The high cost of housing in today's world makes talented people look for a way out. One of the easiest ways to build the cheapest house, of course, is to downsize it.
Therefore, among other architectural trends, the concept of a mini-house is now being actively developed. The term "mini-house" means not only from the word small, mini is an architectural style of minimalism. This is a house in which there are no corridors, in which each room is multifunctional, in which there is a very thoughtful layout and you can reach the right thing almost without leaving your place.
Let's look at a few mini-houses (also called tiny house, little house, cabine - tiny houses, small houses, cabins) developed abroad, and then move on to the proposal from the DKMK plant
mini house trailer
This tiny house has a cute rustic look and brings a lot of smiles to those around you.
And this mini house was assembled by an American student from old parts and junk building materials from a landfill. Nevertheless, the creation of this residential trailer with all the amenities and furniture with an area of about 16 square meters cost $ 12,000 (about 740,000 rubles at today's exchange rate).
15 square meters mini house
In this house, only fifteen square meters of space, not counting the veranda, and in fact, there are only two rooms: a tiny toilet and a combined living-kitchen-dining-bedroom. Despite its modest size, it will be a comfortable home for a single person, a group of tourists or fishermen ... provided that it is warm.
Can such a house serve as housing for the newlyweds - here is the same house in white.
Dwelle mini house concept
One of the most thoughtful mini houses is presented by the architectural company Dwelle. It has been worked out in several versions, from a very tiny 3x6 cabin for one or two people, to a quite comfortable large mini-house four meters wide and at least seven meters long.
This is how this wonderful mini house, set in the forest, looks like.
The purpose of the mini-house
The main advantage of a mini house is, first of all, low price, and secondly, compactness, comfort and convenience at home. The mini-house should have communal amenities: electricity, cold and hot water, a toilet and the opportunity to wash. This distinguishes a mini house from a garden or country house.
As you understand, due to its very small size, any mini-house serves as housing either for one or two people for a long time, or for three or four, but only for a few days.
Thus, the mini house can serve as:
- mini house for permanent residence,
- retirement home,
- house of a young couple or students
- country house
- a house for a recreation center, a camp site,
- guest House,
- extension to main house
Architectural solutions for mini houses
A typical solution for a mini-house is not only horizontal, but also vertical zoning of the room. For example, on the second mezzanine - in Russian speaking, polati - a sleeping place is taken out, and the dining-living room is located below.
Mini-houses for permanent residence from the DKMK plant
First, minidom "Brigita"- a house for 540 thousand in the summer cottage easily becomes a home for permanent residence at a price of 695 thousand rubles. This price includes a reliable foundation, and the wiring of utilities around the house, and the finishing of walls and ceilings with plasterboard with puttying seams for wallpaper. And porcelain tiles on the floor in the bathroom. And installation of a shower cabin, a sink and a toilet bowl chosen and bought by you.
An analogue of Brigitte is a slightly more budgetary domillon "Eva"
Secondly, this is a Finnish house designed by the Ryabina project, 6x6 in size, with a usable area of more than 30 square meters and costing about 960,000 rubles.
Layout of a mini house size 6x6 "Rowan"
Thirdly, you can choose the house "Alisa" with a size of 6x6 on one floor, which costs about 1 million rubles for a usable area of 48 square meters! Be honest, is it possible to buy an apartment of 48 square meters in Yekaterinburg for one million rubles?
The layout of the frame mini house "Alisa" on one floor with a veranda
Fourth, you can choose the "Nadezhda" 8x4 one-story house, which costs about 920,000 rubles for a usable area of 28 square meters plus a beautiful veranda!
Everyone has the opportunity to build a dream home, and if you do everything yourself, you will be able to create a special, unique atmosphere, avoiding standard and hackneyed approaches. And even if, perhaps, it will be just a small house in a summer cottage, but it will be filled with happiness and warmth.
1. Hut on chicken legs in Strathmore
This fabulous home was created by a group of architects from Broadhurst Architects for a client who had land in Maryland. On almost 25 square meters of this charming house there is a kitchen, a living room with a gas fireplace, a bedroom, a bathroom and a pretty veranda. It is made from previously used materials and is equipped with a rainwater collection system, solar panels, a modern security system from bears, rodents and other uninvited guests.
This cute A-shaped house takes only a day to assemble and costs $1,200. It was designed by Derek Didriksen of Relax Shacks and built by Joe Everson of Tennessee Tiny Homes. The roof and walls are made of polycarbonate material, which is lightweight and easy to handle. If you want to add space, from 6 to 9 square meters, you just need to raise the wall. The house has two beds that can also be used as shelves, a small kitchen with a sink and a mini-fridge.
This amazing little cottage, owned by designer McLoyd of Creative Cottages, has a kitchen, living room, bathroom, two bedrooms, gas fireplace, laundry area and terrace. According to Mack, his dwelling demonstrates the ergonomics of space, so that the whole family can live in it. Assembly of the house will take only a week.
Foy and Louise, a Maine couple, spent about 10 years building the house to rent out. When the project was ready, we decided to live in it ourselves. The house with an area of just over 20 square meters stands on a plastic pallet and a pontoon. It was first collected on land, and then launched into the water. Unfortunately, it can suddenly flood. Louise carries water for hours in a 55-litre water tank to keep the shower and kitchen running, and there's also a rainwater harvesting system to water the plants. The house has a bedroom, living room and equipped kitchen. In the evening and at night, it is lit by candles and gas lamps and thanks to the energy of solar panels.
This is probably the largest of the houses presented in the review, since its area is almost 40 square meters. This little house is easily moved on a trailer. The spacious bedroom has a large bed and multifunctional shelves, which are located in different places. In the kitchen area there is also a dining area, and outside there is a 9 square meter veranda where you can barbecue or enjoy the sun and fresh air.
An extreme skiing couple, Molly Baker and Zack Giffin, are constantly traveling from place to place, so they decided to buy a mobile home to be at home everywhere. In a two-story house on the ground floor there is a living and dining room with a kitchen with a small stove. The guest bedroom and storage area can be accessed via an unusual staircase. The cost of the house is $25,000.
Nestled in a majestic forest, this modern cabin was built to replace a 1960s building that had stood there for decades. Inside, the house has a modern elegant design, but it seems to be sandwiched between two large stones - one serves as a support, and the other - the basis for the terrace. The house is spacious, as its area is more than 30 square meters, and the windows are quite large.
8. Secluded cottage
The 35 m2 house is built from natural materials and features energy-saving technologies, vaulted ceilings and large full-length windows. In addition, there is a glazed terrace that can be used as a dining room or an additional bedroom. The house has a fireplace and a kitchen.
9. Carrie and Shane's little house
A married couple recently completed a three-month construction and furnishing of a pretty 18 square meter house. The basis for the mobile home was the trailer. The house itself is equipped with a water heater, dry closet, solar battery, and large windows contribute to better lighting.
10. Small House by Richardson Architects
The small house has a bright exterior and interior. The area is 25 square meters and it is equipped with a rustic-style terrace. It is interesting that on the terrace there is a board on which menus are indicated every day, and comfortable wooden chairs made from previously used materials. Inside - two bathrooms and double bedrooms, a kitchenette and a dining room. Stainless steel materials and painted plywood sheets were also used in the construction. The house is located in a picturesque corner of the California coast.
11. Tom's tree house
Tree houses never cease to amaze. Many would like to stay at Camp Wandawega, located in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, to spend the night in such a lodge. The three-storey building is located on an elm. On the spacious terrace you can relax in a hammock or dine in the afternoon. On the second floor there is a library, a bedroom.
12. House on Orcas Island
The house is hidden in a thicket of elms and cedars on Oscar Island, Washington. This is an ideal place for those who want to retire and get closer to nature. On a total area of just over 35 square meters there is a living room, a bathroom, and on the second floor - a bedroom. Since the outside temperature can drop significantly in winter, the house is equipped with energy-saving windows and insulating materials.
13. Box of matches
Gingerbread Cottage.
The houses in the American town of Oak Bluffs are prime examples of how small a home can be cozy and beautiful. Many of them are decorated with Victorian-style ornaments and painted in different colors, as well as equipped with fancy terraces and attics where the bedrooms are located. Renting such a house per week will cost $ 1,800.
This shabby but chic cottage is built with 95% recycled materials from 25 other houses that are 200 years old or more. This 7-square-foot home from Texas Tiny Houses features arched windows and stained-glass windows. The stairs leading to the second floor lead to the sleeping area. The rustic-style cabin features a kitchen, living room and dining area.
But these examples are far from all that people are capable of doing in order to have separate housing, because everyone has their own little childhood dream, the realization of which our review offers:.
Let's try to calculate how much it costs to build a small country house with your own hands. Such a need, how to build a house for temporary residence, arises quite often, since the number of gardening associations in the country is quite large. Such a small house will serve you as a shelter from the rain, a place to spend the night, a warehouse for storing garden tools, while the cost of its construction is not so high.
House project
Before you build a beautiful house, you need to design it. This will save time and money. If you are able to develop such a project (calculate the type and parameters of the foundation, roof slope, etc.), then you can do it yourself.
Another option is to buy a ready-made standard project for such a house. (photo small standard houses). It costs much less than an individual project, and there are a great many options for them.
Typical designs are not immutable. At your request, for example, the dimensions of the walls of the house, the location of openings, etc. can be changed. Taking into account the characteristics of the soil on your site, the foundation will be adapted, which guarantees the reliability of the structure. Before you build a beautiful house, you can draw up an estimate for its construction, including the quantity and cost of building materials used. Let's make an approximate calculation of how much it will cost to build a house with your own hands.
Foundation calculation
Before you build a beautiful house, you need to decide on the foundation. Its choice and calculation is extremely important, since it depends on whether the building will stand for a long period or its service life is short. The cost of a foundation for a small house can cost you from 15 to 30% of the total amount of the structure being built. For light buildings, there are the following types of bases:
- Column Foundation. It is a column of bricks, blocks, asbestos pipes or concrete buried in the ground. They are located at the corners of the future house, at the intersection of walls and partitions, along the walls in increments of 1.5-2.5 m. Before building a small house on such a basis, careful leveling of the site is required. It is arranged on dense, not subject to seasonal heaving soils. The approximate cost of its construction (with a column height of 50 cm): for a house with dimensions of 6x6 is $ 375 (with a column of 25x25 (the smallest possible)) and $ 530 (with a column of 50x50), and with dimensions of 8x8 - $ 470 and $ 700 respectively.
- Strip foundation. This is a reinforced concrete tape buried in the ground. For light buildings on non-fluffy and low-porosity soils, a shallow strip foundation is performed. The depth of its occurrence is from 30 to 70 cm. With many advantages, this type of foundation has a number of disadvantages: high cost, labor intensity, inapplicability in flooded areas. The cost of a shallow strip foundation averages from $ 46 per linear meter. It directly depends on its dimensions: height, length, width.
- pile foundation. This is a set of piles, united at the top with an iron, wooden or reinforced concrete grillage. Driven piles are driven into the ground, screw piles are twisted, drilling piles are installed in wells, poured out of concrete into drilled holes (stuffed piles). This is an ideal foundation for light structures for all types of soils, except for rocky ones. Cost per running meter of this type of foundation: $30.
- slab foundation. It is a monolithic reinforced concrete slab laid on a sand and gravel cushion. It is used on heaving and floating soils. Due to their high cost for light buildings, little is used.
house frame
After tying the foundation with beams (with anchor bolts), the frame of the house is assembled from beams with a section of 100x100, 100x150, 150x150 and fixed with metal corners. They are tied from above, and the floor beams are laid.
Roof rafters, crossbars and struts for it are mounted. The crate is made of boards 100x25 mm with gaps of 20 cm between them. It is laid with ondudilin, metal tile or profiled sheet. The frame of the house is insulated, steam and wind protection is laid and sheathed with a 16 mm board or plywood.
Note! The cost of building a house frame (excluding interior decoration, windows and doors) ranges from $1250 to $3150. Such a spread in prices for a built house is due to the size of the building and the variability of the building materials used.
Frame prefabricated structures
Small standard frame prefabricated houses are on sale. Such a house is easy to assemble with your own hands, with minimal building skills.
In order to understand how much it costs to build a frame assembly house, consider the cost of houses with dimensions of 5x5 and 7x7 m. The walls are an imitation of timber, the interior decoration is lining. Double glazing. Grooved board floor. Roofing - professional sheet.
- Option 1. Frame house, 5x5 m in size. The price of the structure itself is $ 2930.
- Option 2. Frame house, size 7.2x7.5 m. Construction price - $ 4610.
The assembly of such buildings is paid separately and usually amounts to at least 25% of the total cost of the prefabricated structure. The purpose of this article is not to tell you how to build a beautiful house for a summer cottage, but to guide you in a wide price range for its construction.
It is impossible to predict what changes will occur in your family in 10-15-20 years.
It is impossible to predict future lifestyle changes.
If you are planning to build a residential building, then how to build empty mansions in reserve, it is most reasonable to start from a minimum, from a small building of the “core of the house”, but at the same time provide for the possibility of extensions and transformations.
Each family is unique and inimitable, each family is individual in priorities and features of the way of life, each family is worthy of its own, individual, atypical house, “sharpened” precisely for its distinctive features.
Let's start the conversation with the smallest possible cell of society: from a family consisting of one person.
HOUSE FOR ONE PERSON
Who is in this customer group?
1. Convinced Bachelors, such as the current Boy Scout (his needs have already been raised in the topic "")
2. single, divorced both men and women
3. Elderly, widowed people. Homes and facilities for the elderly can be made much smaller than usual and therefore cheaper. Inside the house there should be no stairs, and ramps are arranged outside. It is desirable that public service centers and recreation areas are located nearby.
4. Young, older children who are looking for independence, who need not just a room, but an autonomous territory, a springboard for independent action. In order to create favorable conditions for growing children, it is worth turning their bedroom into an independent “own home”. This room remains part of a large house, but at the same time separated spatially, you can even offer a special roof and an independent entrance.
5. Visitors, business travelers, students etc. if a house for one is considered in the context of a replacement housing stock.
6.et cetera...
A house for one person can be adapted to the lifestyle of the owner as much as possible. In fact, this is a house-room, a separate room with a separate entrance, interlocked with the main walls of existing neighboring houses. The space of the house can not be divided into separate rooms. Essentially, it is a neutral room with niches around it that serve as a bedroom, living room, kitchen, study, workshop, hallway. Such a house can be arranged from one large room of complex configuration, a kitchen niche, a combined bathroom, a sleeping alcove, a window seat.
All art here consists in folding, compressing familiar rooms and premises, in the ability to use space twice.
Consider the expansion of the existing "core of the house" - a new 1-storey building attached to the blank part of the wall of the existing house.
This option is the most preferred. Indeed, we connect with our small increase in power (per person) to the existing engineering communications systems, during construction we build less on the whole wall, for adjacent rooms we serve each other as more thermal protection than the neighborhood directly with the environment.
We do not pay special attention to furniture, etc. - these are just basic elements for scale ...
In this example, the entrance is on the right, a blank wall below:
The first problem that single people face is isolation from their neighbors. If the house does not stand alone, but is part of a residential group, then isolation is not perceived so sharply.
The next design challenge is to simplify the home, as one person has the ability to make the home as personal as possible. In our example, the total area of the order of 32 m 2 is not the limit at all - if desired, you can shrink by 20-30 percent.
For a comfortable stay of one person, up to 30 m 2 of the total area is usually enough.
The central part of the house-room can be left free from furniture, it is intended for universal use. To visually increase the volume of the room, it is advisable to have one large floor-to-ceiling window and several smaller windows located in niches and an alcove.
Niche kitchen.
The working kitchen, separated from other rooms and intended only for cooking, came from the bourgeois past, when there were mansions with a cook and servants. In the people's dwelling "hearth", i.e. the place next to which they prepared and ate food has always been and remains the heart of the house. In a traditional peasant hut, cooking and other household chores are spatially integrated in one room. Family life is concentrated around a large common table. The separate arrangement of the kitchen and dining room separates the guests and the owner, offering the latter the role of a waiter. At the same time, cooking requires special equipment and furnishings.
This conflict can be overcome by using a kitchen niche adjacent to the common room, or located in a wall niche. With this arrangement of space, cooking becomes just as natural an activity as eating itself.
Possible ways to compress space:
1. TV on a bracket, working in turn into 3 zones: kitchen, living room sofa and bed;
2. a wide and deep window sill at the dining table at a level of 0.45 m can serve as an additional seat for the eater at the table, which automatically excludes extra chairs from this area;
3. The kitchen table can be combined with a computer desk to create a versatile sitting work area.
Bathroom necessary not only for sanitary procedures. In the bathroom, we turn to ourselves, to our body, after water procedures we want to spend time in comfort, so it is quite natural that at the first opportunity people tend to increase the size of the bathroom, create conditions for relaxation nearby.
In a house for one person, the best solution would be a large combined sanitary unit with two exits: to the sleeping alcove and the hallway. Guests, acquaintances who come to the house have the opportunity to use the entrance to the toilet from the hallway. When there are no guests, it is more convenient to use the door that opens into the room.
sleeping alcove can replace a separate bedroom. If you meticulously analyze the use of the bedroom, you will find that uncomfortable passages and corners remain around the sleeping place, and at the same time there is a catastrophic lack of space for changing clothes, as well as storing things.
If a person lives alone, then the whole apartment is at his disposal and the sleeping place requires less isolation - it can be placed in an alcove.
The sleeping alcove should not be cramped: there should be enough space to get up, straighten the bed, put on clothes. The sleeping area should be well ventilated and free from drafts, the air should be cool and fresh, and the walls should be warm. It is good when there is a small window next to the bed.
The sleeping area can have a folding light sliding screen-partition.
In a room in which you have to spend daylight hours, you should equip at least one "window seat"
In every house it is good to have a place by the window, where it is pleasant to sit and relax, but it is especially important to provide it in the home of single people.
An armchair, a chair with a high back and armrests or a sofa is placed so that the window is located on the side. A good solution is an extended low window sill (35-40 cm high), on which you can sit with your back to the window frame. It is good when two people can sit face to face in such a niche (the width of the niche for this should be at least 1.2-1.5 m). The most sophisticated solution is a glazed bay window or porch: the glazed space becomes part of the outdoor garden, in a large bay window you can find a place for indoor plants and birds.
Indoor plants will help to connect the view outside the window with the interior. The green corner becomes an important part of the apartment, it can serve as a life stimulus for the elderly and an attraction for guests.
Older people need more comfort and more adapted housing. As a rule, they really appreciate the familiar environment and do not want to move anywhere. But the change of neighbors, changes in the family make them lonely and force them to change their place of residence. On the one hand, children feel responsible for their elderly parents and want to take them in, and on the other hand, the usual mismatch of views between children and parents makes life together burdensome.
The spatial solution of this conflict can be implemented in the form of a separate house for the grandparents, located not far from the house of adult children. Elderly people could feel quite independent there and at the same time under supervision.
The optimal solution is a room with a separate exit, an outbuilding or an outbuilding that can be used temporarily as a workshop or for rent. In order for the connection with family life not to be interrupted, the room may have a door to a common entrance hall, kitchen or corridor.
A one-room separate house for one or two people can be located on a minimum plot of land. At the same time, the orientation of the windows and the connection of the entire structure with the relief acquire great importance.
For our cold region, you should:
- limit the number of windows facing north;
- position the long axis of the building in the east-west direction in order to receive the maximum amount of solar heat in winter and a minimum in summer,
- reduce, if possible, the area of the outer walls in order to avoid heat loss, and put effective thermal insulation;
- plant evergreen coniferous trees to protect against cold winds, and deciduous trees on the eastern and western sides to protect buildings from overheating in the morning and evening rays;
- use the heat-shielding properties of the soil, bury the northern facade of the building into the ground (do not forget about the blockages);
- snow can serve as additional thermal insulation, but in order to improve the operating conditions of the roof, it is better to get rid of it; for this, the slopes are made steep;
- leave a flat area in front of the southern facade of the building, in winter the sun will be reflected in the snow, and this will make the house brighter.
A miniature house is a housing option for citizens who do not have a large plot of land for construction, but want to live in their own home. In addition, compact cottages are affordable and have many other benefits. Our catalog contains various projects of small houses: cozy country cottages and interesting city houses.
Characteristic features of houses up to 40 sq. meters
Residential buildings with a modest area are usually one-story, rarely have a second floor or attic. All free space inside is used as rationally as possible, therefore, in such buildings, walls and interior partitions are installed at right angles. Materials used for this type of structures:
- aerated concrete;
- wood;
- combination of several building materials.
The project of a small house, although it is being developed miniature, does not lose its comfort. The dining area is grouped in the form of a studio, and the most remote place is allocated for the bedroom:
- at the end of the hallway;
- in the attic;
- on the opposite side of the kitchen.
The compactness of the design also affects the layout - all functional rooms are minimized, and furniture and appliances are used built-in to save space. In bathrooms, instead of a bath, a shower cabin is most often mounted. As an alternative to the usual cabinets, there are modules and wardrobes hidden in the walls.
The small cottage is designed for two or three tenants. This version of the project is best for a young family on a limited budget or an elderly couple who find it difficult to take care of a large house. To build a small log house for a summer residence will cost less than the construction of a brick building. And with a larger budget, you can build a modern small wooden castle.
The attractiveness of small house projects
A micro-house is economical, lower costs for construction and finishing materials and work, lower prices for repairs and maintenance. This type of building is beneficial for other reasons:
- versatility - it is suitable for any size and shape of plots;
- ease of adaptation to customer requests;
- speed of design and construction;
- practicality in operation;
- low utility costs.
The choice of a small house project allows you to quickly implement the construction of an economy class cottage. Depending on the purpose of the structure, the cost of its heating can be easily optimized due to a small area of insulation or the choice of heat-retaining materials. If the developer wishes, the project of a country house can be supplemented with a small extension with a sauna or an outdoor pool.
Among our selection of original projects of small residential houses with photos there are layouts for young people with a modern facade design and discreet classic solutions for mature owners. In addition to plastered facades, in the catalog you can find projects of small houses up to 50 sq. m. with unusual stone cladding or wood paneling.
