The Dome Tiny Home Is Minimalism on Wheels, Made Affordable

Whatever your understanding of minimalism, it would be a perfect fit for a trend like downsizing, right? Wrong. In their attempt to make up for the constricting footprint, many of today's tiny houses pack an abundance of features which, ironically, moves them away from minimalism and into an entirely different and brand new category.

Tiny houses, which have been gaining ground steadily since the early 2000s, are now considered viable options for long-term and permanent residence, offering a bunch of advantages you wouldn't find in traditional housing alternatives. These range from affordability, which is only notable when compared to brick-and-mortar homes, to sustainability, reduced costs of living, and mobility.

Put in much simpler words, tiny houses are considered ideal because they can move around from place to place, are cheaper to maintain and run, and cheaper to buy. All these come with asterisks and conditions in fine print, but that's another long discussion for another time.

Let's just round up the introduction by saying that tiny houses are viable alternatives for a growing number of people. This explains the growing number of builders and models to the point where there's now a little something for everyone – and every pocket.

The Dome, one of the latest models from New Zealand-based Arohanui Tiny Homes, is closest to the original approach to tiny living. It proposes minimalism as a way of life, with an emphasis on intentional living and experiencing the surrounding nature, a high degree of mobility, and affordable pricing.

Introduced in late 2022, The Dome features a domed roof, which gives it its name and creates more harmonious lines for an overall design inspired by nature. The home is built on a dual-axle trailer with a lightweight steel frame, so the domed roof also helps with aerodynamics: this house is built to spend whatever amount of time on the road as the owners desire.

Measuring 22.9 feet (7 meters) in length and 7.8 feet (2.3 meters) in width, The Dome offers a living area of 237 square feet (22 square meters), including the small loft that doubles as the main bedroom. It's not much, especially if you compare it to larger, park model units we've covered here before. But bear in mind that the compact footprint helps with movability and with the intended end-use of the home: as a permanent residence for two people.

The board and batten exterior matches an all-wood interior with a single bedroom, a small bathroom, a galley-style kitchen, and a living room area that can extend outside in good weather. What The Dome brings new to the table are off-grid capabilities and a to-go terrace that doubles as an extra safety feature.

The kitchen of the home sits on a small elevated platform that hides the water tanks, fresh and gray, of unspecified dimensions. The Dome is off-grid capable and rigged for solar, the builder notes, but the solar system will come at an extra charge. A composting toilet in the bathroom reduces waste and reliance on the grid or a holding tank for blackwater.

The platform also helps create a clearer division between living areas, which is otherwise only done in tinies by means of different wall cladding or furniture. By the simple fact that you have to step down into the bathroom and the living room, you feel like you're moving through separate rooms. That's not a huge thing, but if you call a space this compact a full-time home, we assume every bit can make a difference.

The other high-selling point of The Dome is the fold-down terrace, which adds 67.2 square feet (6.25 square meters) of space to the home almost instantly. This also helps with mobility, in the sense that you won't have to tow or separately pack a deck when you do decide to switch locations.

The deck doubles as a safety feature, covering the large French doors that make up the rear wall of the home.

The Dome relies on a wood-burning stove for heat (and that super-cozy homey vibe) and has dual entries that also open up the space to the outside world and a fresh breeze. Initially listed with an asking price of NZD104,000 (US$61,200 at the current exchange rate), it was then discounted to NZD99,000 (US$58,200) and is now on sale at NZD94,000 (US$55,300), with all the appliances shown in the photos included in the deal.

This isn't sponcon, though. More than anything, The Dome shows that minimalism still works best with a dramatically different lifestyle, like downsizing.