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This is Michelle’s 246 sq. ft. Nanostead tiny home on wheels that she’s named the Radhaus.
While she designed most of her tiny house herself, Michelle decided to hire the help of Nanostead to further design and build it so she could save some precious time and move into her tiny house within a few months rather than in over a year.
In total, she spent about $53,000 to have Nanostead built it for her. Michelle has now been happily living in it for just over three months and is absolutely loving it even though she admits there have been some ups and downs. Right now she rents land and also rents a 5×5 storage unit nearby to keep some extra belongings. Her long-term plan is to buy her own land and build an additional storage shed on the property.
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She Hired Nanostead to Build her 246 Sq. Ft. Radhaus Tiny Home on Wheels
Images © Radhaus
Three months living in the Radhaus and I lovelovelove it! Here you see it looking teeny tiny on the farm. It sits facing south in full sun, just as I planned for. I did not want to be in a shaded forest to help prevent mold issues, which is a big issue here in the humid southeast.
Getting settled into the Radhaus is a work in progress. During the past three months there have been glitches, minor disasters and moments of glamping. (Glamorous camping) There have also been moments of sheer delight, complete satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment, and the warm embrace of Home.
This is the Radhaus when it’s a mess! And it happens fast. Luckily the clean up is also fast. I’m a pretty neat and orderly person typically so usually I put things away right away, which is essential when living in a tiny space. But it does get away from me once in a while.
A friend asked if all my stuff fit. The short answer is yes. I’ve been a gypsy since moving out of my parents house at age 18, never living in one home for more than 5 years. That’s made it easy not to acquire a lot of stuff. I’ve purged all my physical possessions down to a few boxes several times in my life, so I actually didn’t have all that much stuff anyway. I designed enough storage and closets that all my clothes and kitchenware fit, didn’t have to downsize that and I sold my dresser. My bed and my desk fit, my camp gear fits, I got rid of random furniture pieces that I have no need for in the Radhaus.
This might be one of the biggest challenges with living in a tiny house, the tiny fridge. Two cubic ft fridge and 1 cf freezer. But we’re working it out.
Love the 30″ sink. 10″ deep.
24″ four burner stove and oven. Essential. Propane powered.
So you can see I have a fully functional kitchen. This is important to me. I like to grow food, harvest, process, shop for food, cook for myself, cook for others, and eat.
Video editing workspace. I cut the legs to fit on the wheel well ledge. To use it as a dinner table, I pull it out and attach the leg parts that I cut off. When I eventually have a separate work studio space this will be a nice place for a loungey sofa. And a Kimberly wood stove!!
Stairs/storage/bench. Lots of guests sit their butts right there on the bench while I fix them a refreshing beverage or a yummy meal in the kitchen. I’m so happy with the stairs to the sleeping loft. Very easy to ascend. Easy enough to descend and MUCH better than a ladder. The storage cubbies aren’t quite sorted out yet but between the two closets and these cubbies, all my clothes, linens, and various detritus fit. With room to spare. Now, I just need to find bins that will fit these pretty custom cubbies. I’d like to visually not see the stuff in the cubbies.
There’s one of my closets on the right. It’s like a coat/broom closet. Again, hoping to find bins for the cubbies for a more clean aesthetic. I put a few art pieces on the stairs. I like them there. I’m leaning towards not so much art on the walls. I like the clean, quiet white in such a small space. And the windows give plenty of beauty to look at. I am happy that all the art and textiles and chotchkies that I’ve collected from my travels over the years are now gracing the walls and halls of my best friends birthing center in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Second closet. Still figuring out if I’m going to put a door on this closet and what type of door that would be.
Hallway to mudroom, bathroom, back door. Two feet wide and 6′4″ tall. Plenty of room. So the idea is to come in through this door when I have dirty clothes and shoes on. I take them off in the mudroom and go straight to the shower. A brilliant design designed specifically for my life, pour moi.
Mudroom. All the shoes this woman owns. Work and weather dictate my fashion.
Mudroom. Dirty work clothes hang here until laundry day (today). Tote bags go here too. There are two rows of hooks. Again, such a brilliant solution to my daily needs. I’ve always needed a mudroom, never had one. So happy I got to design one into my house.
Shower. I struggled with this one piece plastic insert shower. I wanted a very cool shower made with natural elements and we discussed so many ideas for it. One big issue I was concerned about repeatedly with the house was moisture/mold issues. Concerns about water/leak proofing and ultimately time and cost led us to decide on this. Meh. But hey, I have a shower in my tiny house and it’s spacious. And the shower head is tall, I don’t have to crouch. Life is good.
Bathroom. So you’re probably wondering about the toilet. It’s plumbed for a real toilet for if/when I ever want to sell it. For me, my intention has always been to put in a humanure compost toilet. The bucket kind. Which is what we have on the farm here, just a few foggy-morning-skips away from the Radhaus so I’m not needing one right now in my haus. One day there will be an attractive, well-crafted piece of wood furniture that will house a 5-gallon bucket that will be my toilet. Read The Humanure Handbook by Joe Jenkins to learn all about it.
The sleeping loft is 7′x7′ The foot of the queen mattress is at the edge of the loft. I have about a foot on the left for a lamp and bedside stuffz and a few inches on the other side. The window at the head of the bed is fixed, the two windows on either side are awning windows. Maximum head space all around, about 4′ from loft floor to ceiling. I can sit up very comfortably in bed without bonking my head.
This is where I sit and drink my morning coffee.
The price tag went up to just under 53K when we decided to add the rusty steel to the awesome exterior design.
Here it is parked in it’s new location on a farm in Swannanoa, NC, about 15 minutes east of Asheville.
Images © Radhaus
Learn more: http://radhausblog.tumblr.com/
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Alex
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This is such a great story. Seems she’s got it all together. So very happy for her aND goes to show that you can retain a significant amount of belongings too lol
Interesting floor plan. Great kitchen – thanks for sharing.
I love the kitchen! Great layout and plenty of counter space. This place is very appealing.
Great tiny house. I’ve wondered about stairs, how much room they take, ( somewhat mitigated by using as storage, as here,) and thought it might be possible to use a winch. 12 volt boat winches are less than $50 and could be used to raise and lower a platform. What do you think?
Hi Michelle,
Love your kitchen and staircase. Lots of storage is a good thing especially in a tiny house. I would like to know where you got the shower inset. I haven’t seen one like that before.
Absolutely adorable! And the exterior is beautiful! Enjoy!!
Really, really nice. I love the delegation of space with the nooks. The kitchen is beautiful and functional, and the exterior is unusual and original and lovely. Thanks for sharing this tiny house with us.
It’s lovely!
Hey- one great way to deal with mold (I live on the foggy west coast where it is also an issue) are leafy green house plants. Spider plants, Peace lilies, all the standard, easy to care for green house plants. They filter out mold, formaldehyde and other common toxic preservatives in products, as well as suck up carbon dioxide & release oxygen. It took my plants about a year or so to really take care of the pesky, persistent mold I had in my little studio (mold initially resilient to scrubbing with TSP, painting & repeated basting with bleach & water…) I love my green plants! Very healthy to have in a small space. Plants + good circulating fresh air.
JJUDI, thank you for that comment about house plants helping with mold and damp. We have a problem with mould in our small house in France. At the moment we are only there for school holidays, but when we are there for longer. I will be able to try plants as helpers! When we are not there the house is closed up – windows and shutters closed – so the mild is always worse then. I don’t think plants would be happy in the dark conditions then.
Mold can come from lingering condensation when a house is closed up. Without heat and fresh air buildings start to suffer.
You could leave a few small bowls of bicarbonate of soda out to soak up any moisture and smell. If you have any way of leaving the building secure but ventilated that will help enormously. Modern window frames often have vents in them. If old frames have been well insulated to stop the draft in the cracks removing some of it could be worth while. Since everything has to be shut down to prevent water leaks &c the heat will have to be done without.
It is a very old house – possibly 250+ years old – and probably started life as a large barn. It has no damp proof course and very thick (18″) walls. The wooden window frames are old and air does come in, as 3 of the shutters are the metal type, which have air vents in. There is just not enough air circulation and the house that backs on to the worse wall is not lived in at the moment. We use damp traps when we are away and air the house thoroughly when we are there. I will try bicarbonate of soda as well next time we are there.
Thank you again.
This is the best functional lay out design of a tiny home, that I have ever seen! I absolutely love the kitchen’s wrap around design! It really makes me feel, there was no cutting corners to make everything fit. For me, the kitchen is my home. Counter space is everything!
I would add a copper, filigree roof with matching stove vent. And also a pot/pan rack above the sink, just to use the dimensions of the kitchens ceiling. Then throw in some L.E.D. Track lighting to make the copper accents sing!! Here’s dreaming. Oh above the bed room, I would change the pitch of the ceiling by doing a gabled roof, maybe by a ft? Just so I could throw in double sky lighting, and an emergancy escape hatch.
I actually would use this entire lay out, as my tiny Home! Thank you for posting!
I love your plan Michelle! Let me count the ways:1) having a back door that connects to a MUDROOM with clothing and shoe storage and the bathroom is inspired! 2) your stairway storage appears to me to be about as good as it gets, and I am crazy about the 2 extended steps that double as guest seating, again inspired! 3) love the kitchen, 4) I love the wall and wood finishes. I can see where the money was spent. Your home appears to be extremely livable and well planned.
I love theis house – so well thought through. I think I could manage your stairs, though a handrail would be useful. I think I would prefer a rail/bannister to the loft, as I can be a bit muddle-headed when I wake up in the night! I nought a transparent non-slip tape for the edges of our steep wooden staircase in France and I think it helps.
Just an idea for the “problems”. You might look into gathering up a few pallets (can often get them free from businesses that just want to toss them anyway.) Check out buying a small to medium “container” to store your stuff on your own land. Purchase just a lot in the country or so? Just an idea mind you hope it helps. I mean rather than renting everything, try a rent to OWN situation? Take care , God bless and happy trails! Congrats on your THOW!
I am in awe of your spacious kitchen! I simply cannot give up my kitchen power tools, as cooking from scratch is a must for me, and especially for the hub’s restricted diet. The mud room is genius! With the new interfacings, fabric bins for your cubbies would be a breeze. I see you have a few already! I am making many for myself. They are super light, washable, and very attractive, and can even have pockets for the tiny things. Do you sew? That’s another of my vices that will go into my tiny home!
Beautiful design! As for not wanting to see what’s in your storage cubbies; doors on the outside (maybe 1 per column?) would not cost you any storage space inside.
Another possible storage idea is wine bottle boxes. Made of wood and are long. They are usually fairly spacious for packing material around the bottles. They also come with nice designs on the ends …add different vintage doorknobs for ‘pulls’ and you have a visual as well. Can’t tell your space dimensions but I used them before in a similar vein.
Michelle I sent a link that has cheap wooden wine boxes of all sizes and shapes. The link is waiting approval.
The price seems mighty high but it’s hard to know what makes it that way. As in so many tiny homes every thing is designed to maximize storage. The thing I see totally wrong here is the person who designed it again forgot the “living in it” aspect. There doesn’t appear to be a single place to sit comfortably. And that will make the owner weary very quickly. I started out using two nice chairs in mine but added a upholstered chair and a half. It is 100% better. So when I look at this house I give it a very neutral rating. A+ for the Kitchen D- for the rest of it.
For the closet door, a bifold might be nice. For storage under the stairs, baskets would work well and look nice. Re price: if people think the cost is high, maybe they should check out real estate prices. Are they serious??
I love this little home! Everything is well planned. I love the little book shelves in the loft. What a great idea for that space!
Nice design , please explain the 247 so ft, looks more like 180 ecobuilthomes.com
Lovely house. I like the way it is laid out. Personally, I would have worked backwards with the size of the cubby holes and made them to fit existing boxes/baskets, even if I left buying them until a later date. Not having the kitchen under the sleeping loft looks a whole lot safer to me and less condensation from boiling pans. Allows you more time in the more open area too. A sofa-bench where the desk is with a fold out desk as cupboard cover would work well for me. Perhaps that could be the closet door – a thicker frame with a hardboard panel that allows a table with folding legs to sit inside the frame. Think of a decorators pasting table as a guide. Gives you table space for feeding guests.
I agree, every home needs a comfortable place to sit and relax…other than that it’s nice. I’d reduce the price though by taking off the ugly horrible rusted metal.
I have criticised Prices on here before, But the standard of finish appears to be very high and boutique cladding are going to cost. Not to mention labour. The price of this is what I would expect. What does a similar length caravan cost in the US?
Great layout, very functional. This is a very livable space with a lot of personality. Instead of using bins for your custom cubbies, maybe add little doors made out of art work or interesting pieces of wood. Or maybe little curtains made of fun fabrics?
In any case, I think it’s money well spent — at the end of the day, you have a custom house that suits you to a T and what could be better?!
Love what you have done-have been planning one that fits me -live mud room and kitchen-what size did you start with?
Lovely home. Inviting. Love how the inside windows are. Clever design and no wasted space.
Maybe its just the photos, but seems to be cramped and claustrophobic to me.