There is only so much stuff you can pack into a box sitting on a trailer, and call it a home. If that’s your take on tiny house living, the Cocoon tiny, which also happens to be a DIY project, would like a word with you.
Tiny living has been at the forefront of many conversations on the current housing situation. The fact that it combines affordable housing with a higher degree of mobility, and the ability to go off-grid and cut down monthly expenses, while also addressing issues of intentional living and environmental concerns, has turned tiny houses into the hottest “trend” of the past two decades.
After all, what is there not to love about tiny houses (*aside from the still prohibitive pricing, the compact dimensions, and the fact that they reside in a somewhat gray legal area in many territories)? They’re the best of both worlds because they offer travelers, eco-warriors, and people simply looking to spend less on housing a good place to live in, while still experiencing the great outdoors.
There’s a downside to the sudden proliferation of tiny houses on social media in the way they’re presented as achievable by anyone, even as DIY builds, and in a certain glorification of standard, absolutely non-spectacular units. The Cocoon is neither of these things: while a DIY build, it’s clearly not something the regular Joe or Jane could build without solid skill and plenty of time for research; and it is absolutely spectacular.
Photo: Facebook / The Cocoon Tiny Home
The Cocoon first got its time in the spotlight late last year, with a feature on one of the most popular tiny house YouTube channels, included below. It’s such an impressive build that we feel it warrants a more thorough look, not just because of its spectacular finishes and Fibonacci-inspired styling, but also for its one-off status: this is the only tiny house with an actual, functional pop-up roof. All those other tiny house DIY-ers can put that in their pipe and smoke it!
The Cocoon started out as a commercial, professionally-built trailer and was completed as a DIY project by owners Shani and Christian, who chose a gorgeous parking spot for it outside of Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. The trailer is a double-axle one, and the house retains roadworthy dimensions when in travel mode, so it’s 30 feet (9 meters) long, 8 feet (2.4 meters) wide, and 13 feet (4 meters) tall.
In camp mode, the house can expand to a height of 17 feet (5.2 meters) thanks to a pop-up on one end – and you’d have no idea of the gimmick employed if you saw it for the first time. While the idea for the pop-up came from pop-up caravans (duh!), this is where the resemblance between the two stops.
Photo: Facebook / The Cocoon Tiny Home
The construction remains solid, which means you won’t get the impression that the extension is flimsy or otherwise unstable. The roof may pop up, but for it to do so, you need to put in actual construction work to add the wooden side panels, secure them in place, and then add the interior door. Popping up the roof is an effort, but it’s also a neat option to have in a tiny house.
The interior is different from anything else that’s been done before, and not only because it’s inspired by the Fibonacci sequence, which is believed to represent perfection in the natural world. The finishes are all wood, including on the kitchen countertops and in the bathroom, and the only colors used are either dark greens and browns, or the natural color of timber. There’s a certain earthy, cave-like feel to the place, which remains very elegant and welcoming – seriously, this is perhaps the most beautiful, Instagrammable tiny you’re likely to see all week.
The layout is a standout, as well. Instead of doing two lofts, Shani and Christian replaced one loft for an elevated floor, placing storage at the bottom and the lounge higher up, on top. Extra storage means extra versatility for the lounge, which can alternatively be a dining room, a standard living room, an entertainment area, or an office for the both of them.
The other loft is the bedroom, accessible via storage-integrating stairs and – in another first for a tiny house – closed off from the rest of the house by an actual door. If you know anything about tinies, you know that, for all their touted benefits, they almost always lack proper rooms, doors, or hallways. The Cocoon has two of these things with the loft bedroom.
Photo: Facebook / The Cocoon Tiny Home
Another thing the Cocoon has that most tinies don’t, and this is perhaps on account of the fact that Shani and Christian won’t be doing too much traveling with it, is wraparound glazing. The lounge is surrounded by glass on three sides, going almost all the way from floor to ceiling. You also get many, large windows in the bedroom, including a very awesome reading nook that hides a his and hers wardrobe.
The kitchen and the bathroom are also bathed in natural light from all sides, either by means of gas-strut windows or skylights. As Christian explains in the video tour at the bottom of the page, they wanted their home to be an extension of the gorgeous environment, and it is just that – both thanks to the windows and the warm, natural color scheme.
At a total budget of NZ$150,000, which is roughly US$93,300 at the current exchange rate, the Cocoon is definitely not cheap. But the price includes the solar array and the large water tank for rainwater collection, and these allow it to be fully off-grid, so in the end, it’s not exactly what you’d call expensive, either. More importantly, though, the Cocoon serves to show that the limitations of the size of a tiny house are limitations only if they’re accompanied by a limited imagination.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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