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The Millennial Tiny House Proves You Can Still Live in Luxury When Downsizing

By definition, downsizing is the transition to a de-cluttered, more intentional lifestyle: scaling down to less to live more. Still, the misconception that the bigger the home, the better your life lingers. The Millennial, the flagship model from True North Tiny Homes, is here to prove us wrong.
The Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishes 26 photos
Photo: True North Tiny Homes (Composite)
The Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishesThe Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishes
Downsizing and tiny living started gaining ground in the early 2000s amid increasing environmental concerns. We've seen an uptick in popularity for tiny and mobile homes over the past few years, no doubt fueled by the worsening housing and economic crisis. Put simply, forced to cut down expenses and carbon footprints, people are looking at alternative housing solutions.

They include tiny houses – mobile homes that sit on trailers and can be towed from location to location, promising freedom to travel while working and, most importantly, an existence free of debt and stress. With the rising popularity of tiny living, we've seen a wider variety of models, including oversize park models that rival brick-and-mortar homes – and challenge the very notion of downsizing in the process.

The Millennial proves that you really don't need all that space to live luxuriously. It's the first model from Canadian builder True North Tiny Homes and was completed in early 2019. It was used as a showcase model for the next couple of years, with builders Daniel and JoAnna offering it as a rental. As Daniel explained in one interview, included in the video at the bottom of the page, there's no better way to get people into tiny living than the chance to experience it on their own, even if on a short-term basis.

The Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishes
Photo: True North Tiny Homes
The Millennial is a tiny house in the truest sense of the word. It sits on a 24-foot (7.3-meter) double-axle trailer, so it's small even compared to a standard tiny. But the interior is nothing short of spectacular, offering all the creature comforts of home and touches of luxury in a space that's bathed in natural light and clad in premium finishes. Perhaps equally important, this model can be rendered off-grid with only some modifications.

When working with such a constricting space, perception is everything. Tiny houses are small (duh), but they still have to integrate multi-functional spaces and features and some, if not all, the comforts that future residents can't do without. The way you manage to do that while maintaining a welcoming, cozy, and uncluttered vibe is what sets apart a good builder from an excellent one.

True North is the latter, and The Millennial is the perfect example. This tiny has everything from a water-efficient dishwasher to a washer and drier combo, a full-size bathroom, and residential appliances, but you probably wouldn't be able to tell at a first, superficial glance. At the same time, it feels spacious and airy.

The Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishes
Photo: True North Tiny Homes
Daniel, who has experience as both designer and builder, achieved this through a combination of expansive glazing, tall ceilings, and, of course, careful planning of the layout. The tiny is a one-loft configuration, with the living room at one end of the trailer and the bathroom at the other, under the sleeping loft. The centrally-located kitchen is extra large in size and features a unique, permanent rooftop terrace on top.

Extra-high ceilings and oversize windows open up the space or, better said, one's perception of it. The interior is basked in natural light from all sides and at all times of the day, making the elegant finishes pop up. These elegant finishes include quartz countertops and shou-sugi ban wood painted in contrasting colors (which extends on the outside), gold hardware, glass railing both inside the house and on the rooftop deck, and smart storage in custom furniture pieces.

The result is a home that looks good and has real-life functionality, a home that is still mobile but without compromising on creature comforts. It's also very pretty, and with its rooftop deck, a sure conversation starter.

The Millennial tiny house has huge kitchen, permanent rooftop patio, and elegant finishes
Photo: True North Tiny Homes
Because the unit shown below was built for demonstration purposes, it's not capable of extended autonomy but only shows that another similar build could be, by simply putting it on a trailer longer by 2 more feet (0.6 meters). This one has 500 W of solar on the roof, a couple of batteries, and an inverter in the utility closet behind the shower, together with a couple of 30-gallon (113.5-liter) water tanks. The water heater and the cooktop run on propane, while everything else runs on solar.

The builders sold this Millennial model in 2020 and turned it off-grid completely after its move to Quebec, in the middle of the woods. They never said how much they sold it for, but the base Millennial model starts at CAD 118,000 (US$86,500 at the current exchange rate), not including any of the off-grid options. But looking doesn't cost anything – and The Millennial sure is a pretty sight!



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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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