 2017, 8:27 am

    This is the most over priced thing I have ever seen. $10.000 would be too much…

    • James D.
      September 9, 2017, 11:38 am

      No, that would be completely unrealistic… You’re never going to find anything made with SIPs/MIPs, steel framing, offer things like custom insulated double to triple pane windows, etc type high end construction done for that low….

      That’s like saying steel should cost the same as cardboard just because you can make something similar out of both materials…

      Costs aren’t determined just by design and size of a product but also what it is made of and how it is constructed, with how much work is actually involved in the whole process.

      Whenever you see SIPs, MIPs, Steel, custom made, artisan crafted, off-grid, custom insulated windows, hurricane rated, environmentally friendly, ethically sourced materials, luxury anything, architect/designer/engineered, etc. listed then that means the costs are high and adds features and capabilities that cheaper construction options wouldn’t…

      It’s like comparing a tent to a Tiny House constructed to such high standards that the walls can handle over 200 MPH winds, is virtually fire proof, and you can park a car on the roof and not damage it… and yet expect them to cost about the same…

      Quality and what something actually offers matters a lot, like a simple good enough 5.1 stereo system may cost just a few hundred but a top of the line audiophile best of the best custom made 5.1 stereo system can run you up to $5 million… Just to show how wide a range quality can actually cover…

      So there’s a difference from whether something can be done more cheaply vs whether something is actually worth a given cost if it wasn’t made more cheaply and actually offers things the more cheap option wouldn’t…

      That said, the actual valid point to make here is that this company doesn’t seem very transparent and has no history to verify their claims… Since this is just a rendering of the product, we can’t be sure of what the final product will actually be like and thus are given nothing to consider whether it will actually be worth the asking price other than the specs they have listed.

      From that we can only be sure that they have chosen a high end way to build with materials like SIPs/MIPs, and double pane insulated windows, environmentally friendly materials, etc. but good materials alone don’t fully determine whether a product is worth the asking price.

      So caution is advised, at least until more is learned about this company…

      But it’s mainly only realistic to expect something like this for under $10,000 if you build it yourself, generally use reclaimed instead of new materials, don’t mind lower insulation values, only need it to meet or exceed the basic building codes and safety standards and not far exceed them, and plan on living very minimalistically… It can be done, but you have to understand what you’re actually getting for the price then…

  • Eric
    September 9, 2017, 4:28 am

    This is cynical me… Zen Den donates 30% of it’s profits to help the homeless and protect the environment.

    Cost of (yet to be constructed) tiny home/meditiation centre $49, ooo

    Inflated construction cost $48000 therefore profit $1000, so leaving $300 to be donated to charity and/or homeless people.

    Yep, sounds about right doesn’t it? Like I said, cynical me.

  • September 9, 2017, 5:09 am

    Certainly! Because the Architecture is an Artistic Discipline, made for the
    “Omo Sapiens”, starting from the presupposed that man must satisfy his own Spirituality in parallel with pragmatic exigences.

  • Van
    September 11, 2017, 2:28 pm

    James D, just a question. No disrespect meant here. Are you a builder? Seem that you are working very hard on justifying ridiculous cost of construction. I’m no expert, but I know how to look up cost of things on the internet. Mind you I’m getting retail prices and I still can’t come up with these figures in material to build, rolling tool shad, or as one of the reader here said, psychiatric office on wheels. I respect your opinion of course but still, seem to me that the cost you coming up is what a builder would lay on their unsuspecting mark. All I can say that because of the prevelance of home building and home repair, people can be and should be better informed on real cost or to realise when a “system” is sold where half the crap is not necessary for it’s proper function. I don’t expect that everyone is an expert in all phase of construction, but at least be better equipped when dealing with builders.
    As for the foam insulation. Not to split hairs here, you seem to be hung up on R value and thickness and all that good thing. I would like to say it first, that I agree with you in the value, short and long term, of good insulation and you can’t have too much of it. So no argument there, but I can’t help but think of the Mongolian nomads in their yurts, made of heavy felt. Now I’m not suggesting that we all rush out and move into one, I’m just saying that there are many ways to skin a cat and there are other ways to achieve the same as with spray foam.
    I suppose the right material for the given application would be the operating word here.
    Anyhow, on an other note, I can’t help but to agree the person who said that we are so far removed from the original premise of the THM that it is a joke now a days. I’m all for something more than just some cobbled together lean to looking 2×4 abortion of a construction, i love a pleasing design that’s well executed, but since builders got involved the cost of these things turned the movement into a fad to the well to do. Yes I’m aware of the different markets in the different regions of the US, still, over all proportionately they are becoming more and more unattainable without the very thing we were trying to get away from. Mortgage.
    Having said all that, your input is valuable if for no other reason then to stimulate a good discussion of the ridiculous direction the THM is taking. And the demerits of today’s builders.

    • James D.
      September 11, 2017, 3:18 pm

      The cost are only ridiculous if you have unrealistic expectations of cost…

      You don’t go from a few thousand dollars in costs to millions because of simply charging extra for no other reason than profit… The simple fact of the matter is not everything costs the same!

      It’s like comparing the cost of a log to finished LVL framing lumber… You’re talking about an order of magnitude difference in cost but for very valid reasons…

      A log is just raw material, it’s not processed, it’s not treated, it’s not going to last very long, and it’s certainly not going to be very straight and provide you the strongest building material.

      Going from raw material to processed ready to use for high end construction material requires significant processing and that all adds costs…

      Materials like SIPs/MIPs are manufactured, you need expensive machines to make them, you’re not just slapping materials together and calling it okay… All this adds cost…

      This is before we even add the added costs of designing and other business costs…

      Really, try running a business and then tell me what’s ridiculous…

      The fact are that most builders are working with small margins, which is why over a dozen companies have gone out of business over the last few years. Some of them were actually doing well before but all it took was one bad job and the losses they incurred ended up forcing them to close shop…

      This doesn’t happen because they’re charging way more than they need to!

      Sure, there’s companies that do charge more than they should but we’re talking about the whole market and not the niches where that’s true…

      Besides, the simple costs of working on a build, which easily exceeds over 800 work hours per tiny house, many can even go over 1000 hours… Even if you pay your workers minimum wage that’s not going to be a small sum and doing it yourself means you sacrifice your own time instead, which can cost you just as much because you’re not working and making an income while working on the tiny house…

      Never mind builders have to pay for things like having building permits, renting a property to build on, pay for the facility, tools, etc. Getting certifications means they are required to pay for inspections, the facility they work has to meet certain standards, and they even have to pay for the certificate itself… Add taxes, paying for workers insurance, workers salaries, cost of doing business like marketing costs, and a list of other things…

      While building to code, means meeting standards most DIY don’t but you get a structure you can be sure is safe, that you can get financing and insurance for, and can have professionally built to a standard that means it will last a long time… So it’s not like you’re getting nothing besides just the house…

      There are many cold hard realities of what it actually costs to build anything that you don’t get by simply looking up the cost of raw materials, which in most cases aren’t fully processed and are usually being compared to mass production, which custom builds can never compete with…

      So I only give a reality check as to what the reality really in on what costs we can actually expect… You’re not doing yourself or anyone else any favors by perpetuating unrealistic expectations that make people think they can get something made to high standards for next to nothing… or that there’s no such thing as high standards…

      This is how people end up buying lemons when they think the only thing that matters is the price range…

      Having custom windows that provide actual insulation rather than no insulation, especially when the windows can take up a large percentage of the exterior walls, can make a massive difference in how efficient the house will be and how much you will end up spending on heating and cooling the space…

      But that usually means spending thousands per window… The trade off being it’s a one time cost that will save you continuously over the life of the house from the lower energy costs of heating and cooling…

      Same reasoning goes to everything else from efficiency to durability, longevity, and features like getting good ventilation… You want to have fresh air in the middle of winter, then a simple vent isn’t going to do as well as a HRV that will help retain the heat of the house but again it will cost more than a simple vent…

      You want more than a basic structure with bare minimum everything then costs can quickly add up and for very good reasons…

      While there’s a big difference from what you can expect from doing it yourself vs paying other people to do the work for you… Unless you believe in slave labor then people have a right to earn a living and get paid for their work!

      So let’s make it abundantly clear that people should not expect to get things for nothing! How a house can be made can range from something that might as well be a tent to something that’s like a fortress and will last for probably longer than the owner.

      How that effects prices can be significant and it’s up to each buyer as to what they actually want vs what they’re willing to pay to get it…

      If you don’t need a lot then it can still be done for a lot less but just because the range goes a lot higher doesn’t mean anything but that the market is growing and there’s a range of options to choose from…

      Not everyone needs the best materials and highest building standards… Not everyone is going to need to have a Tiny House that they can be sure can withstand a category 5 hurricane, not everyone needs a Tiny House that can be completely off-grid, not everyone needs a Tiny House that is equipped for medical supplies for their special medical needs or things like having a wheelchair lift, etc.

      And there’s a whole list of other reality checks that this covers as well…

      But stop blaming builders for the reality of what it costs to have anything made… Just simply keep expectations realistic and if you need to keep costs low then keep what you need out of the house low… It’s as simple as that…

      People can still make a Tiny House for less than $10,000… Even builders can make a Tiny House for less than $30,000, and that’s with all the benefits of certification, meeting and exceeding building codes, etc.

      It all depends on what someone actually wants and needs out of the house as to what is realistic to expect for a given price range.

      Besides, fact is as the market grows costs actually start going down… The more products made for Tiny Houses means the cost to acquire those products goes down… Profit from people paying top dollar on high end models means builders have more ability to be able to offer better prices for the lower cost builds… More production means there’s eventually more materials that can be reclaimed for lower cost alternatives, you wouldn’t have any materials to reclaim if someone didn’t pay for it first…

      Like shipping containers actually cost over $23,000 to manufacture but as they’re already used when they come here we can get them for a fraction of the original cost… The companies that originally bought them already paying the bulk of the cost.

      The list goes on why it’s actually the opposite of what you’ve been arguing…

  • Van
    September 11, 2017, 2:47 pm

    Just one more thing to add. I’ve had a boat back in 1997 that I purchased used. It was built in 1983. New price then was $24,000. I payed $18,000 14 years later. The production of that particular boat was stopped, then revived and stopped again because no one could justify $104,000 for a 20 feet long boat even though the builder was one of the highest quality boat builder in the US. When I asked why so much for that boat, they stated the obvious. It’s just as much work as building a 30 or 40feet boat, often, because it’s small size, make it even more labour sensitive and does not lend itself for production work because they can have 4-6 people doing different jobs on the boat at the same time. The profit margins are better on the larger boars and to cover the cost of the little boat they basically had to price it so that it was priced out of the market. It’s understandable. So why I bored everyone with this story? Because, home building is the same. As for construction, all things equal, there is no difference between a 1000 sq/ft house or a 10000 sq/ft house. Sure, more material, but it takes the same skilled and unskilled labour to build it and you can make more profit on the McMantion then the sensible small home. That why builders charge so much. If they spend time on these glorified travel trailers, they need to make money. However, in the process they are completely ruin an idea that made good sense in its infancy.
    It won’t be long, before this idea will become more than a novelty, which means that municipalities will make provisions to allow THOW, or even on foundation, then they will regulate and tax the crap out of it, then come the Condo Commandos and we’ll have to start the new movement of the TTOW (tiny tents on wheel) so people who still desire to live an unencumbered, life can still have something without big brother standing behind with a naughty smile on his face in the anticipation of what’s coming his way. To paraphrase George Carlin. The big red, white and blue Stoke Job.

    • James D.
      September 11, 2017, 3:55 pm

      People have actually been building modern tiny houses since the 70’s… Tiny Houses themselves aren’t new and used to be the norm for most of human history… The cabin Abraham Lincoln grew up in was only 288 sq ft and if you go to countries like India and Japan you’ll still find people living in under 300 sq ft with entire families…

      So let’s not confuse what some people who are only now aware that Tiny Houses even existed think they’re for from what they have actually been for most of human history…

      You are right that there is a factor of businesses needing it to be worth their time but that’s why the higher builds are good because the people who can afford them are helping to keep the builders in business so they can be able to offer their services for those who need lower cost options.

      The flaw if your analysis is that you’re forgetting that building to different standards can still be a multiplier… If you need an entire house to be able to withstand, say 300 MPH winds, for a house built in Florida that you want to be virtually hurricane proof then that means you need to use expensive construction throughout and that multiplies the cost as you scale up to larger size… Some additional costs also get introduced if you’re scaling up higher and not just wider and longer as then you start needing to use cranes, and setting up temporary work platforms, etc.

      So it’s not really true that a 10,000 sq ft house cost no more per sq ft to built than a 1000 sq ft house… It can be true, but it can easily not be true as well, which is the problem with using anecdotal examples that don’t include all possible factors.

      Similarly, going smaller ignores that you start to need to put more work into engineering the space and designing for every square inch vs square foot is most definitely not the same…

      Along with the realities of what a given scale may mean for how you can construct and how that effects the building materials you use…

      Many Tiny Houses that need to be well insulated can’t afford to use insulation that has a low value per inch as you can’t have a foot thick wall in a Tiny House but you can in a big house… So this means needing to use more high end insulation… Just to show one example where the reality of building is not matching up to what you’re stating…

      This is different from Tiny Houses that are built for places that don’t need a lot of insulation… Like you can built a Tiny House in Hawaii very cheaply because don’t need to really insulate much at all and the construction can be significantly be simplified but you can’t do the same in say a state like Alaska or Nevada where you may have to deal with temperatures as low as -100F to as high as 135 F…

      Btw, if you’re going back that far then you should factor for inflation… The US dollar isn’t worth what it used to be and there are additional factors like cost of imported materials from countries that either we or they charge tariffs, as well as shipping costs…

      While let’s also keep in mind that housing in general is not low cost everywhere… When people are renting tiny apartments for thousands, one year of rent can easily pay for a Tiny House… Similarly, the average cost of a new home is around $300,000… So even a $70,000 Tiny House is a lot more affordable… Especially when you factor a mortgage and all the additional costs of home ownership…

      A $300,000 home with a 30 year mortgage can end up costing the owner over a million by the time it’s paid off… A $70,000 Tiny House with a 10 year mortgage will still be below $95,000 by the time it is paid off and you’ll paying a lot less for the cost of ownership and living costs…

      There’s frankly way too much focus on initial costs but not long term costs… The real savings of Tiny Houses is in the longer term where people can save massively…

      If you’re not spending over $900,000 at the end of a 30 year period then you can literally just buy a big house with all the savings of living in a Tiny House and have no mortgage to deal with…

      And one of the points of going tiny is making the system more sustainable! Something that will only happen when people start thinking in long terms rather than immediate gratification…

    • James D.
      September 11, 2017, 9:02 pm

      You do have a point on what will likely happen once Tiny Houses are legal, but people aren’t just fighting to make tiny houses legal but to change the whole system..

      The problems with the systems goes far beyond just what type of home we can live in and extend into ways of life, what we can do on our own property, and actually trying to solve the many long standing problems of our society.

      These issues aren’t limited to just government but also the people themselves as most have been indoctrinated into thinking there should be one standard for how people should live, ignoring our diversity, and that owning stuff is the only path to happiness.

      We have become a society that is so judgemental on how other people choose to live that if they don’t conform we can force them out, make them homeless, or even throw them in jail.

      So it doesn’t really matter if you want to live in a tiny house, a yurt, a shipping container house, a Earthship, a cob house, or a mansion… All of it falls under what is quickly becoming the next civil rights movement for people to regain the rights to live their lives under their own terms.

      You want a system that will solve nothing and will ultimately fail… Then take away choice and try to shove everyone into one single proprietary mold that will never fit everyone…

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