You’re going to love this tiny house from Baluchon in France. Built as a full-time residence for their client, David, it has everything from an oven to a nifty loft office so he can work from home.
The home can be heated by a mini wood stove, and the table moves around as needed. What’s your favorite part of this sleek build?
Don’t miss other interesting tiny homes like this one – join our FREE Tiny House Newsletter for more!
David’s Tiny House Sauvage in France
Images via Baluchon
It’s amazing how unique Baluchon builds are, but how similar each one feels!
Images via Baluchon
Looking out from the kitchen.
Images via Baluchon
The table can be moved around as needed.
Images via Baluchon
Here is the table on the other side.
Images via Baluchon
The L-shaped staircase leads to the bedroom loft.
Images via Baluchon
This giant window lets in so much natural light and gives you plenty to see too.
Images via Baluchon
There’s a shelf above the oversized farmhouse-style sink which I love. This shelf comes into play later in the office loft, too. It’s a spot for your feet when in desk mode, believe it or not. See it in action further down below.
Images via Baluchon
There’s plenty of storage inside the staircase.
Images via Baluchon
There’s an oven and two burners.
Images via Baluchon
The bathroom has a lovely linen closet.
Images via Baluchon
A nice step-in shower and cube sink.
Images via Baluchon
Up in David’s loft bedroom.
Images via Baluchon
A super long window and desk. But where do your feet go?
Images via Baluchon
On the kitchen shelf! Brilliant.
Images via Baluchon
I love the honey-colored wood.
Images via Baluchon
And the sage green accent colors.
Images via Baluchon
Could you live in a tiny house like this?
Images via Baluchon
Description:
A fan of contemporary architecture and Scandinavian design, David wanted his tiny house to have a clean look, with sharp edges and large openings.
The Tiny house Sauvage has a very bright interior. A large majority of the furniture was made with three-ply ash panels, a hard and fairly light wood. The table has a solid ash top with natural edges. The latter can be placed in several places in the living room, just like the armchair, to bring modularity to the room. A wood stove is also installed in this room, to heat the house on winter days. A row of low cabinets under a large window will soon house David’s turntable and speakers.
The angled staircase includes a good number of storage niches while providing comfortable access to the bedroom upstairs.
The kitchen, for its part, is made up of two pieces of furniture which face each other and which house an oven, hobs, a refrigerator, clay blocks, a large sink, an electric hot water tank and various compartments of storage.
The bathroom is located at the very end of the tiny house. It is accessed through a custom-made ash door. Inside this room, there are dry toilets with stainless steel bucket and shavings compartment, an 80x80cm shower, a washbasin cabinet, as well as a wardrobe cabinet.
Finally, the bedroom on the mezzanine has a 140x190cm bed, as well as a desk (with legs crossing the joists!) and a small openwork balustrade in solid ash.
The Tiny house Sauvage is the main home of David, who installed it on his land in Mayenne.
Learn more
Related stories:
- A Nautical Baluchon Build in Brittany
- Road Runner Tiny House by Baluchon
- Kiwi Tiny House Vacation Built By Baluchon
Our big thanks to Baluchon for sharing! 🙏
You can share this using the e-mail and social media re-share buttons below. Thanks!
If you enjoyed this you’ll LOVE our Free Daily Tiny House Newsletter with even more!
You can also join our Small House Newsletter!
Also, try our Tiny Houses For Sale Newsletter! Thank you!
More Like This: Tiny Houses | THOWs | Tiny House Builders | Modern Tiny Houses
See The Latest: Go Back Home to See Our Latest Tiny Houses
Natalie C. McKee
Latest posts by Natalie C. McKee (see all)
- The Camp Creek: A 392 sq. ft. Yesterways Build - May 29, 2023
- 53′ Container Home with Impressive Storage - May 28, 2023
- Country Retreat Tiny House by Handcrafted Movement - May 27, 2023
Funny how Baluchon homes have always been beautiful. Yet this design just doesn’t do it for me.
I found this Baluchon model very beautiful…the ceiling heights and the wonderful windows. Knowing all those things will cause me to spend more money that I might want to for the otherwise basic house that is shown, I am afraid I have to say I am siding with Eric and saying it is not for me, unlike virtually every other Baluchon I have seen. I’m sure this was built to taste for the owner, and I am also sure they are delighted!
Kathy I totally agree with you… there’s something that doesn’t do it for me either. I can’t pinpoint it but…
I actually surprised that the previous comments haven’t been very complimentary, and some even being pretty negative. Granted it’s an extreme design aesthetic but I think it’s well done. I love the black with wood and even though I am generally attracted to a less severe look, I think this one was well done and attractive. the interior packs all the necessary stuff into a small space while still feeling pretty spacious because of the tall ceilings. There are a couple of things I would change even having said I like it. Not having any kind of railing on the stairs would simply not fly…nor should it…in America. Quite a safety hazard, for sure! Oh, those daring Europeans, right? And even though the foot shelf to be used with the upstairs desk is clever, having it just above where you prepare food is very unappetizing, to say the least. I think if we each imagined our own furnishings and artwork in this space, more people would warm up to it. Larger tiny houses do have more amenities like more storage and counter space but this one had a good use of what space was available. Luckily, if any of us choose to have one built, we can make the adjustments to suit our own needs and wants. I say kudos to the design team and thanks for sharing!
Well, that either is me, Kathy, or both of us… and personally I don’t see how you come up with your comment, we are just saying that it doesn’t do it for me and her. And yet we generally give them full marks. Opinions are like certain parts of our anatomy, everyone has one. It’s a fact of life.
Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion and I’m not disputing that. I’m not even disputing your comments, which are entirely valid for you and Kathy. I only expressed that I was surprised that there wasn’t more praise for such a well-designed, aesthetically pleasing Tiny. I want to let anyone reading these comments to know that your comments are every bit as valid as mine! Please allow me to be surprised without taking it personally. I have repeated over and over in my newsletter comments that my comments are absolutely based on personal preference and that they don’t negate anyone else’s comments or opinions. I do wish that you could have “put your finger on” whatever it was that bothered you because such a vague comment doesn’t allow me to attempt to see your point of view, only that you are not satisfied…and it did seem to be a negative comment to me. Something was wrong, in your opinion, but not specified. I’d still love to know what you find lacking so I can better understand your disappointment. These posts have always represented to me a chance to see the build through the eyes of others and to expand my own observation. The conversations that follow act as food for thought just as my comments are food for thought, not to disparage anyone else’s opinion. You are not wrong. I am not wrong. Your opinion is just as valid as mine. And that goes for literally all comments on all posts in this appreciated newsletter. And to be clear so you can be less “concerned” about my comment, absolutely none of my comments are meant to be snarky or a put down. Written words are sometimes difficult to interpret because you can’t see body language or if someone says it with a sarcastic edge to it. Please, everyone, when you read the comments of others, put as positive a spin on it as possible rather than come to the conclusion that it was meant to invalidate you. My apologies if anything I said was taken as a personal affront. It was not. All of that aside, there are some who do make unnecessarily snarky comments and arguments are gotten into. I don’t understand that at all. Share your observations, yes, but trying to belittle others only spoils the conversation. Everyone’s opinion should be meant to add insight or create curiosity. That is always my intent.
“There are a couple of things I would change even having said I like it. Not having any kind of railing on the stairs would simply not fly…nor should it…in America. Quite a safety hazard, for sure!”
Actually, that falls to personal preference and, especially, for custom builds. It isn’t automatically a safety hazard for everyone, it’s just a generally preferred feature that helps limit liability in terms of the average person but there are those rare few it would not serve the intended purpose and may even be what makes them less safe for certain people because they can’t use them the same way as other people.
While others may simply install them after they move in as it’s easier to move in, get the mattress in the loft, personalize it, etc. if they do it after moving in and thus seeing photos from the builder aren’t always going to show you how it will be used and it’s final configuration can even be changed a number of times during its life.
America generally has stricter building codes and railings on stairs are usually required, at least in regular homes. No regular build would pass inspection if didn’t have those railings. Perhaps there is a loophole in the codes for building Tinies that don’t require railings but I would be surprised…and disappointed, really. It is definitely a safety hazard. Clearly if someone were to try to navigate the stairs in the dark or in an emergency when speed could mean the difference between life and death, falling off would be a risk. Granted, railings do interfere with aesthetics and so opting to not have them is a design choice but railings do add an element of safety. If it is a choice when building a Tiny, then we each choose to live with the consequences. In my opinion, then, not having railings is unacceptable. As you may have read in my recent comment above about opinions, there is no arguing that we are each free to have our own without infringing on someone else’s ability to have theirs. I would be curious, though, should you be so inclined to provide detailed information that you have but I do not, if the building codes for Tinies do not include the requirement for railings. I would think others would also be curious about such things. Any further information would be very much appreciated and I thank you in advance for taking the time to share.
The tiny house building codes do address railings but strict building codes primarily apply to commercial buildings. There’s much more leeway with residential because the codes mainly address liability and people can take responsibility for their own homes. It’s one of the reasons residential home windows don’t need to be marked as emergency egress points like RV’s and commercial buildings require because the owner can be assumed to know it’s an egress point. Otherwise you’d see that with every bedroom window.
Residential inspections can also be for remodels/renovations. So can be done after the original build to show it meets code, it’s more of a checklist most of the time and not all of it has to be checked off at the same time, which is also done because code can change over time and it can become an issue for older homes to meet newer code requirements. Along with giving people time to actually move into a home and adjust it for their needs. Leeway time can range from months to even a few years…
There is also the issue that the code primarily addresses only a certain percentage of the population. Focused primarily around what is considered the average person. So doesn’t actually apply equally to everyone and there’s a percentage of the population it will actually be what’s less safe unless they adjust it to fit their needs and like ADA compliance, there are sometimes other considerations that will be taken into consideration for meeting code compliance.
So a lot of it is just what’s really practical to do in actual practice. Mind, most people will need an adjustment period when going tiny and they should be sure of what’s safe for them, and not just assume it based on what works for someone else, which is the problem with universal standards and one of the reasons why most people are choosing to go custom with tiny homes, even though it will usually cost them more to do it that way…
There’s also exceptions put into the code now for Tiny Houses, with Appendix Q from the 2018 IRC ICC update. Like allowing ladders for lofts, etc. because to an extend the code has to address what’s practical and the simple fact is not everything will be ideal or perfect for everything because that’s not realistic to do with everything. So long as the liability is taken care of, then the focus is on the owner and what they want and need, though, it does vary by municipality and that’s just a general point. Some places may be more strict or not address it at all or still prohibit any form of tiny house or require multiple specific barriers to be addressed before it’s allowed…
While there’s still the issue that none of that applies to an RV, as they don’t have to meet residential standards and tiny house on wheels can still fall under that, which leaves the compliance up to the owners as another reason it is often done after someone moves into the home and may depend on where they place it as code isn’t identical everywhere and local compliance may require different details to be met.
Most builders are moving towards meeting Appendix Q, regardless of whether they need to, but it is a market where the owner has some responsibility on making sure it meets what they need it to meet…
Beautiful and very well put together! I am curious about the electric plug in plates. Do they use a higher wattage than in the U.S.? They’re so much larger.
Yes, and that Plug is Type E, primarily used in France, Belgium, Poland, Slovakia & Czechia:
2 pins
grounded
16 A
220 – 240 V (230 V ~ 50 Hz, an EU standard since 2008)
socket compatible with plug types C, E & F
The electric power coming into a North American home or business is actually 240 volts, which is then split into two 120-volt lines (normally a split-phase three-wire system). The high-power appliances getting the direct 240 volts.
In Europe the normal power outlets are 230 volts and the high-power appliances are fed 400 volts (formerly 380 volts). Like the metric system, most of the world has followed suite with a few exceptions. Like Japan’s 100-volt 50Hz/60Hz system and of course not all countries have equal power grids and exceptions like industrial areas would be different from residential.
How wonderful that you have gone into such details! Your taking the time to do a deep dive into the nitty gritty details is definitely appreciated and it can be so helpful to those who are going to build their own Tiny. Since they are gaining popularity around the world, giving international information is doubly appreciated! Thank you!
I love these homes they build except for the composting toilet. I don’t understand why they design a beautiful home to ruin it with a composting toilet. I would want a flush toilet. Too bad they are in France.
It can be offsetting to some but it’s done because it’s technically the better option. Composting is better for the environment, it doesn’t waste drinking water and allows people to be off-grid much easier, it doesn’t pollute the environment like sewer systems do, it helps prevent methane and other greenhouse gasses from being generated as much, it’s part of the natural system that nature uses to recycle everything back to the earth and helps restore the soil, it’s actually more hygienic as it breaks down the waste and eliminates pathogens as part of the process, etc.
It just requires more labor and it can be hard for some people to get used to, with some who may never consider it no matter the benefits but there are flush-able versions of composting toilet for those who want to be more sustainable and environmental but don’t want a fully dry-toilet system.
Mind, flush toilets also have issue of needing to be covered when flushing to prevent the plume effect from spreading particulates throughout the bathroom. Mythbusters had an episode on it if you want to see how much it spreads. It’s one of the reasons studies have shown that toilet seat covers don’t work because they get contaminated. Water use is also starting to cost more. While most major cities recycle sewage water back into the drinking supply with the water treatment plants as another reason people are considering composting toilets, along with the rise of pharmaceuticals ending up in the drinking supply because they get past the treatment plants filters. Along with sewage being dumped into rivers, etc. in other areas killing fish, etc. among the examples of how it pollutes the environment.
There’s also states like Mississippi that have done a terrible job at keeping their water supply drinkable and actually had to need the feds step in and it’s still an issue there. While other states may experience droughts and other water related issues that just means sewer systems put more of a strain on resources in those areas that doesn’t have to be the case…
Builders like this one specifically want to be more sustainable and considerate of the environment. It’s one of the reasons they won’t deliver outside of France because that makes it less sustainable and more costly. However, they will put in a Flush toilet if that’s what their client wants but I hope that clears up why they often put in a composting toilet when they can, especially, as most of their units will be placed in remote locations and may need to operate off-grid…