Gorgeous Magnolia Tiny House Packs Lots of Surprises for Very Comfortable Living

Granted, like in most other instances in life, this is easier said than done. But U.S.-based builder Indigo River Tiny Homes (IRTH) seems to have found the way to do just that, as each one of their fully custom units is the perfect example of tiny living rendered more comfortable, more feature-heavy, and even more luxurious.

If you're reading this, it's a safe assumption that you're, at the very least, mildly interested in the current craze of downsizing and mobile living. While tiny houses have been around for years – decades, even – it's only in recent years that they gained wide appeal, as the housing and financial situation took a turn for the worse, working from home became standard, and the desire to travel with minimal expenses took deeper roots.

At its core, downsizing is more than reaching these goals. It's also about leading more intentional lives, where we declutter so we can reconnect with ourselves and the natural environment and learn to prioritize shared experiences instead of buying into the latest fashion or tech fads. It's also about reducing our daily carbon footprint, again by ridding ourselves of everything that's not absolutely necessary for a comfortable but minimalist life.

With the boom in numbers of adopters of tiny living, no wonder tiny living itself has changed drastically from its early days. Today's nomads (especially of the digital kind) would rather not give up on certain things downsizing is used to sacrifice. Today's nomads can choose not to do so thanks to builders like IRTH and its park model tinies.

They will have to sacrifice mobility for it, but hey, everything is a compromise with tiny living. The Magnolia tiny is a good example of how you can downsize and join the tiny living community while still enjoying some of the perks of living in a brick-and-mortar home.

IRTH started out as home remodellers in 2005, but they made the full transition to tiny house building in 2017, seeing an uptick in demand. Since then, they've offered a range of models, most of them oversize, which can then be further customized until they fully suit the needs, likes, and budgets of the owners.

For instance, the Magnolia, which was completed in 2020, is based on the layout called the Homesteader Deluxe, which is exactly what it sounds like: a deluxe version of a family home floorplan. As such, the Magnolia sits on a custom 34-foot (10.3-meter) triple-axle trailer and offers a living footprint of 316 square feet (29.3 square meters), including the two lofts that double as bedrooms – or, in this particular case, a main bedroom and a secondary storage unit.

Whereas most tinies will offer just the basics of a home, diminutive areas with well-defined functionality and occasionally a double functionality, the Magnolia goes big on storage space and full-size utilities both in the kitchen and bathroom. It even has not one but two different storage sheds, one at the front and another one at the rear, with enough space to host anything from a couple of bikes to gardening tools.

And these two sheds are the icing on the cake. Additional storage options are available throughout, from the two benches in the living room, which can join at night to become a guest queen-size bed, to the kitchen cabinets, main bedroom staircase, and the full wardrobe that runs the entirety of one bedroom wall.

Appliances are apartment-sized: a four-burner propane cooktop with a full oven, a large fridge and freezer, and room for a washer/dryer combo in the bathroom, in a specially-built laundry cove. Also like in an apartment, you get standing height in the bedroom, thanks to a dropped floor on the L-shaped landing. Most tinies will have you crawl into and out of the bed and changing on the stairs or even downstairs, in the bathroom.

The Magnolia is finished in cedar in contrasting colors (the green door adds a very playful touch) and shiplap for the interior walls. The cabinetry and countertops in the kitchen are beechwood, and the bathroom features a gorgeous shower stall (the Doctor Who shower, they call it) and a composting toilet.

Heating and cooling are done via an 18,000 BTU mini-split housed under the front-end shed, while water and power are supplied via standard RV-style hookups. This being a park model, it made no sense to fit it with tanks and alternative energy resources for extended autonomy. Park model tinies, unlike their smaller counterparts, can only travel by special permit and under special circumstances due to their size.



Because all their units are semi-custom and because prices for materials are changing constantly, IRTH never posts the prices of the units they showcase. Instead, they offer a calculator interested customers can use to get a more accurate estimate for their dream mobile home. The same goes for Magnolia. It's still a solid example of how downsizing can be downsizing in the basic sense, but with more focus on home comforts and fancy features.