Custom Tru Form Tiny Is an Excellent Example of Luxurious Downsizing

Tiny living has been around for a couple of decades, but it only picked up serious momentum as a trend over the past several years, as climate change awareness increased proportionately with the effects of the housing crisis. Though there’s a very mobile component associated with it, downsizing is mostly about living intentionally, where you reduce the footprint of your home so you may be able to enjoy life more, without the burden of material possessions.

Of course, it helps if your house also has wheels. That’s exactly what tiny houses are: compact homes plopped on trailers, so you can move them at will, local regulations permitting. The Cascade Max is still a tiny house and still ideal for downsizing, but mostly in theory only. It’s what people with an above-average budget consider downsizing: tinies larger and better equipped than a city apartment, sitting on massive trailers that can only be moved with special permits.

This is not a dig, it’s just context. Like every other industry out there, tiny living has different segments, and a tiny of this kind belongs to the premium level. The Cascade Max is an early 2022 model from U.S., Oregon-based builder Tru Form Tiny, and is exclusively a park model. They also do regular-sized tiny homes that remain towable without special permits, but their work on park models is truly outstanding.

The unit showcased in the video available at the bottom of the page is based on the Cascade Max but is a custom unit, designed especially for an older couple looking to move into a smaller place on a piece of private land. Since they didn’t plan on traveling with it, they could do pretty much anything to the original layout, which sits on a 4-axle trailer measuring a total of 38 feet in length, and 10.5 feet in width (11.5 by 3.2 meters).

The tiny offers 399 square feet (37 square meters) of total living space, finished in premium materials and with all the features of a nice, comfortable home. It also boasts plenty of natural light because the clients wanted extra glazing and a modern design with certain rustic touches. It’s a very, very elegant home, no beating about the bush.

The layout is a single-loft one, where the loft is meant here exclusively for storage, but could also work as a kid’s room or a suspended lounge slash playroom. Cascade Max is offered in two layouts, one with a shower and a soaking tub in the bathroom, and the other without the tub, but with a closet and a loft. This custom unit is a spin on the latter, done in soothing neutrals and stark whites, with the occasional black or a pop of color for contrast.

Tru Form Tiny CEO Malia Schultheis did the design and made sure to include only premium materials: hickory hardwood for the floors, Carrara marble mosaic for the bathroom tiles, quartz countertops, real tile for the kitchen backsplash and the shower walls, and all-black hardware. Since the house won’t be doing any traveling, weight is not a concern, so forget plastics: this unit is done with all-natural materials.

The living room is basked in natural light from windows on three sides, with the picture window at the end being a special request from the clients. The feel of the room is that of a sunlit parlor – the vaulted ceilings help with the impression –, just the place to enjoy a morning cup of coffee or a nice chat with your significant other.

The kitchen is located centrally, with a breakfast bar on one side and only residential-size appliances: fridge, dishwasher, stove, oven with extractor, and a microwave. Even storage space feels residential, and that’s not something you can say about most tinies.

The bathroom offers a standing shower, sink with vanity, toilet and laundry station, and while it no longer has a bathtub, it’s still gorgeous. The spacious bedroom, designed with two full-size wardrobes and a queen-size bed is, again, bathed in natural light. The loft is up top.

Schultheis describes this tiny as a “refined modern farmhouse,” but that’s under-selling it. It might be downsized living for this particular couple, but by the standards of a regular tiny home, which is essentially a towable where about a gazillion compromises had to be made for it to retain its functionality, it’s a legit palace on wheels.

This is what luxurious downsizing is all about: a gorgeous, custom house done with the finest materials, and with zero compromises, except for less square footage. The Cascade Max starts at $189,900, so it’s priced to match.