Before tiny houses had become mini-palaces on wheels, so big and heavy that they required special permits and special convoys for towing on an exceptional basis, they stood for one thing: freedom. Freedom the tiny house is meant as a reminder of that.
Tiny houses trace their roots back to the Roma wagons, which also stood for freedom – the freedom to move around at will and to do so with everything you needed, family included, and the freedom to not be bound to a single place with a brick-and-mortar home.
When they first started pickup up traction nearly three decades ago, tiny houses were still very compact mobile homes that allowed free movement: you simply hitched them up to the towing vehicle and were on your way as soon as you folded and stowed the garden chairs. Because of their compact dimensions, they also brought a sustainable focus in that they allowed for a reduced carbon footprint.
In recent years, as their popularity widened and turned tiny living into the hottest housing alternative and social media fad, tiny houses have grown. That is both a good and a bad thing: it's good because it's wonderful to have more options to choose from, but it's bad in terms of the degree of mobility of the units themselves. Put simply, the bigger the tiny house, the less freedom it'll have. And you with it.
Photo: Lusk Tiny Homes
Freedom has all the freedom you want. That's not a typo, but the name of one of the two models offered by Lusk Tiny Homes, a new presence on the market. Lusk currently delivers only to its home country Australia, but their units can still serve as an example of a return to basics for everyone else outside Australian borders but interested in tiny living.
Freedom is just that: a compact and very minimalist unit that signals a return to basics. Sitting on a double-axle galvanized trailer, the Freedom tiny is only 6 meters (16.4 feet) long, 2.45 meters (8 feet) wide, and 4.2 meters (13.7 feet) high, so it remains perfectly towable whenever you feel like relocating.
It's not designed for long-term or permanent residency, though, and that helps with the sleek, minimalist design that makes it such a standout.
Photo: Lusk Tiny Homes
Lusk says that Freedom was envisioned as the perfect unit "for short stays and guest accommodation." That is to say this is a vacation home or an investment as a potential rental. Then again, for those who fancy this type of extreme minimalist living, it might even work as a permanent base.
Whichever the case, this tiny shows how less can sometimes be more. Whereas most tinies of this size will cram every residential creature comfort inside and fill every inch of available space with something, be it a feature, a piece of furniture, or storage, the Freedom comes across as notably pared down.
There's no loft to climb to and crouch into, few shelves (floating or not), and no volumes in the upper part to crowd the space. Instead, you get wood-paneled walls and picture windows, basking the interior in natural light and connecting it to the outside world to create the impression of a much larger footprint.
Photo: Lusk Tiny Homes
Every element in the Freedom tiny can be customized, from the exterior cladding to the colors for the custom cabinets, but Lusk Tiny Homes shows that muted colors work best with this kind of compact footprint. As such, the unit comes across as a sleek and uncluttered space where you get the basics for a comfortable daily life – and nothing more.
The layout is a linear, single-level one, with the bedroom at the end of the trailer and the bathroom at the front. Sandwiched in between is the kitchen, which is very compact but still offers the basics: a microwave, a sink, a small fridge, and cubbies and drawers for storage.
Part of the kitchen but serving as a space divider between the kitchen and the bedroom area is a tall wardrobe that seems to be the only storage option for this space. The bed, a queen size one, is framed by large windows on two sides, which, together with the high gabled roof, will help you forget you're sleeping inside a cramped tiny.
Photo: Lusk Tiny Homes
The bathroom is the only one with a door, for the obvious reasons. It's also the only place where you get a close approximation to "luxury" in this tiny house, as the shower cabin is an oversize one. Also here, you get a toilet (flushing or composting, your choice) and a sink with vanity and integrated storage.
The matte green furniture is complimented with black hardware and black fixtures, both in the kitchen and bathroom. After all, if you're working with a small space and minimal creature comforts, you might as well make it look pleasing to the eye.
The Freedom tiny comes with all-around insulation and a hidden reverse cycle system with three ducts. Power comes from an RV-style hookup, but, like with every other tiny home out there, you could cut off reliance on the grid with a solar array. It will cost extra, of course.
Speaking of costs, the Freedom tiny house is AUD94,990 (approximately US$62,500) as a turnkey unit, including taxes. Adding custom touches will also add to the final tally, because that's how these things go.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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