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David’s DIY A-frame Family Tiny Home


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David has nearly 35 years of construction experience, and his business, “Casas Acapulco” in Mexico creates awesome custom trailers. But he contacted us to share his A-Frame cabin that he, his wife and six children built. He lives in it with his wife.

The one bedroom, one bathroom cabin is about 336 square feet. It’s 12 feet wide and 28 feet long, and includes a staircase up to the loft where the bedroom and bathroom are. Enjoy the photos of David’s handiwork below!

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Couple’s A-Frame Cabin in Mexico

The view from the kitchen.

The front wall is nearly all windows!

I like the inset refrigerator!

Looking up to the loft.

A proper staircase goes up to the loft.

Here’s the bedroom (great window!).

Bar seating in the kitchen.

Looking toward the staircase at the back of the cabin.

Little inset spice cabinet here.

Compact stove & oven.

Nice views out the window!

Here it is at night.

The bathroom has a flush toilet and shower.

Another look at the kitchen.

Vanity in the bathroom.

What do you think?

David’s Story:

This is my A frame cabin, we built it with my wife and our 6 kids. It’s not for sale, me an my wife live in it, and we built a second a frame exactly the same, we built it for aprox US $20,000 in materials it took us about 2 months working 5 days a week to finish, we had already built 2 of these in Rosarito B.C. Mex. And after 20 years I still had the plans in my memory (brain), we are very happy with our little cabin. It is 12 foot wide x 28 foot long x aprox 16 ft. High. It has a full bath. It was built about 45 minutes from Monterrey, Mexico.

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Our big thanks to David for sharing!🙏

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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.
{ 27 comments… add one }
  • merryl
    November 22, 2021, 9:22 am

    I would totally live here. I wonder how much the utilites are each month?

    • Debbie
      November 22, 2021, 10:38 pm

      I love the A-frame. And yes I could live in that. My apartment right now is just under 350 so feet. I inquired about a tiny house and you have to lease the
      Land and pay HOA costs for watch cable. You pay electric. In the US. It comes out to about 1500 a month

    • David Zapata
      November 22, 2021, 11:18 pm

      Hi Merryl, im David the owner of the A-frame, we have 5 Tiny houses on the lot and we pay 15 dolars per month on water and 150 dolars per month on electricity.

  • Marcia
    November 22, 2021, 10:41 am

    My spatial recognition is a little off today..it looks as though the inset fridge is surrounded by the back stairs? And part of the bathroom? I know, I confuse easily..but I DO know how, and CAN parallel park! 🤷‍♀️ Thanks

    • Maggie
      November 22, 2021, 11:22 am

      You must be about my age, Marcia! I think it’s great! Monterrey is where my son works. I could do this!
      Wish the sleeping place was on the same level as the bedroom, though.

    • James D.
      November 22, 2021, 3:33 pm

      No, stairs are past the bathroom and along the back wall. The photo of the stairs from the loft show it’s a straight run and doesn’t wrap around anything.

      Add the photo of the bathroom sink and medicine cabinet shows the fridge doesn’t extend or cause a bump out into the bathroom either, as that’s what on the other side of that wall. Though, it does appear that the shower stall extends into the stairs…

      Mind, the distance between the fridge and the stairs is also the length of the loft, which has to accommodate the length of the bed and about 2 additional feet between the bed and the loft railing above the kitchen. So there’s around at least 8 feet between the fridge and stairs.

      It just appears the wall the fridge is embedded into is thicker than a normal interior wall, probably to provide structural support for the loft and maybe also to make it easier to run the water and electrical lines between the kitchen and bathroom…

      While there’s the hallway wall for the bathroom, with the door in the middle… The floor mat at the foot of the stairs is right about where the toilet is and note from the last photo of the exterior where the dormer window is because that’s the bathroom window, that’s just past the bathroom sink and medicine cabinet, for a better idea of the layout from the photos and see how much distance there is between the fridge and the back wall where the stairs are located…

      • David Zapata
        November 22, 2021, 11:27 pm

        Hi James D. Im David the owner of the A-frame, you’re correct, behind the fridge is the storage room about 6 by 8 feet plus the área under the stairs. and the bathroom is across from the kitchen sink left side of the cabin entering the front door.

    • David Zapata
      November 22, 2021, 11:20 pm

      Hello Marcia, im David the owner of the A-frame, the insert Fridge entera the storage room that i forgot to send a picture.

    • James D.
      November 23, 2021, 2:01 am

      Okay, owner clarified, I got the bathroom location wrong but the size of the space between the stairs and the fridge right, it’s just a storage room there instead of the bathroom, which is actually across from the kitchen sink… There just wasn’t a photo of the storage room. So ignore the rest of my previous comment…

    • Natalie C. McKee
      November 23, 2021, 9:14 am

      Better than I am, Marcia. I can’t parallel park to save my life!

  • Marcia
    November 22, 2021, 10:44 am

    And every morning, without fail, my pillow would end up on the floor below!🤦‍♀️😉

    • Eric
      November 22, 2021, 5:49 pm

      Oh I never have a problem with the pillow(s). My problem is always the duvet. It seem to want to hug the floor. Every night or morning. 🙄

  • Mary L McGuirk
    November 22, 2021, 2:27 pm

    Things I require or admire in a tiny plan… a standing height loft landing, or an elevator or Murphy bed? A full sized fridge, or pullout chest freezer drawer and dishwasher drawer. A standing desk and room for a standard deskchair, high back…space for large monitor above desk. Full length closet area. PLENTY of solar and batteries that are modular and can be rearranged as needed. A quality Awning, with wind sensor, and easy access utilities for shorepower or offgrid. Check out recirculating showers and infloor heat. A rooftop deck area, too, with a fold down rear deck, toyhauler style..

  • Joyce Rader
    November 22, 2021, 7:27 pm

    I had to read the beginning paragraphs to understand a few things. At first I wondered where the other sleep areas were for such a large family then I learned this house is for 2 people. The couple are quite happy here and that is what counts. Being ground built A frames and other tiny structures can be so accommodating for our needs. I like using the inset space for some storage and placement of fridge. This allows for more floor space. Many mobile units fight for floor space to accommodate our needs.

  • Marsha Cowan
    November 22, 2021, 7:40 pm

    Sweet! : )

  • Wenddie Mikulcik
    November 23, 2021, 6:23 am

    It has potential would use different materials and decorate nicely.

  • Bryan O'Connor
    November 23, 2021, 9:47 am

    I LOVE A-Frames! My favorite great aunt had one on a lil fishing camp on the Mississippi River when I was growing up. Hers was a little bigger though, about 700 square feet if I remember right with a down stairs master bedroom and there was 2 lofts with a center runner for us kids. She passed in 1990 and left it to her grandkids and it got washed away by the Flood of 1995.

    • Natalie C. McKee
      November 23, 2021, 10:25 am

      Oh that’s so tragic!

  • Cynthia
    November 23, 2021, 10:23 am

    I didn’t see a stove. Microwave, but no stove.

    • Natalie C. McKee
      November 23, 2021, 10:25 am

      There’s a four-burner stove & oven next to the breakfast bar area

    • James D.
      November 23, 2021, 12:01 pm

      Perhaps you were expecting something more like a cooktop or wood stove?

      Typically, most people tend to use the term Range and Stove interchangeably for the common modern cooktop burners and oven combo/all-in-one appliance…

      Or maybe the way they mounted the range hood vent threw you? It is at an odd angle but it’s still functional…

      But you can see it in the 10th and 11th photo down, as well as make it out in the 2nd photo down, with the coffee maker next to it…

  • Cindy
    November 23, 2021, 11:07 am

    Love it!

  • Paul
    November 23, 2021, 12:33 pm

    Please also email me your answer. As I may not see it otherwise. Can you do just a basic floor plan drawing with dimensions and what is the side wall height from the top of the floor up. From this I would be able to build. It is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks in advance I really appreciate it.
    [email protected]

  • Mike
    November 23, 2021, 2:03 pm

    Is there any floor plans for this, or was it just a build-as-we-go type design?

  • Theresa M Perdue
    November 27, 2021, 4:53 pm

    I would rather see a house that was built for the people to live in rather than a rental as it seems like it’s built with more care and as in the little spice cutout and the fridge in the wall. When it’s lived in it’s built with love and it shows

  • George
    November 28, 2021, 6:53 am

    Very nice little house for sure! But not an a frame.

    • James D.
      November 28, 2021, 12:37 pm

      No, it’s definitely an A Frame. They don’t have start from the bottom.

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