The Vagabundo Flex Tiny House Has a Pop-Up Second Floor for Maximum Flexibility

The market for alternative housing solutions is booming, and it’s for the obvious reasons: the amount of land available is finite and it’s not getting any cheaper. In large urban areas, the housing crisis is severe, and countless people are using the workaround of a mobile home as a mid- or even long-term solution. Whether a tiny house or a container home, or even a bus or van conversion, a mobile home presents the advantages of lower monthly costs and a varying degree of mobility.

The Vagabundo team is adding sustainability and versatility to the mix, with help from a new type of mobile home they also call the Vagabundo. The name itself says it all about the highest selling point of this home, though it’s slightly deceptive, because these units don’t have wheels, so they’re not exactly as movable as any trailer-based tiny house, a van, bus, or RV. But they can move around and, when they do, they fold down to half the size in camp mode.

This is the Vagabundo Flex model from the Vagabundo startup, and the only one to have a functional model on display as of the time of press – if you’re in Munich, Germany, you can see it for yourself. The Flex proposes a new approach to tiny living by combining certain features from tiny houses with those from a container home, to create a space for two people that is connected with nature but very elegant, cozy and practical, and sustainable.

If your German is rusty to non-existent, the second video available at the bottom of this page is an English-speaking tour of the Flex, with one of the company’s founders. The idea with this model is to maximize available space while staying within the legal limits for transport in most countries. The only way to do that is by adding an automatic lift mechanism that pops up the second floor out of the first, but only in camp mode. It’s like having your cake and eating it, but there will be some compromises along the way.

The Flex uses a steel platform with a wooden frame, with the second floor clad in aluminum sheets that give it a certain gloss that reflects the surrounding environment. In travel mode, the second floor tucks neatly over the main one, so the structure is compact and within the 4-meter (13.1-foot)  maximum height regulations. At camp, you pop-up the roof and get a two-level, 6.2-meter (20.3-foot) high structure featuring expansive glazing and all the comforts of a regular home.

The display unit sits on high stills, but the Flex has three set-up modes, depending on how low to the ground you want it. In this particular case, the space underneath can double as storage for bikes or gardening/BBQ stuff, or can be wrapped around in decking for an elevated terrace. This height also allows a truck to drive right underneath, so once you connect it with the 4 twist-locks, you can drive away with it.

The ground floor holds the living area, the kitchen and the bathroom, and they’re finished in wood and furnished sparsely but with an eye for comfort. The living room is actually a nook surrounded by glass on three sides, with two of the panoramic windows opening up completely to the outside. Because available space is still limited by the width, the kitchen is partly hidden under the stairs to the loft: the oven, the fridge and storage are integrated into the cabinets under the stairs, and almost invisible because of it.

The kitchen block features an induction cooktop with an integrated extractor, a sink with touch-activated interior light, and some counter space for meal prep. It’s all very basic but in a sleek and elegant way.

The bathroom is behind a pocket door, offering a sink with large vanity, a choice of toilet, and a shower designed to match the exterior of the upper half of house, with aluminum walls and a dark floor. There’s room for a small front-loading washing machine, and some storage, though this space is the best example of the kind of minimalist lifestyle you should embrace in order to feel cozy inside: this is downsizing in every sense of the word.

Upstairs is the shelter, which is what Vagabundo calls the bedroom, because it feels closed off, tucked under the roof with just one porthole-style window. A large picture window on the landing lets in enough natural light, and there’s a workstation in the space across from the bedroom. That same kind of minimalism as on the ground floor is noticeable here, but heightened. Since you have to remove all the furniture for the house to fold down for transport, it’s best if you keep it that way.

Vagabundo mentions the possibility of adding storage space or a wardrobe here, but whatever solution you choose, remember that it’ll have to be removed for transport. The company also notes safety netting can be added to the landing and the space over the stairs, which sounds both wise and very practical.

The Vagabundo Flex has underfloor electric heating on both levels, LED strip lighting throughout, and is hooked to the mains for electricity and water. It is insulated for all-season use and, due to its easy set-up and reduced footprint on the ground, it can be set in a variety of locations. The company offers assistance with location, but that’s only for residents in Germany. We reached out to them to see if shipping is planned for other territories, and will update the story if we hear back.

The same goes for a delivery timeline for the first units. The Flex starts at €146,000 and can go as high as €160,000 (US$160,500 to US$176,000, at the current exchange rate) depending on options, which, indeed, is a lot of cash for a tiny home. But this is a tiny home that promises durability, sustainability, year-round applicability, flexibility and an automatic lift that makes it go pop! at the touch of a button.

*Update, April 10:

We heard back from Vagabundo, and we have a good-news-bad-news-kind of situation. The good news is that shipping for a unit starts within days from placing an order, which means signing the contract and transferring the first rate of the purchasing amount. The bad news is that these units will only be available in Germany and the EU for the time being, with no immediate plans for international expansion.