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Father and Son Design/Build the Perfect Tiny Home


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This is the story of the Vastu tiny cabin that was designed and built by a father and son using Maharishi Vastu Architecture design principles. It’s a 200-square-foot tiny home on a foundation with everything you need.

It has a full kitchen with marble countertops, a full bathroom with a shower, a spacious sleeping loft, a covered front porch entryway, and more. What do you think, is this a design that you can see yourself living in long-term?

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The Elegant Vastu Tiny Cabin Designed and Built by Father/Son using Maharishi Vastu Design Principles

Father and son design/build the perfect 200-square-foot tiny cabin - Images © VastuCabin.com

Images © VastuCabin.com

I encourage you to enjoy the rest of the tour (including video and interview with designer/builders) and learn more below:

Interior: Kitchen, Loft, and Living Area

Kitchen, Loft, And Living Area - Father and son design/build the perfect 200-square-foot tiny cabin - Images © VastuCabin.com

Kitchen (Notice Storage on Top Too)

Father and son design/build the perfect 200-square-foot tiny cabin - Images © VastuCabin.com

Built-in Lighting and Bathroom

Father and son design/build the perfect 200-square-foot tiny cabin - Images © VastuCabin.com

Bathroom with Shower (and plenty of storage nooks)

Father and son design/build the perfect 200-square-foot tiny cabin - Images © VastuCabin.com

Living Area in the Vastu

Father and son design/build the perfect 200-square-foot tiny cabin - Images © VastuCabin.com Father and son design/build the perfect 200-square-foot tiny cabin - Images © VastuCabin.com - Living Area With Ladder To Loft

Sleeping Loft in the Vastu Tiny House

Sleeping Loft - Father and son design/build the perfect 200-square-foot tiny cabin - Images © VastuCabin.com

Tiny House Delivery!😲

Father and son design/build the perfect 200-square-foot tiny cabin - Images © VastuCabin.com

Images © VastuCabin.com

VIDEO: Interview & Tour with Designer/Builders of this Tiny Vastu Cabin

This Tiny Home Getting Moved and Situated

Learn more about the Vastu Cabin here. Get in touch with them on Facebook here too.

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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!
{ 58 comments… add one }
  • Greg
    March 21, 2014, 10:58 am

    Lovely work…any provision for heating it?

  • Kim
    March 21, 2014, 2:08 pm

    I like the nice large kitchen but am very confused as to why the shower handle is way up by the ceiling. How can you reach the handle and where is the shower head?

    I too am not at all a fan of lofts. There may be room for a bed on the first level but not sure.

  • Tenderloin
    March 21, 2014, 3:09 pm

    I agree that lofts are not practical except as extra sleeping space for young kids and storage. Another thing I don’t understand is why builders of these tiny homes insist on using full-size sinks, cabinets, toilets, and showers. The living space is not what would be in a conventional full-size home, so why use conventional full-size fixtures? Take a page out of the RV industry manual and use the much more efficiently-sized appliances and fixtures found in RVs to save space and give the occupants more breathing room.

    • Rick
      March 21, 2014, 4:42 pm

      Rv sinks are too small to be useful on a daily yr round basis IMP

      • Evelyn King
        March 7, 2016, 6:13 pm

        We have been living in an RV since 2005 and sinks and appliances are just fine for full-time use. I guess it’s just what you adjust to.

        • Marsha Cowan
          July 27, 2018, 8:49 pm

          I agree with you Tenderloin and Evelyn. The idea is to live small and simply, but I think the industry has swayed to the side of model homes (like mobile homes) which are more like apartments on wheels with full sized everything. I would love to see a site devoted to traditional tiny houses, like Jay Shafer’s, instead of these large stick-built mobile homes, maybe even articles on living in them as opposed to just how they are built or how they look. Really practical articles. Hint, hint. Lol! Luv’ ya’, Alex 🙂

      • Angela
        April 30, 2019, 11:11 am

        I think Rick is referring to those teeny round sinks in some tiny homes (though I notice they are becoming fewer). You could not wash regular plates and dinner ware very easily in one of those, never mind pots and pans. Most people that I have seen in tiny house forums prefer a set-up like this. There are only 3 burners on the cooktop and there is no oven, a non-starter for many, but this is a home and so it is suitable for its occupants. To put in a bed downstairs, you would have to use a convertible sofa, or put a murphy bed in the living area, that had a bench-style sofa on the back of it that could be used when it was folded up. I think the bathroom is a “wet” bathroom (notice the enclosed light fixture and the otherwise unnecessary door on the linen cabinet…that is purely to keep the cabinet contents dry while the shower is on). The shower faucet is where it is because it is convenient for the two men living there.

  • Rick
    March 21, 2014, 4:44 pm

    My son and I built a loft inside his shed/tiny home and added a set of pull down attic stairs which made going up and down very easy

    • Patty
      March 26, 2014, 10:34 pm

      Hi Rick, cute tiny house. There are some plans out there that incorporate steps with storage inside of them. You might check them out for those who do not like ladders :). Very pretty inside. I think some of the viewers are thinking of the Tiny houses that are permanently on wheels. They incorporate R V sized appliances and sinks/toilets.

  • sheri
    March 22, 2014, 10:38 am

    If I ever build one of these, I will dispense with having two sinks and will brush my teeth over the kitchen sink because I’d much rather have a bathtub (with grab-bars on the wall) than two sinks. I will have stairs or a bed on the same floor and a loft as only a guest area or storage, because I’m over 50 and don’t anticipate being more spry. When they start designing these for the expanding elderly population who will be living on fixed incomes, they will have truly found a niche that won’t stop growing as the population grows older. Also, if people grew hearts, they might want to pull up a tiny house in their backyard and oversee their parents’ care without going into debt for the cost of senior living or a nursing home. The Bible says we’re to take care of our parents, and if you’ve ever been in a nursing home, you would know it is impersonal and marginalizing. Having worked in a nursing home, I’d rather go hold AIDS babies in Africa and die earlier in my life than live in one myself. Tiny houses could be a way to have privacy and yet take care of our parents, and have our kids take care of us if it comes to that. It can bring family’s closer without tearing them apart.

    • Kelsey
      March 22, 2014, 11:32 pm

      sheri, I agree that if they made these more suited to the baby boomer generation, they’d have a huge market. As to the nursing homes… that’s not true of all of them. Many of them, yes… but not all. I’m very blessed to work in a 5-star nursing home in one of the top dementia unit’s in the state. To me my residents become family and I treat them just as I would my own grandparents. I hope to goodness that soon more long term care facilities will follow suit. I agree that for healthy aging these would be great, but someone with dementia needs a little closer care than this.

    • Katherine
      August 23, 2014, 3:56 am

      Sheri, su comentario me parece maravilloso! Es una gran idea, ya que en muchos casos son nuestros padres los que necesitan privacidad. Ellos no se quieren sentir inútiles, solo quieren tenernos más cerca.

    • TinyHouseFan
      July 27, 2018, 9:14 pm

      .
      Sheri,

      Instead of having only one-sink — could
      you use one of those ‘Sink Positive’ or
      ‘Sink Twice’ devices over the Toilet —
      or — use one of those RV sinks that
      fold-down into a counter or shower?

      Just a thought. =D

      — THF
      .

      • Ivlia Blackburn
        July 28, 2018, 5:36 am

        Am currently designing my own tiny home on paper, for now, and was thinking of a small shelf over the toilet with just a small bowl on it with a bottle of water and Somme soap. Pour a little water in the bowl and wash your hands, you can even reuse the water if you are in a drought area or throw out into plants. Just an idea but we’ve been doing this recently because of a lack of rainfall and water shortages so can be easily adapted to tiny home use.

        • BJ
          May 2, 2019, 10:43 pm

          There are small sinks that are built on top of the commode. You can wash your hands and water goes to tank on top. I believe. I have seen this. I also am doing my tiny home. I’ve went to a couple of Tiny Home festivals. Meet some really nice people, builders and such. Go to see the Tiny Houses at a Show or outdoor fest. It’s great. I even helped work a few days at one, got in free that way.

    • Angela
      April 30, 2019, 11:27 am

      I agree, Sheri. I have often thought of tiny house villages (there are a few already around the country) where people could put a THOW of their own design, or move into a pre-built tiny house that would have the basics with a downstairs bedroom, where people would pay a modest, reasonable rent based on their income, or they could do a rent-to-own kind of deal. The ownership/management of these would ideally be not-for-profit and directed more at providing a service, with legal protections in place to keep them out of the hands of unscrupulous people involved in a new kind of very cruel ownership scheme that is taking hold in established trailer parks. The comedian, John Oliver, did a very interesting piece on his weekly program about this trend. It is very good, but be warned that it is replete with bad language:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCC8fPQOaxU

  • Rich
    March 22, 2014, 12:59 pm

    I think the best thing to come out of the so called tiny house movement is that people are planning their homes to suit their wants/needs instead of building a house as an investment and status symbol. This is a huge adjustment for many, especially the former middle class in the US. But it is just a ripple; hope it becomes a wave 🙂

    • Yaya Sorensen
      March 26, 2014, 12:59 pm

      Well said! I like what Alex said in another post “Downsizing doesn’t always have to be tiny. It can be 550-square-feet or even 1,000-square-feet. It really just depends on where you’re coming from. And the best part is you don’t have to give up everything you’re used to either.”

  • Linda
    March 22, 2014, 1:38 pm

    This is absolutely beautiful! One thing I’ve been working on (on paper) is to have a very long closet that has a door where you enter and turn sharply to climb up a ladder to the loft. This means the closet would be open at the top. If you can imagine it, not only would there be a ladder inside the closet, but the closet would also have drawers that pull out from the outside of the closet. These drawers would clear the ladder by being underneath the ladder. The ladder goes at a slant, of course, so underneath the ladder there is vacant space where the drawers can be made. If not drawers, then small doors on the outside of the closet to access storage space. Not sure I’m describing it in a manner that you can understand but I’ve drawn it up on graph paper and it looks great. From the outside of the closet, you see only a door and several knobs for pull-out drawers or for small doors that open up to access storage space.

    • TinyHouseFan
      July 27, 2018, 9:20 pm

      .
      Linda,

      Could you possibly arrange the drawers that
      would be on the inside of the closet — so that
      — when they are all closed — they form ‘stairs’?

      And — if so — maybe you could have a
      bannister built alongside — so that you
      can have ready-made ‘drawer-stairs’
      (serving two purposes) — complete
      with a built-in bannister (for safety).

      With that — you may not
      even need to use a ladder.

      Just a thought.

      – THF
      .

  • March 22, 2014, 9:00 pm

    I went to school at same school that he is talking about. Old digs there in Fairfield!

  • Tana
    March 23, 2014, 1:43 am

    I really liked the tiny house, they put a lot of detail on the outside, which takes a lot of time, and the marble. I would love for this team to build me one, but I’m in Cali, but I will contact them.

  • Yorky
    May 11, 2014, 11:56 am

    I didn’t see any reference to heating?

  • Charlie
    May 11, 2014, 1:00 pm

    wher can I get a copy of the blue print for the Vastu Tiny Cabin

  • Mame
    May 11, 2014, 11:46 pm

    Perhaps the *no stairs* in so many of these units is an element of cost savings. This particular unit is beautifully finished and I could certainly make a year-round home out of it. I would need to adjust in order to have a staircase though. Some other good ideas of fold-up stairs and attic-type have been suggested… but as I was looking at these photos I could visualize a staircase going up the back wall with drawers and cabinet doors on all outside surfaces so as to effectively use what would otherwise be wasted space — but then I am one of those people who can never have enough storage 🙂 I was wondering about heat and hot water — I didn’t see anything to cover those issues and somewhat important. If it was placed on a basement foundation then I suppose those things could be accommodated for down there — but it’s pretty rare to find a municipality that will allow such a small building to be used for a residence, so in most cases the need for heat and hot water need to be covered on the main floor.
    Overall, I love it and especially because it has such beautiful finishing!

  • Maria
    May 12, 2014, 7:52 am

    Well I prefer to have my shower control and shower head all in on spot where they belong. I would also change out the window over the sink to one that opens up and down and remove the other kitchen window. Where there is a space for a small frig,without window above you can put in bigger frig. and put shelves up on that wall.

  • connie
    May 12, 2014, 9:55 am

    I am so excited a stypatyeved vastu tiny house has finally been built! So glad you opened a tiny house business! 🙂 What are the exterior measurements of it??

  • S Hall
    May 12, 2014, 11:50 am

    Well I have got Dad round to the idea of putting one in our back garden for me just have to convince the planning department in our council and find the money for it.

    • Linda
      May 12, 2014, 3:29 pm

      In the garden, you say? Why not list it as a gardening shed? That should get you an okay. Put a few pots inside and a potting table so when they come round, they will be convinced that it’s a gardening/potting shed. You are so lucky!

  • cathy
    June 15, 2014, 11:37 am

    Is it possible to have someone build a tiny house? I might be able to do the A frame step by step but I’m a woman without any knowledge of carpentry.
    Thanks, C

    • BJ
      May 2, 2019, 10:50 pm

      There are tons of youtube videos and how to books on carpentry. However if you go to Incredible Tiny Homes, He lets you help build and they guide you . So you learn to build your own in just 7 days.

  • Otessa Regina Compton
    June 15, 2014, 11:53 am

    I THINK THIS PROJECT IS INSPIRING!!! MORE FAMILIES SHOULD BECOME INVOLVED. MR. ALEX, I HAVE A BIG PROJECT FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION AND FOR US READERS. I WONDER IF YOU COULD COMPILE A COMPREHENSIVE AND INTENSE LIST OF WHAT ORGANIZATIONS, COMPANIES, AND PERSONS BUILD TINY HOMES IN ALL OF OUR 50 STATES INCLUDING THE TERRIORIES, AND THE SAME LIST OF THOSE WHO SELL THEM??? THIS IS VERY VITAL FOR US TO NOTE, WHERE THERE ARE MANY “BUBBLES” JUST ABOUT TO GO BOOM. PLEASE CONSIDER THIS FOR US. BY THE WAY, IF YOU ARE A FATHER HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO YOU TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • BJ
      May 2, 2019, 10:53 pm

      Go to TinyHouselistings.com by Steve. It has homes for sale and now property too , You can put in all of USA or go by coast or each state. Also Far Out tiny homes in LA. is still working on a list. Visit their website.

  • Marsha Cowan
    June 15, 2014, 3:55 pm

    Agh! That is so pretty! But seeing it swinging in the air is a little terrifying! Lol! Excellent job on every part of that house! Whoever lives there should be very comfortable and at peace.

    • Marsha Cowan
      July 27, 2018, 8:52 pm

      Update. . . still love this house, especially the very organized and spacious bathroom. Lovely design and well built. Still terrifying to see it swinging in the air. Lol!

  • george
    June 15, 2014, 6:51 pm

    How come no one seems to do a gambrel roof? Wouldn’t it give more knee and headroom for a small desk or short height furniture? Surely tge snow load wouldn’t be that bad?

    • LaMar
      June 15, 2014, 7:20 pm

      I have used gambrel (barn style roofs in several designs) and they are more complicated and require more skill to build correctly for a DIY project which is why you see less of them. Snow load is not a problem with a gambrel roof if pitched correctly.

      This is my solar barn on wheel design:

      http://youtu.be/sZKtGRGW1-U

      LaMar

  • TomLeeM
    June 15, 2014, 7:56 pm

    I think that is very well done. It looks spacious for such a small house.

    It is neat that it can be lifted with a crane. It is like a small house version of Dorothy’s house in the movie Wizard of Oz. 🙂

  • Penny Lawson
    June 15, 2014, 10:58 pm

    I have spent many years living and work g on sailing boats, so am used to small spaces and functionality. I have an 800 square foot cottage that I have completely renovated and updated, but am looking to convert the garage to a seperate living space for visitors or possibly renters. Looking at these tiny houses that you feature I am wondering where practical things like a hot water tank, or laundry facilities might be located? And is heating just plug in electricity heaters? The pictures are pretty, but I would like to see some practical solutions to the reality of ” living” in these smaller places.

    • Dick
      June 16, 2014, 3:13 pm

      Penny you might want to check out this link it is a simple set of plans for building an off grid house for $10 grand,

      https://tinyhousetalk.com/10k-diy-off-grid-solar-tiny-house/

      This guy attempts at least in drawings to address some of your concerns

    • BJ
      May 2, 2019, 11:00 pm

      Also a couple name of Morrison has a great book out. Helps with a lot. Also on web. Andrew and Gabriel Morrison .
      Tiny House design , building and living.

  • Sarah
    June 21, 2015, 12:45 pm

    HA, HA TOMLEE! I thought the same thing about the house being lifted, reminded me of the Wizard of Oz!

    I think this is really nice, I love it. Lots of thought went into it, you can tell by details.

  • jo
    June 21, 2015, 3:56 pm

    Beautiful tiny house! What are you using for heat, please? Is it a compost toilet? What do you do for water?

    Really love it. Nicely done.

    Thank you.

    Jo

  • Lynnette
    June 21, 2015, 5:02 pm

    I’m a huge fan of this layout. Seen it many times and think it’s functional and nice storage

  • Theo
    June 21, 2015, 7:19 pm

    It’s nice enough, nothing much on the outside, but really like the inside, except yet another loft bed. I think $29,900 is overpriced tho. For that much I could get a decent box van, get the engine and transmission rebuilt, the brakes gone thru, totally revamp it for living, and still have enough change left for a fishing license and gas, probably even enough for a small boat, outboard, and trailer too.

  • Patrick
    June 21, 2015, 7:32 pm

    Is that a propane cooktop with no vent hood? There’ll be a moisture problem inside the house for sure.

  • Animasola
    June 21, 2015, 10:20 pm

    I love everything about this except the shower. I think I am missing something . Looks like it sprays down in front of a shelving area? I hope I am wrong.

  • Trish
    June 22, 2015, 9:45 am

    This is a standard tiny house, nothing special. I agree with other comments that the shower isn’t practical. Who wants to shower and get your linens, toiletries, and the rest of the bathroom area soaked? Not me.

    • BJ
      May 2, 2019, 11:16 pm

      In the video it does have a shower stall, the dad just said they liked the handle on outside for them.

  • Suzie@Suzie'sView
    March 7, 2016, 6:16 pm

    this is such a cute little cabin. They did a great job!

  • Kenny
    March 8, 2016, 7:44 pm

    I agree with the need to consider the older generations as to stairs and ladders. The needs of the boomer generation will need more efficent and easier homes to maintain, clean and be able to afford on a smaller budget to heat and cool. At one time the USDA had plans for simple basic expandable homes for rural areas avaible. Examples of these homes are still standing and with a little updating could make nice comfortable “tiny” homes.

  • Chuck
    June 19, 2016, 5:42 pm

    I agree with the person who commented on there being a niche for tiny homes for seniors but many seniors cannot negotiate severely inclined steps. I know I can’t anymore. I truly like the idea of “living small” and getting rid of stuff that one really does not need. For a senior the sleeping area should definitely be on the “ground floor”.

  • ZACHARY E MOHRMANN
    April 2, 2017, 6:12 pm

    Very impressed….!

  • Kurt
    January 14, 2018, 9:28 pm

    Beautiful interior, but I don’t care for the wood clapboard siding nor the exterior wooden stairs.

  • Karen Blackburn
    July 28, 2018, 5:43 am

    I really like this but would add on 3-4 feet for a single, 3’wide, bed for me, can’t manage stairs or a ladder now. Could easily hide by a curtain across the room and have storage built in, maybe even turn it into a bed with doors like they had in ancient China where the bed was a separate built in part of the room. You can find images on the net but making a simple version would be very easy. Giving myself ideas now.

  • BJ
    May 2, 2019, 11:26 pm

    True the ladder is a no for me. But, it isn’t fully furnished inside yet .I could see a ship style ladder going in. I think they will have a couch to bed there in the living area . Also it is a propane tank outside the kitchen area . The heat isn’t shown yet. It could be many things, Like a Dickinson heater or a Cub heater, small but very effective. With all that wood they could put in a wood stove easily ,just firewall it in and a good stove pipe out. If you get tired of too much wood around you, just whitewash a couple of walls. I would go with a different counter top for me, but seeing its on a permanent type foundation, marble will work well. It does seem well built. It doesn’t look like a composting commode though.

  • Ingrid Stanway
    May 7, 2019, 10:49 pm

    Nice house and simple design… I would prefer two minor modifications if I was to be full time living….. Room for larger apartment sized fridge and a sliding or pocket door to bathroom. I feel a door opening into the fridge when two people are working in kitchen would just get in the way.

  • maria manuta
    March 28, 2023, 4:01 pm

    Keep up with a good work dude is amazing Ilike it.

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