Meet Tiffany, the Tiny House That Lives in Tropical Paradise on Its Own Tiny Island

Tiffany is a 2016 construction. It was built by Adam Lehman as the first-ever tiny of his brand new tiny company, A New Beginning Tiny Homes, based in Orlando, Florida. Lehman had been working in construction and home remodeling for over 15 years when he decided to give the tiny house movement a try by putting his own spin on it. He was able to do that right off the bat with his first product, Tiffany.

A New Beginning Tiny Homes is no longer open for business, as Lehman relocated to Colorado, but Tiffany still stands. And it’s just as impressive today as it was almost six years ago, if not more so.

In early 2017, Lehman sold Tiffany to Tim Davidson, a Floridian who had just been informed he was to immediately vacate his parent’s vacation home. Though Lehman was asking between $72,000 and $85,000, Davidson got Tiffany for under $70,000, and he completed payment on it in mid-2021. He is no longer living in it because it’s been turned into an Airbnb, but it’s in an excellent location and in equally fine company: Tiffany now lives on a small private island in Sarasota, Florida, called Shellmate Island, together with another tiny.

Tiffany offers just 270 square feet (25 square meters) of living area, but whatever it lacks in space, it makes up for in personality. Despite the minuscule footprint, it is very homey, thanks to beautiful touches of classic inspiration, like stained glass, lighting fixtures by Louis Comfort Tiffany, custom cabinetry, and a slightly domed wooden ceiling.

In fact, it’s the light fixtures that helped named the tiny: throughout, from the kitchen to the bathroom and the master bedroom up in one of the lofts, you will find these vintage-looking light sconces, which perfectly match the stained-glass on the door and some of the windows. The layout of Tiffany isn’t new: it has separate kitchen and bathroom areas at each end, with a living squeezed in between, and two lofts. One loft is for sleeping – the master bedroom –, while the other was initially meant to be a second bedroom but has since been converted into a storage room.

The kitchen is almost full-size, though it offers little space to move about. It has a sink and a four-burner stove, with plenty of cooking surface and a generous fridge/freezer. Suspended custom cabinetry offers storage for tableware and a decent pantry.

The living room is a dining, office, and entertaining area. There’s a custom-made sofa to one side, with twin ottomans with folding legs hidden underneath. The ottomans are also the seats for the fold-down table on the opposite wall and can double as a sofa extension for a makeshift bed. To the side, right by the refrigerator, is a ladder to the smaller loft, which can fit a twin-size mattress or serve as a storage room.

The bathroom is a beauty, especially by tiny house standards. The marble shower features a removable tub made of reclaimed cedar, which is light enough to be lifted with one hand. There’s also a compost toilet, and a vanity with sink, and more space and storage than you’d expect in a home this small. A wooden pocket door with matching stained glass separates it from the rest of the living area.

Tiffany comes with an LG mini-split, an on-demand water heater, a washer and dryer, and an oscillating roof fan.

The main bedroom is over the bathroom and, while you can’t stand up in it, at least you can sit up in bed thanks to the 44 inches (112 cm) of clearance. Here too, you get wraparound windows and deep cabinetry for storage, reading lights, and enough space to make you feel comfortable.

Like many other famous tinies, Tiffany has her own website and has received plenty of coverage in the U.S. media. Tiffany is a star, so, in a way, it doesn’t come as a huge surprise that Davidson was able to buy his own private island (for $200,000) to place it on after just two years or that, in early 2021, he also bought an apartment nearby so he could turn the whole place into a business – all the while touting the benefits of downsizing.

This would strike some as an irony or downright hypocrisy, but Davidson says that for him, downsizing is about living intentionally and saving money. And he’s been doing that, thanks to Tiffany, an elegant and very small house that he called home for years. Now, he’s offering the chance to experience it to others in the middle of a tropical paradise surrounded by homegrown fruit.