Red Mountain is a group of three peaks in between Silverton and Ouray, CO. One can get an outstanding view of these magnificent San Jaun peaks whilst descending Red Mountain pass (11,018′) towards Ouray. The mountains are most notable for their distinctive red hues, as a result of iron oxide present in the mineral content of the rock. The vicinity was heavily mined in the late 1800’s and remnants of this human activity remain in the form of rustic houses, storage sheds, mine shafts, and other mining structures. Incredibly weathered wood has withstood the harsh climate of this environment for decades. To say the place is “grandiose” or “epic” falls short of the aura this landscape provokes. We have waited a long time for the right tiny house deserving of this honorable title.

Built on a 34′ bumper pull chassis, not only is this the largest tiny to ever leave our shop, but it is outfitted with some of the nicest features we’ve ever included. The massing is broken into three sections-two dormers for maximized height in the lofts, and a steeper pitch in the middle for visual interest. The siding is a mix of rusty corrugated wainscot, barn wood board and batt, and cedar shakes on the endwalls. One enters the house from a fold down porch on the rear of the trailer using top of the line Trex Transcend decking. A covered porch framed with peeled log posts directs you to a handmade arch top door.

Once inside, you are engulfed in a myriad of spaces and luxurious finishes. To your left lives the office nook. The desktop was crafted from American Walnut, as were the shop built drawers. Adjacent to the office are the storage stairs that provide access to the master loft. 

On your way up to the master loft, you notice the custom made posts that not only provide structural support to the L-shaped loft, but have lights built into them for a little bit of night ambiance and artistic effect. This area is cubby space accessible from the king size bed. A skylight overhead provides additional natural light and star gazing at night.

Moving on past the stairs, you enter the living space. On the driver side of the trailer is a custom built couch with storage. On the opposite side is a high end gas stove that has no problem heating this very well insulated house. 

Standing on the couch, the kids can access a ladder doubling as a bookcase that takes them up to their secret hideout!

The living space blends into the dining area where we installed a beetle kill tabletop with a 16″ folding leaf that can be dropped down when not needed or folded up to comfortably seat 4. Opposite the dining table are closets made with chalkboard panels so the kids can doodle or mom can leave notes. 

One then enters the kitchen area. We installed a very beautiful tile for the countertop that the customer hand delivered to us and set in a single bowl deep sink. The base cabinet was custom made from beetle kill pine and features two pull out pantries. Adjacent the sink base is a high end 24″ gas range. Above the range lives a stainless steel vent hood along with open shelving and spice racks. The refrigerator and washer/dryer units are parked opposite the sink and range.

Finally, at the end of the house lies the restroom. The customer truly spared no expense in this beautiful space. A full size clawfoot tub complete with vintage faucet occupies the left half of the room. The bottom half of the walls are tiled with accent borders. In the middle is a custom vessel sink that the customer provided. We mounted it on top of a custom pebble tiled vanity top with barnwood doors. The right half of the bathroom is occupied by a barnwood linen cabinet and a flush toilet. 

We didn’t get a chance to weigh Red Mountain, but an educated guess would be around 14,000 lbs dry. For those interested in a similar build, as pictured, expect final costs to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $105,000. Not only is she big and packed with very fine materials and fixtures, but there isn’t a single stock cabinet, built-in, or casework to be found. It was all made from scratch, so its no surprise this was the most time consuming build we’ve completed to date, necessitating two and half months. 

The Otsego Gooseneck is an off grid Tiny House custom designed for a father and son duo in upstate New York. It will primarily be used as a getaway/second home in the beautiful Catskill mountains until time allows for retirement at which point it will become a primary home. “Otsego” means “place of rock” in the local indigenous language.

The house features a 24′ deck with a 7′-6″ neck for a total of 31′-6″ of living space. It is framed using Structural Insulated Panels for superior insulation in this bitter cold locale. The rigidity of the SIP’s also allowed us to use 1/4″ painted drywall as the main finish surface. Just one small crack above the door from being moved over 2,000 miles! The roof line is a popular shed on shed design where the central portion is sloped a little steeper where the height is not needed, and shallow sheds pop up over the lofts for extra head height. The photo above is looking rearward from the gooseneck which serves as the living room.  Sitting on a built in couch with storage below, one looks out through a very large picture window towards the mountains.

Looking down into the kitchen from the sleeping loft. This loft is large enough to hold a king with extra room at the foot of the bed if needed. Red Oak comprises the flooring, stair treads, kitchen counter, built in dining area, and living room couch. A Colorado Cylinder stove will provide ample primary heat while a propane RV furnace will provide backup heat.

This full size bathroom features the Separett Villa, a full size tub with sliding glass doors, a vanity, and closet with off grid 55 gallon water tank and on demand propane heater. We left room for the customers to add shelving or a closet in front of the toilet area. The sleeping loft above was framed with welded steel for clean lines and to save a few inches of headroom. A gorgeous honeycomb tile comprises the floor while the tub walls were tiled in a very high end subway tile.

We designed and built the dining table to hold a leaf for bigger dinner parties. It can fit six people around the table! The leaf stores away hidden behind the kitchen cabinets when not needed.  The stairs up to the gooseneck have built in storage and the panels on the dining bench slide back and forth to access storage below as well.

The kitchen is very complete with a large single bowl sink, 24″ range, range hood, 10 cu ft Fridge, and plentiful cabinet storage. Opposite the cabinets are beautifully crafted stairs up the to sleeping loft that also feature a ton of built in storage. We will have a video tour available as soon as we can finish editing.

Not shown in the photos is a 1.4kw Photovoltaic system that was installed at our shop before the house made the long journey to New York state. Complete with all off grid components, drywall finish, abundant oak finishes, and tile in the bathroom, the final weight came in at 15,000 lbs, with about 3,200 of that being on the tongue. You best have a truck that can take this load if you plan on building something similar! As pictured with these high end finishes, this build came in at $85k (not including the off grid solar). We could do a similar design with less expensive finishes for under $75k for those interested.

 

This build is one of our most beautiful by far. Its custom designed gooseneck chassis and shed roof design (24 foot deck with an 8 foot neck) make this tiny house feel spacious allowing for standing room on the goose-neck for someone up to 6’10”. This customer chose SIPs for their build.

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The exterior of the house features reclaimed corrugated tin wainscotting and a center band of barn wood from an old structure in Montrose, Colorado. The top third siding consists of cedar shakes stained in a Cape Cod grey. The roof is a sage green pro-panel. The entry to the house is full lite outward swing french doors.

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This design utilizes the gooseneck area as the master bedroom and although it can fit a king size mattress, we opted for a queen to free up circulation space. The bed frame swings up so you can easily access storage below. The wall finish throughout the house is pine tongue and groove with a pickled white stain. The end wall in the master is drywall, painted with an accent color. The endwall in the opposite loft is recycled pallet strips.

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The stairs leading up to the gooseneck have pull out drawers with custom cabinet faces to match the kitchen. Next to the stairs is a storage cabinet that the customer designed to fit their storage needs and provide a slight barrier between the bedroom and the rest of the house without closing off the space and keeping this house feeling open.

Above the stairs is a LG flat screen 49″ TV on a mount with  sound bar. The TV can be angled left right up and down so you watch from the bed, the secondary guest/storage loft and of course the kitchen and living area.

The living room, although not photographed here, has a twin sleeper sofa from Mayfair.com. It fits perfectly between the wood burning stove and the storage cabinet and allows for a spacious lounge area especially when both doors are open.

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The wood burning stove is centered in the house. This customer was in love with The Hobbit stove by Salamader Stoves because of its glass panel that allows you to see the flame which provides great ambiance, but also because of the ability to have a different color other than black., AND lets be honest-it’s a great stove for any LOTR fan! The customer chose a Victorian tile for the stove heat shield.

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The kitchen features all custom cabinets made in house. We recycled a butcher block for the stove side and went with the top dollar quartz on the sink side. The butcher block was finished with Waterlox which is great because its long lasting, easy to clean, water and  heat resistant. The quartz counter is not only an eye catcher, but will hold up to a lot of abuse- many consider it the most durable counter top option out there.

One of the neatest features of this house is the walnut dining table that spindles out on a bicycle frame from under the sink side counter tops. It folds out of the way when not needed to free additional living space, can be locked in at 90 degrees to use as additional kitchen prep space, or can be locked in at 180 degrees for use as a dining table for 2 or 3.

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A Freezer bottom fridge sits on a platform that houses a backup propane heater. Across from this is the utility closet with an LG washer/dryer combo, electrical panel, water heater, and off grid water components.

The bathroom features more of the barn wood in the sliding barn door, storage wall and sink cabinet.  A beautiful moss green glass subway tile wall defines the rear wall, and the room is completed with a Separett Villa composting toilet.

 

The floors are Pergo’s stylish and affordable Outlast flooring.

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This house was slated to be our masterpiece display for the 2016 Tiny House Jamboree, but unfortunately circumstances did not allow for us to bring it. Regardless, it’s a fantastic build and we are proud to have designed and constructed this gem at our shop in Durango, CO USA.

The final dry weight as pictured came in at 13,200 lbs. The home owners contributed a significant amount of elbow grease to help keep their costs down, but for those interested in a turn key build for something similar as shown, expect to pay around $90,000.