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The IMAGO iter Tiny House Is Peak Downsizing, the Minimalist Future

As the old adage goes, less is more. The phrase has caught on with adopters of the downsized lifestyle, the vanlifers and the tiny home owners aiming to live intentionally and more economically, with a smaller footprint, and preferably off-grid.
The IMAGO iter is part trailer, part tiny house, completely bare 12 photos
Photo: Bess
The IMAGO iter is part trailer, part tiny house, completely bareThe IMAGO iter is part trailer, part tiny house, completely bareThe IMAGO iter is part trailer, part tiny house, completely bareThe IMAGO iter is part trailer, part tiny house, completely bareThe IMAGO iter is part trailer, part tiny house, completely bareThe IMAGO iter is part trailer, part tiny house, completely bareThe IMAGO iter is part trailer, part tiny house, completely bareThe IMAGO iter is part trailer, part tiny house, completely bareThe IMAGO iter is part trailer, part tiny house, completely bareThe IMAGO iter is part trailer, part tiny house, completely bareThe IMAGO iter is part trailer, part tiny house, completely bare
The relatively new-to-market IMAGO iter is perhaps the most illustrative example of what downsizing really means and could be the future of minimalist living on the road. If it catches on. It’s a cabin trailer that ships completely bare, an empty page just waiting for the owner to start writing their story on it. At least, that’s how Japanese maker Bess is choosing to market it.

Bess is a popular Japanese builder of wooden cabins, and the IMAGO iter represents its first attempt at a wheeled model (hat tip to The Robb Report). In this context, it makes sense to see a literal cabin plopped on top of a double-axle trailer and hailed as the “best companion” for any car owner, whether for 30-minute or 30-day retreats. The latter is arguably impossible without further considerable investment, but it’s obvious if you read between the lines.

The hottest selling point of the iter is that it ships bare. You can look at this two ways: you’re paying a lot of money for a product that’s not even ready to go, or, as Bess would have it, you’re paying a modest amount for a product that you can turn into your dream towable with a little bit more time and money. The iter is a blank slate just waiting for you to express yourself whichever way you like, or something to that effect.

The IMAGO iter is part trailer, part tiny house, completely bare
Photo: Bess
Offering a floorspace of 6.51 square meters (70 square feet) and 2.4-meter (7.8-foot) standing height, the iter comes with 70-mm (2.7-inch) thick walls of domestic cedar and two options for the roof. With a flat wooden roof, the iter is a literal log hut on wheels, while with a plastic domed roof, it becomes more akin to a traveler’s wagon and offers just a tad more headroom. Either variation is quaint, homey, and pleasing to the eye.

That said, the iter is small whichever way you look at it, but Bess tries to compensate for that by putting a window in each wall, including an oversize sliding one that doubles as access point. The windows open to the outside, offering a good line of sight and excellent ventilation. They also help with a certain claustrophobic feeling that might appear in such a cramped space. Elsewhere on the hardwood walls, you can place as many shelves as you like.

The cabin trailer comes bare, and you should take that in the most literal sense. You don’t get any amenities or features or even a shelf in there: you only get the four-wall cabin on the trailer. This means that you can outfit it with whatever you need, for whatever purpose you want, whether it’s a fishing hut, a tiny off-grid home, or a rental space. Photos in the gallery offer some suggestions in that sense, all of them styled with a rustic flair.

The iter is built for stable driving, Bess says. It is “equipped with suspension and electromagnetic brakes” and has been tested by the Japan Automobile Research Institute. Empty, the trailer weighs 4,600 pounds (2,086 kg), so you will have to take that into account when further customizing it, as well as the towing vehicle.

The IMAGO iter is part trailer, part tiny house, completely bare
Photo: Bess
The iter is, for the time being, only available in Japan, but it could serve as an example of what’s in line next for the downsizing movement.

As for how much this kind of minimalism retails, the wooden-roof model starts at 3.51 million yen, while the wagon-style one is 4.15 million yen, not including tax. That’s roughly $30,400 and $36,000, excluding tax and other costs, at today’s exchange rate. Whoever said the best things in life are free was definitely not thinking about whatever downsizing entails.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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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.
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