The Pego Tiny House Is a Slice of Off-Grid Heaven

Tiny houses and alternative housing solutions have been having quite the moment. Tiny houses actually go back more than two decades, when the first waves of awareness on the severity of the issue of climate change prompted a wave of more responsible lifestyle choices, including downsizing.

Because of their size and construction, which ditches traditional building methods in favor of a towable trailer that doubles as foundation, tiny houses come with a much lower carbon footprint throughout their lifecycle. They're also cheaper to buy and maintain compared to brick-and-mortar homes, and they encourage an intentional lifestyle that prioritizes experiences over material possessions.

All these original features of tiny houses are still present in today's units to a varying degree. U.S. and Canada downsizers, for example, prefer their tinies on the larger side, so park models are more popular here. These homes can no longer be towed by a daily driver and require special towing vehicles and permits. But what they lose in mobility they gain in available space and features.

Most builders in Europe still do tiny houses like the original tinies, meaning, compact, lightweight, and easily towable. The still-booming trend we could sum up under #wanderlust, which gained prominence over recent years, goes hand in hand with these smaller units, allowing owners to simply hitch up their homes and drive away to a new location whenever they feel like it.

Madeiguincho is a Portugal-based woodworking and architecture studio with a focus on sustainability like few other studios out there. Not only do they make tiny houses by the old "recipe" – compact, minimalist, and with a focus on functionality – but they also integrate extra sustainability features.

The Pego, their latest completed build, stands as proof of that.

The Pego is so new to the lineup that it hasn't even gotten a detailed written description as of this writing. So, we only have official photos to go by and to form an impression of the kind of downsizing this particular building is proposing.

Hint: it's not for everyone. Most Madeiguincho tinies are minimalist to the point where they come across as very spartan sheds, and the Pego is no exception. With an all-wood exterior and interior, it sits on what looks like a standard two-axle trailer. The upside to that is that it's easily towable; the downside is that it only offers the most basic creature comforts.

The Pego could still sleep four people, though we reckon it'd be a very tight squeeze. The living room has an L-shaped couch that probably folds out to become a guest bed, but it would take up most of the available space here when thus deployed.

The single-loft layout includes a small but apparently complete kitchen with a dual-burner induction cooktop, a sink, and plenty of storage. We assume a small fridge could be hidden in one of the closets – but if you pair this kind of drastic downsizing with a raw vegan lifestyle, you might not even need a fridge at all.

Jokes aside, there's even more storage space as you make your way to the bathroom, which features a gorgeous wooden shower, a sink with vanity, and a composting toilet not pictured. To help keep this compact space impeccable, Madeiguincho has added a second access door in the bathroom, allowing you to use the shower as a mudroom. A tiny house is famously easy to clean, but that doesn't mean you should be doing it any more than you have to.

The bedroom is in the loft over the bathroom. It's a standard, no-standing-height sleeping space with a queen-size mattress and a ladder for access, so no different than the gazillion other lofted tinies we've seen.

What Pego does differently is allow you to open it almost entirely to the outside by swinging open the doors and windows. The roofline is lined up with even more glazing to maximize the amount of natural light coming in.

Madeiguincho notes that Pego is "fully off-frid [for] energy and water" but doesn't get into the specifics. We see solar cells covering the roof, and we assume there are holding tanks hidden into the floor and maybe a rainwater collection system. Based on photos alone, it's hard to guess this home's autonomy, but whatever it is, it's more than what you get with a standard plug-in home on wheels.

Until more details on this home are revealed, we have the pics to fall back on. As downsizing and tiny houses continue to gain popularity, it's refreshing to see a tiny so simple yet functional. Is it for anyone? Most definitely not. But that's not to say we can't appreciate its rustic charm.

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