Elsewhere Cabin: A Beautiful Example of Off-Grid Minimalism in Mobile Homes

Tiny houses have been around since the early 2000s, but their current popularity is much more recent, fueled in part by the worsening housing crisis, the 2020 international health crisis and working from home, heightened awareness of environmental issues, and the desire to travel more. Today, tiny houses represent a valid housing option for an ever-larger number of people of all ages, from all professions, and with variable incomes.

The Elsewhere Cabin came before the current boom of tiny houses, and maybe because of this, it is a beautiful example of well-executed minimalism. Designed by U.S. architect Sean O'Neill for Austin-based Elsewhere Retreats, this is a tiny home that poses as a blank space so that it can become a welcome, cozy retreat for all guests.

In designing it, O'Neill set out to recreate the atmosphere of a Texas porch, that "serene feeling of sitting outside in the heat, the breeze, and the rain under the shade of a roof."

He built the house on top of a double-axle trailer of standard dimensions so that it's mobile and implicitly versatile. For that specific Texas porch feel, he added a 10-foot (3-meter) fold-down wall that becomes a porch and completely opens up the interior to whatever views you have outside of the house.

Elsewhere Cabin was completed in late 2018, and while it was meant as a rental unit, it looks like it never got to fulfill its purpose. But it still stands out as a good instance of how minimalism works to turn such a compact, mobile home into a welcoming space, even if not exactly suited as a permanent residence.

Total available living space is just 160 square feet (15 square meters), including a tiny bedroom loft over the bathroom and part of the kitchen, at one end of the trailer. Still, you get all the basics – and nothing else to spare – and you could even sleep four people inside, as long as it's not on a long-term basis.

Like with every other tiny house out there, this kind of functionality is achieved through multi-purpose furniture. For example, the living room couch is also the guest bed and integrates a small office and the kitchen countertop. In a scenario where the kitchen would get everyday use, this would turn into one potentially huge mess, but it makes sense in a rental unit where guests aren't expected to do much cooking.

On that same note, the kitchen is on the smaller side, with just a one-burner stove, a small fridge, a coffee station, a small sink, and very little storage space.

The kitchen counter extends beyond the partition wall into the bathroom, where it becomes the vanity for the tiny bathroom sink. O'Neill aimed to create the feeling of flow within a compact space, so he avoided using full-size appliances or separate pieces of furniture, which would have crowded the space unnecessarily.

The bathroom is also on the small side, with a composting toilet and a compact shower, and just enough room to move around without bumping into stuff. Everything in the Elsewhere Cabin could fit this description because, remember, this is a mobile home designed as a sum of basic features that would ensure comfort over short periods of time. As such, it has no need for extras or too much storage space.

The exterior is done in cedar charred on site to make it weatherproof (the shou sugi ban technique), while the interior is all natural wood. Gimmicks, like using rope to create the safety "railing" and a sort of divider wall for the lofted bedroom or extending the kitchen counter into the bathroom, help to keep the space airy.

That said, the highlight of Elsewhere Cabin is that it’s fully off-grid. Solar panels and a Yeti 1000 power station from Goal Zero provide power to run appliances, lights, and the water heater, while water for the sink and shower comes from an onboard water tank. There's no mention of the kind of autonomy this tiny house has, but both the architect and the builder stress that it was envisioned as an off-grid retreat.

Elsewhere Retreats was initially meant to include several such tiny houses, and the one shown in the gallery was Elsewhere Cabin A, so the first in a planned series. Despite the initial warm reception of the idea, which included features in trade publications, the Retreat never opened, and its current status is still "pending."

Even so, the Elsewhere Cabin serves to show that tiny houses are very versatile platforms, even if you're not planning to move into one permanently. It also shows how minimalism can work to make the most of a compact footprint without compromising on aesthetics or the level of comfort. Even if it never opens to the public, Elsewhere Cabin speaks for the benefits of downsizing and intentional living.