Most tiny houses try to prove how much life you can pack into a small footprint — a full kitchen, a flush toilet, a real shower, all squeezed under one roof. This one goes the other direction. The Mantra Micro Cabin from Simplify Further Tiny Homes is, by the builder’s own description, their most basic model: a single insulated room with a memory-foam queen bed, air conditioning, and a desk — and that’s about it. Listed as a “Glamping Cabin Getaway with A/C” near Lake Butler in North Central Florida, it trades an indoor bathroom for a starry walk to a shared outhouse and a hot shower out under the pines. It sounds rustic, and it is — but that’s exactly the point. Let’s take the tour.
A Pint-Sized Cabin Tucked Into the North Florida Pines
The Mantra is tiny even by tiny-house standards: an 8-foot-wide, 12-foot-long cabin on a trailer with a 4-foot covered front porch, topped by a single-slope shed roof and warmed up with a strip of natural cedar under the eave. Each cabin on the property wears a different earthy color — this lime-green one practically glows against the trees — and sits in its own clearing with a hammock, a picnic table, and a pair of Adirondack chairs. The setting does a lot of the work here: drop a small box into the woods, give it a porch and a few outdoor comforts, and it stops feeling small and starts feeling like a basecamp.
Step Inside: One Simple, Light-Filled Room
Open the glass door and the entire home reveals itself at once — there’s no hallway, no loft, no division of space. Pine tongue-and-groove covers the walls and ceiling, waterproof wood-look vinyl runs underfoot, and a big window at the foot of the bed frames the forest like a piece of art. Everything you need lives along the edges of the room: the bed, a wall-mounted TV, a mini-split, and a compact desk. It’s a clear demonstration that “simplified” doesn’t have to mean unfinished — the materials are warm and the light is generous, so the room feels cozy rather than bare.
A Memory-Foam Queen, A/C, and a Smart TV
For a cabin this basic, the sleeping setup is genuinely comfortable. A memory-foam queen bed sits beneath the picture window so you can lie back and look straight out into the trees. A 12,000-BTU ductless mini-split heats and cools the fully insulated room, which is the single feature that separates this from ordinary camping — North Florida summers are no joke, and being able to dial in a cool, quiet room is what makes a stay here work year-round. Add a wall-mounted smart TV and Wi-Fi, and the “rustic” cabin quietly covers the comforts that matter most.
A Desk With a Forest View
One detail that punches well above the cabin’s size is the dedicated workspace. A fold-down wood desk and a cushioned stool tuck into the corner beneath a side window, so you can answer email or get a few hours of remote work done while staring into the pines. It’s a smart use of a small wall — the desk takes up almost no floor space, yet it turns the cabin into a legitimate work-from-anywhere retreat. It also hints at the Mantra’s second life: the builder markets this exact model as a backyard office or studio, and you can see why.
The Bathroom Is Outside — and That’s the Whole Idea
Here’s where the Mantra fully commits to simplified living: there’s no bathroom inside the cabin. Instead, a short walk across a string-lit trail leads to a shared outhouse stall — a standalone green cabin with a real, full flush toilet inside, pine walls, and a little window to the woods. It’s a far cry from a pit toilet; think of it as a clean, private water closet that simply lives in its own building. Several guests mention the lantern-lit walk to the bathroom as a highlight rather than a hardship.
A Hot Outdoor Shower Under the Trees
The shower is outdoors too, set inside a wood privacy fence with white curtains, a pebbled stone floor, and leafy plants for company. And despite the open-air setting, it’s a proper hot shower — one reviewer who arrived after a 12-hour drive called it “very roomy” with plenty of hot water. Rinsing off under the canopy, with sky overhead and pines all around, turns a daily chore into one of the most memorable parts of the stay. It’s the kind of small luxury that only makes sense out here in the woods.
Fire Pit, Hammock, and String-Lit Evenings
Because the cabin itself is so simple, the outdoor space becomes the living room. Each site has its own fire pit and picnic table, plus chairs that look out over an open pasture and a hammock for slow afternoons. After dark, string lights throw a warm glow across the clearing and the fire pit takes over. This is glamping done right — the home is just a comfortable place to sleep, and everything else happens outside under the trees and the stars.
Part of a Small Cabin Village
This Mantra doesn’t stand alone. It’s one of a small cluster of Simplify Further glamping cabins spread across a wooded property, each spaced and angled to keep its own private clearing, fire pit, and parking. The outhouse and shower facilities are shared between the cabins, while your fire pit and picnic table stay yours. It’s a thoughtful middle ground — private enough to feel like your own slice of forest, communal enough that the place hums with a low-key campground warmth in the evenings.
Wake Up to Grazing Horses
Part of what sells the escape is the setting. The cabins border an open pasture where horses and cows graze, and reviewers rave about the quiet and the night skies — “the stars at night are BEAUTIFUL out here,” as one guest put it. Yet it isn’t truly remote: you’re removed from the hustle but still close enough to grab a pizza in town in under 20 minutes, and within easy reach of North Florida’s famous freshwater springs for swimming and tubing.
A 24-Hour Tiny Store on the Trail
One of the most charming touches on the property is the on-site convenience store — itself a little black micro cabin, open 24 hours and stocked with the things you always forget. Toothbrushes, shampoo and conditioner, snacks, cold drinks, and firewood for the fire pit are all a short walk down the trail. For a back-to-basics getaway, it’s a genuinely clever bit of hospitality: you get the unplugged woodland experience without the “I forgot my toothbrush and the nearest store is 20 minutes away” problem.
About the Mantra Micro Cabin
If a stay here leaves you wanting one of your own, the good news is that the Mantra is for sale, not just for rent. Simplify Further builds it as their entry-level “glamping model,” pitched as an ultra-simple, inexpensive solution for a backyard office, a guest space, or a first tiny home. It measures 8’5″ wide by 16’ long (including the 4-foot porch), stands 13’6″ tall, and packs about 98 square feet of interior space. It’s a NOAH-certified RV built on a bumper-pull trailer with dual 5,000-lb axles, R13–R19 insulation, impact-resistant double-pane windows, a metal roof, and a 30-amp hookup — and pricing starts around $17,000. As the builder puts it, this model is for people who simply “don’t need an indoor kitchen or bathroom.”
Design Details
- Builder & host: Simplify Further Tiny Homes (Krsna Balynas & Govinda Carol), Lake Butler, Florida
- Model: The Mantra Micro Cabin — their entry-level glamping model
- Style: Single-room micro cabin on wheels with a shed roof and cedar accent
- Footprint: 8’5″ W × 16’ L (with a 4-ft porch) × 13’6″ H; about 98 sq. ft. interior
- Sleeps: 2 guests · 1 bedroom · memory-foam queen bed
- Bathroom: Shared outhouse stall with a full flush toilet, plus a private-feel outdoor hot shower
- Kitchen: None indoors (true to the simplified concept); fire pit and picnic table outside
- Comfort & tech: 12,000-BTU ductless mini-split A/C and heat, Wi-Fi, smart TV, dedicated desk
- Construction: NOAH-certified RV, dual 5,000-lb axles, R13–R19 insulation, impact-resistant windows, metal roof, 30-amp hookup
- Outdoor: Covered porch, fire pit, picnic table, hammock, string lights, Adirondack chairs
- Pet-friendly: Yes — well-behaved pets welcome
- Setting: Wooded site bordering a horse-and-cattle pasture; minutes from town, near North Florida springs
- On-site: A 24-hour tiny convenience store and additional glamping cabins
- Reviews: 4.84★ across 45 reviews · Guest Favorite · hosted by Superhost Govinda
- Price to buy: Starts around $17,000
What Makes This Stay Special
- It proves “simple” can still be comfortable. A/C, a memory-foam queen, Wi-Fi, and a smart TV cover the essentials, so going without an indoor bathroom feels like an adventure rather than a sacrifice.
- The outdoors becomes the home. With the bathroom, shower, and living space all outside, you spend your stay actually in nature instead of looking at it through a window.
- Hospitality smooths the rough edges. A 24-hour tiny store, hot outdoor showers, and a responsive Superhost team turn a back-to-basics concept into an easy, low-stress getaway.
- It’s a tiny house you could actually own. At around $17K, the Mantra works just as well as a backyard office, guest room, or affordable first tiny home as it does a glamping rental.
The Story Behind Simplify Further
Simplify Further started the way many of the best tiny-house stories do — almost by accident. Krsna Balynas and Govinda Carol built their first tiny home, Shanti, with minimal construction experience and listed it on Airbnb just to see what would happen. It booked out fast, the bookings kept coming, and Govinda eventually left his IT career to build tiny houses full time. The couple has since grown the project into a small village of rentals that has hosted thousands of guests, guided by their motto: “Simple Living, High Thinking.” The Mantra is that philosophy at its purest. You can read more about their journey on their Our Story page.
Plan Your Stay
Glamping Cabin Getaway — Lake Butler, Florida
Book the stay: View the glamping cabin on Airbnb
See all of their rentals: Simplify Further Tiny Homes on Airbnb
Buy the model: The Mantra Micro Cabin
Highlights
- A 98-square-foot Mantra micro cabin on wheels that sleeps two
- Memory-foam queen bed, mini-split A/C, smart TV, Wi-Fi, and a forest-view desk
- Shared outhouse with a full flush toilet, plus a hot outdoor shower
- Private fire pit, picnic table, hammock, and string-lit evenings
- Pet-friendly, with a 24-hour on-site tiny store
- Quiet, wooded setting with grazing horses — and a buy-it-yourself price from $17K
More Tiny Homes from Simplify Further
This is one of several Simplify Further tiny homes we’ve toured. Explore the rest of the family:
- Shanti — the original Simplify Further build and their most economical full tiny house.
- Shiva — a farmhouse tiny house on wheels with a queen loft and an outdoor clawfoot tub.
- Rasa — a double-loft tiny house that sleeps four, set at their build facility.
- Tulsi — a 161-square-foot tiny house with a ground-floor queen plus a sleeping loft.
- Leela — a 288-square-foot two-loft tiny house that sleeps four.
- Prana — a 24-foot two-loft tiny house with their largest living room.
- Goa — a luxurious two-queen-loft tiny house with a full-size range and washer/dryer.
- Surya — a 32-foot park-model-style tiny house with a main-floor queen and no loft.
Explore More Tiny Homes
This post may contain affiliate links and/or sponsored content.
Alex