In an ideal world, we could have our cake and eat it, but reality is not an ideal world, so we have to prioritize and choose accordingly. As far as tiny houses go, the Jamboree probably comes closest to having the best of both worlds.
The Jamboree is an older model from U.S.-based builder Tiny Idahomes. It was introduced in 2016 and, as far as we can tell, was in production only a limited amount of time. It is no longer part of the company's lineup, but that doesn't stop it from being a noteworthy or maybe even an inspirational example of the kind of creativity within the tiny house movement.
The Jamboree lives at the intersection between tiny houses and RVs. It's not the only tiny to do that, but it's perhaps the only one to do it with such flare. That's because it imports some of the best features from RVs into the tiny house movement, specifically the automatic slide-outs and the layout.
A tiny house is, by definition, small in footprint. If you know anything of the origins of the tiny house movement, you know that size was the number one prerequisite, as a more compact layout allowed for a reduced carbon footprint, smaller living costs, and the highest degree of mobility.
Photo: Tiny Idahomes
The developments of recent years, and specifically the recent boom in the popularity of tiny houses, have turned many houses into XXL versions of the original model, which, in turn, has turned them into stationary units. The Jamboree is an example of how you can meet two opposing demands with a single product: mobility and space.
By importing slide-outs from the RV industry, the Jamboree lives big in park mode, offering the capacity to sleep three people, a full-size kitchen, a proper bathroom, a ground-floor bedroom, and plenty of storage space. Oppositely, when it's time to hit the road, the home contracts to a road-legal compact dimension.
The Jamboree is 26 feet (7.9 meters) in length and sits on a dual-axle certified trailer. It has three slide-outs that expand available space at the press of a single button: two on each side of the entrance door and another one on the other side. There's one slide-out in the kitchen holding the dinette, another in the living room holding the couch, and a third in the bedroom.
Photo: Tiny Idahomes
The house is still usable with the slide-outs retracted, though it's much more difficult to navigate due to its narrowness. For example, with the dinette slid in, you don't have access to the fridge but can still squeeze your way into the kitchen if you need something in there.
The layout is typical of an RV, down to the U-shaped kitchen with Corian countertops, full-size appliances, and extra features like a built-in wine bottle holder or custom plate racks that come with custom plates. The kitchen is on the right-hand side of the entrance, with the dinette attached.
The living room, which could double as a secondary bedroom or guestroom, is to the left, with a three-person leather couch in the second slide-out. The bathroom is located centrally and features a storage loft up top. It comes with even more integrated storage, a shower with LED mood lighting, a standard RV flushing toilet, and a small corner sink with a vanity.
Photo: Tiny Idahomes
The bedroom is at the end of the trailer and comes with a queen-size bed and built-in storage in overhead cabinetry and some shelving by the bed. This room is smaller than ground-floor bedrooms in park model tinies, which means you barely get any walkaround room, but it offers standing height, and, more importantly, it comes in a tiny you can still tow away without special permits.
The Jamboree comes with blow-in fiberglass insulation in the walls, ceiling, and floors, a mini-split for heating and AC, two deep-cycle 12 volt batteries to run the lights and whatever appliances of your choosing, an on-demand water heater, and RV-style hookups for electricity, gas, and water.
Much like an RV, it comes with storage tanks: 38 gallons (144 liters) for the kitchen, 38 gallons (144 liters) for gray water, 38 gallons (144 liters) for black water, and 55 gallons (208 liters) for fresh water. This gives Jamboree some autonomy off the grid, which again makes it comparable to an RV.
Photo: Tiny Idahomes
The Jamboree unit showcased in the video tour below was the display unit that traveled the country at trade events and was used briefly as a vacation home for testing. It was put up for sale in late 2016 and sold at the discounted price of $68,995, which would be approximately $89,200 in today's money, adjusted for inflation. Jamboree was offered with everything inside, including the plates and custom towels, and only 4,000 miles (6,437 km) on it.
To whoever got it, congratulations on the good deal! The rest of us will enjoy it as a good example of how you can use creativity to make two opposing things happen at the same time.
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