Last October I showed you the Pinafore Tiny House by Zyl Vardos that Abel built for the woman you’re about to meet.
Thanks to the people over at Tiny House Giant Journey for taking us on a tour inside the life of Bernadette’s simple living lifestyle after Abel, the man behind Zyl Vardos, custom designed and built this masterful tiny house on wheels that also easily qualifies as a piece of art.
Please enjoy the video tour, interview, and story behind the Pinafore tiny house below. And if you’d like to please feel free to re-share it with your friends and family using the social media and e-mail share buttons below. Thanks!
Woman Living Simply in Pinafore Tiny House
Images © Tiny House Giant Journey/YouTube
Images © Tiny House Giant Journey/YouTube
Please enjoy the rest of the tour by watching the video below. Thank you!
Video: Woman Living Simply in Pinafore Tiny House
Learn more: http://tinyhousegiantjourney.com/2015/03/13/6362/
Resources
- Tiny House Giant Journey (original story and source)
- YouTube Video @Tiny House Giant Journey
- Zyl Vardos (Tiny House Builder)
Related: Custom Pinafore Tiny House on Wheels by Zyl Vardos
If you enjoyed this story on how this woman is living tiny in this Pinafore tiny house you’ll absolutely LOVE our free daily tiny house newsletter with even more! Thank you!
Alex
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What a wonderful home and studio set up she has! So blessed!
Thanks Lynnette, I agree!
Hi there,
My husband and I are considering buying land in Southern Maryland, and building a Tiny House when he retires.
I am curious to know what zoning obstacles you faced, if any at all?
Thanks
Heather MC
I love this house! It’s such a unique and artistic home and I like the stairs (as opposed to a ladder); very good call. Great kitchen and lots of storage… The studio is also really cool. Very nicely done.
Glad you like it too Holly!
I liked the furniture instead of built in pieces. It made it look more like a home.
Great job and wonderful planning.
Totally! Thanks Mary Lynne!
You are SO right Mary Lynne about the furniture as opposed to built-ins. And I like to see people in tiny homes too. It gives me some idea of how I might fit into a tiny house.
I just love this house I think its whimsical and the type of house I want with one exception I would want my extra house or shed to be added on the TH I want to be able to go into it without going out side in the cold or HOT
Great ideas Mardee!
Just the other day my son was talking about the same thing but he was thinking along the lines of family camping. We printed out 2 copies of the tiny house called ‘Lillypad’ the one that looks like half moon shape and he said if we made 2 that were mirror image of each other with a door in the middle of the 2 staircases so that you could put them side by side and have basically a double wide tiny house but each could be used separately.
Lots of details would have to be worked out on how to seal the pass through and whatnot but it sounds like a great idea to me.
Love this…very much. Especially with the studio beside it. Just what I need. Did I miss it?? What kind of heat?
I thought I saw an oil filled electric radiator in the bathroom? But that can’t be the heat for the entire home?
She has a Dickinson Propane heater and an electrical oil one.
Thanks Guillaume 🙂
This has to be one of the most beautiful tiny homes I have ever seen. It’s stunning, a work of art (an understatement).
Thanks CathyAnn!
THAT’S BECAUSE IT IS A ZYL VARDOS, AND ABEL IS AN ARTIST AS WELL AS A BUILDER. HIS WORK IS MY FAVORITE, SO FAR. JUST AWESOME.
Lovely!
🙂
Inside looks like cedar. Does the smell of cedar get to you after awhile? To much of a good thing?
I love this house! Regarding the cedar the smell goes away over time as you get used to it which is a shame because when I lived in a cedar cabin I loved the smell of the cedar.
Thanks for posting this, Alex. I saw the Pinafore the first time you posted it. Now I know who to envy because she has it and I don’t. 🙂
Some day – – some day – – I’d love to purchase something similar from Zyl, move into it and rent out my small [611 sq ft] home to local artists as studio spaces. Some day.
I’m glad you enjoyed it a lot too! Thanks!
Off the subject but Alex how do we upload a pic of ourselves on here for our replies/comments?
Three cheers and one cheer more for this pinafore! Such beautiful work to build and then to make it a home.
Beautiful! Like all of Zyl’s work, this is an heirloom; the value of it will soar over the decades.
I’m wondering how she sourced her land and also how the water access works, if anyone knows?
Should have known this would be a Zyl THOW; totally gorgeous! Love the fact he works closely with each client re built-ins v. furniture, height of doors, looks/feel of the house (I’m a hobbit fan for interiors, myself). Everything looks fabulous; she’s a lucky girl!
I’m waiting for a new industry to pop up that will supply THOW’s with accessories. Example: Here she used straw bales to form an insulating skirt around the undercarriage. She put the bales in plastic bags and sealed them with duct tape. Imagine how nice it would be to have a netting (like a military camouflage field netting) that had ivy or philodendron leaves or mimicked moss in some color-fast durable plastic on field netting that could be draped over these bales and just folded up and stored in nylon bags when not in use. I think there is a whole new industry out there just waiting to be born. 😉
Maybe you should start this! I’ve often thought that it is surprising that I’ve haven’t seen any THOW with skirting that can be easily attached to the house when it is going to be sitting for awhile.
THINK SHE SHOULD HAVE BUT THE BALES SLIGHTLY UNDER THE HOUSE & PUT UP CRISSCROSS FENCING IN CEDAR AROUND THE OUTSIDE TO COVER IT UP. DON’T KNOW WHAT THE SLATS ARE CALLED.
THAT WAS “PUT” NOT “BUT”. CANNOT EDIT??> EEUUW
Are you thinking of “lattice”, Bev?
That is so funny, I just asked Alex about Tiny Houses with real furniture in the first post and then I see this…Brilliant!
Alex, love the Pinafore! I’m curious about where she is living in MD? It looked like there were other tiny houses around her?
Is it a park or Tiny Home community?
I’d LOVE a tiny house park of all Zyl builds; talk about SWOON!!!
I second that!!
I’m also curious of her location! We live in southern Maryland and are building a tiny house, we would be interested in hearing of the circumstances and legalities!!!
Lovely! What would this cost, though?
Love. This. House.
Although the built-ins I see in most tiny houses offer storage and other benefits, I much prefer the furniture in this TH for several reasons: it can be rearranged to create different looks; it can be replaced when it is getting old or it is damaged; different sizes/types can be used when the homeowner’s needs change; and most of the bench built-ins look just plain uncomfortable to me.
Another huge plus in this custom-built home is that the height under the loft was designed specifically for Bernadette. I got a chuckle when she told the story of her friend who is taller than her. He hit his head on the loft under the kitchen. I am much shorter than Bernadette, so the loft could be built lower therefor giving more headroom in the loft.
Thanks for sharing this gem. 🙂
This is a dream. One of the things I love about the TH concept is that it leaves you with the extra money to customize and add the little details that make it your very own.
Ceder is beautiful and fragrant, especially for closets and chests. It’s something I will definitely use in my plans. Additionally, works better than mothballs to protect your clothes -and smells a lot better.
The stairs are beautifully done and enhance the overall charm of the home where a ladder would detract from it. It’s perfect, and complete with a beautiful, cuddly TH-size furry friend. 🙂
Hi, my daughter-in-law sells Thirty-One and everytime I see one of the tiny houses you high-light I think of the storage Thirty-One storage containers could provide. I have included a link to the containers I think are especially tiny house friendly.
I love your tiny house newsletter. I have found so many wonderful ideas. The house that really caught my attention is the Zero House featured on 2/9/2015. I contacted the designer and the Zero House is not currently not suited for a Minnesota climate.
I look forward to more tiny house designs, ideas and workshops.
Keep up the good work.
http://view.e.thirtyonegifts.com/?j=fec913747761077c&m=fe9a13707565037f71&ls=fe3517707065037d761774&l=ff631d7076&s=fe6110767664067f7313&jb=ff3015767160&ju=fe60167577670d7f7413&r=0
Cool! Thanks Cindy!
Beautiful!
I am poorer than a church mouse and on disability. I am a retired 60-year-old teacher. Does anyone know how I can find a way to build a cheap version of this? I love quality materials, but I just don’t have the money. I need to get away from the crime and high prices of my apartment!
I appreciate any help.
They build very beautiful tiny homes. But they sell for a big price. On their website I saw a house called the little bird, base price 55,500.00. The whole point of the tiny house movement was to get out of debt and not have a mortgage.
Unfortunately beauty is costly – for the craftsmanship and materials, it is clear that Abel charges relatively little for his skill and artistry – a way for a relatively small market to afford beautiful work and an artist to fulfill his dreams. It seems that there are many houses that allow their owners to live well without debt these days but Abel’s gift is rare and wonderful! Hoping someday I can afford one!
Woodwork is great, especially like the door. However… Those outside shakes are going to require maintenance. Another loft, see how she had to bend?; loft for storage, Murphy bed for sleep. I see too that a lot of storage space was passed over, especially the lack of drawers under the steps. All of the custom work, windows, door, roof, likely doubled or tripled the cost, so it’s quite apparent a ‘artist’ designed it. If I wanted one I’d design the layout myself, then I would have what I wanted, and not what someone else decides I want. And I noticed that she is not planning on living in it permanent, I wouldn’t either. I appreciate the work, but not the design.