Better late than never, and all that. And it's never too late to be having fun.
Baluchon is a French builder of tiny houses with worldwide appeal, though not availability. Unlike tiny houses from outside the Old Continent, Baluchon sticks to a very traditional but not innovative building style. Their tinies use mostly wood as finishing material, boast unique layouts and features, and are still compact enough to meet the original goals of downsizing and tiny living.
Baluchon is a very serious builder of tiny houses, not just a skilled and highly creative one. But here's a tiny that shows Baluchon at its most playful and fun, designed for a very specific type of client. The kind that doesn't exist.
Tiny houses have been around for a little over two decades, but demand for them was never as strong as it is today. At its origins, tiny living was meant to address environmental and housing concerns: they were miniature mobile houses that were built with natural resources, had reduced impact on the environment because of their size, and came with reduced monthly costs. The smaller the house, the smaller the footprint and expenses, and the bigger the degree of mobility.
Photo: Baluchon
Tiny houses are still these things today, though probably few tiny-dwellers still pay attention to the sustainability aspect. They're also more in-demand because they're mobile, which means entire families can just pack up and go looking for greener pastures, whether that means better work opportunities or more memorable experiences.
For all the awesome things that you can think about when talking about tiny houses, there are about as many disadvantages. Aside from the uncertainty caused by local zoning regulations regarding tiny houses, and a certain degree of social isolation, there's the issue of the cramped space. Tiny houses are small, as their name says it: they don't leave much room for fancy amenities. They hardly leave enough room for the bare necessities.
But this one does. Earlier this year, Baluchon put pen to paper and created the "most perfect" (*impossible and grammatically incorrect, we know) tiny house. It's still compact, but it's somehow able to offer the kind of amenities you'd find in a mansion or, better yet, onboard a superyacht.
Photo: Baluchon
This Baluchon tiny, the only one in the lineup that doesn't have a name, is able to have these luxury amenities by extending upwards. So, not only does it have a second story, but it also features a glass-encased pool with a helipad on top, and the styling of a medieval castle, if it were not for the giant skylight.
As Baluchon explained at the time it went public with the renderings, the unit was a custom one because they strove "to design and build custom tiny houses to fit as much as possible with customers' needs." Lindsay, one such potential customer, didn't have a good understanding of the concept of minimalism, so the rolling castle you can see in the photo gallery was what came out once she was done listing her "needs."
The builder also said that the interior design would remain a secret for the time being and that construction on the tiny would be completed in the fall of 2023. So, it's not like we have that long a wait.
Photo: Baluchon
Except that we do, unless you consider "eternity” a short waiting period. As you might have guessed or your grasp of basic physics told you, the design is a hoax – an April Fool's prank, to be more exact. The renders went live on social media on April 1, but that still wasn't clue enough for some followers, who bought it unreservedly.
Physics would never allow such a top-heavy structure to exist, let alone on a feeble dual-axle trailer like this one. If that wasn't a giveaway, the glass helipad on top of the pool should have been. Or, for the French, the fact that Baluchon made sure to add a truck-load of fish pouring out from under the pool in one photo: in French, April Fool's is “poisson d’avril," literally “April fish."
Those who didn't get the joke either reacted with scorn at the absurdity of the build or demanded photos of the actual tiny. Those who got it appreciated the humor of it while conceding that, silly or not, this was still a tiny they'd live in.
Photo: Baluchon
Who wouldn't, right? With the money you'd save from downsizing, you could finally afford a helicopter or maybe one of those up-and-coming flying cars (eVTOLs). Because Baluchon made sure to integrate a helipad into the structure, you'd always make a grand entrance at the end of the workday like a superstar.
Yes, we know, we're late on an April Fool's joke. But it's a good prank, coming from a rather unexpected source, and the joy is worth spreading anytime of the year. It'd be even more awesome if it existed in real life, but let's settle for a giggle or two.
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. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News