LOVT, the Tesla of Tiny Houses, Proposes Modular, Sustainable, and Minimalist Living

Tiny houses, and tiny living in general, first popped up as a viable housing solution in the early 2000s. They've seen an unexpected boom over recent years, as the international health crisis of 2020 brought a shift in everyone's personal and professional life.

Suddenly, working from home meant the home could be anywhere. Mounting financial pressure drove tiny houses to the forefront of a new, wanderlust- and work-from-home-focused industry. Put simply, entire families found moving into a mobile home for the long term the perfect solution to a sum of problems, none negligible on its own.

This German company believes that sustainability has been lost along the way. It's not difficult to imagine why: when you're forced to reconsider and reorganize your entire lifestyle and embark on such a challenging and life-changing story, it's understandable that you forget that maybe you could do something to lessen your impact on the environment. Ironically, sustainability was the main goal of tiny living at first, as a smaller house meant a reduced footprint and, as a direct result, a reduced carbon footprint.

LOVT the Essential House wants to be the tiny home that puts sustainability back where it needs to be. LOVT is described in the local media as a sort of Tesla of tiny houses, which, if you know anything about the EV marque, you know it's the highest distinction possible. Whenever someone or something is described as "the Tesla of… whatever," the phrase speaks to the innovative, pioneering, modular, sustainable, future-proof characteristics of that "whatever."

So, LOVT is the Tesla of tiny houses. What this means, in reality, is that it's a modular prefab with some of the distinctive features of a tiny house except for the wheels. It can still be moved around, but only by flatbed truck, with special permits, and at considerable expense.

Whatever it lacks in mobility, the LOVT aims to make up for in modularity. This is one tiny house you can configure online from the comfort of your home – and presumably after serious financial discussions with your significant other – according to your budget, your preferences, and your needs. This way, a LOVT can be anything from a backyard shed to a rental, a remote workspace, or a permanent home for the entire (but small) family.

Founders Stefanie and Philip Sanders call this the "smart room concept." LOVT is a 25-square-meter (269-square-foot) structure with spruce exterior and all-wood interior that you can spec whichever way you want, choosing from a range of options. For example, the most basic spec is a blank canvas, an empty shell with the basics (the smallest solar package, underfloor heating and AC, and no interior layout) you can do whatever you want with.

Depending on how you envision your future use of the unit, you can add one bedroom, one bathroom, one lounge, and a fully-equipped (or not) kitchen. Options also include upgrading the basic solar system, which includes a pair of 325W solar cells on the roof, several colors for the interior and exterior wood panels, furniture, installation, and on-site hookup to utilities. You can even add fancy stuff like a fireplace.

The unit shown in great detail in the video below is the fully-specced version, so it's suitable as a permanent residence for a couple. Even shown with a wide-angle lens, you can tell that it's very compact.

The lounge and the kitchen are one single room with different areas for different purposes. On the other hand, at least you get a nice reading nook by a picture window, a fold-out dining table, and a small but fully equipped kitchen. There's even a small dishwasher there, together with a Bosch oven, a two-burner cooktop, and a large stainless steel sink.

LOVT takes great pride in being able to offer a surprising amount of storage in such a small space, and that's possible through storage-integrating furniture. The bedroom sits on an elevated platform that offers storage under the bed, accessible both from within the bedroom and the adjoining bathroom. Even the stairs leading up to this sleeping area include storage.

The Sanders have been living in a tiny house since 2016, so they know the most pressing issues with tiny living, like the lack of sufficient storage. But even so, their proposal for the tiny lifestyle is very minimalist: the LOVT can be a home, alright, but plenty of downsizing will have to happen before you can move into it.

Coming back to the issue of sustainability and how LOVT stands out because it puts the focus back on it, this is possible by using only locally-sourced certified wood, quality materials with a long lifecycle to discourage waste, and then investing in environmental protection.

For every LOVT sold, the Sanders promise at least 200 square meters (2,153 square feet) of German primeval forest are protected, which means over 8,400 kg (18,519 lbs) of CO2 are bound. Since a 2022 study from the University of Gothenburg noted that carbon-binding by planting new trees was neither as effective nor as beneficial in the long run as initially believed, protecting existing forests is the way to go.

The LOVT was born as an idea in 2019 and became a prototype in 2020. At the time of writing (2023), it's in production stage, with the Sanders partnering with local timber construction company Holzbau Zchraml for series production and taking advantage of the latter's decades-old experience in timber construction and infrastructure.

In case all of the above got you thinking about tiny living, you have to know that not much has changed regarding pricing. Like most tiny houses, a LOVT comes with a high initial price – a shell starts at €98,700 (approximately $109,000 at the current exchange rate), not including steelroots foundation, transport, assembly, or utilities hookup. But the promise of more sustainable and affordable living can tip the scales.