Valhalla Is a Whimsical Tiny House That Packs Lots of Surprises and Functionality

Tiny houses are not called that for the heck of it, if you'll pardon the French. They're very compact housing units sitting on top of trailers of various sizes, designed for comfortable living on the road – or, better said, offering increased mobility compared to standard homes.

Whether single-person or large-family units, tiny houses are what you might call condensed homes. They feature all the creature comforts of a home without the spaces we normally don't get much use out of either way, and they aim to inspire intentional living and offer all the benefits of downsizing. Put differently, the smaller the home, the happier (and more affordable) the life.

Baluchon is a tiny house builder from France and perhaps one of the most famous in Europe. In keeping with the original premise of tiny living, from when the trend started taking root in the early 2000s, Baluchon tries to keep their builds as natural as possible, with locally sourced wood and sustainable materials, and using creative layouts to make the most of the available space.

Valhalla is nothing if not creative.

Named after the majestic hall in Asgard, the hall of the slain warriors, Valhalla doesn't require a violent death as an entry ticket. It proposes a whimsical and very creative approach to tiny living, so the moniker is meant to bring to mind comparisons to a magical place than the morbid associations with the mythical Valhalla.

The home sits on a dual-axle trailer with a useful length of 6 meters (19.6 feet), so it offers roughly 13 square meters (140 square feet) of living space. That's not a lot, whichever way you look at it. Still, Valhalla offers sleeping for as many as six people in three separate rooms, as well as a kitchen, a full bathroom, and a home office, all wrapped up in a colorful, playful package.

The exterior is western red cedar, with large sections painted white for contrast. The sky blue trim on the windows and the blue metal roof, slightly slanted to offer more headroom in the upstairs bedroom, serve the same purpose, offering a pleasant contrast and plenty of personality to the unit. The interior is also spruce, planed natural and raw white, with the same blue used for contrast in disparate pieces of furniture and trimming.

You enter the home directly into the central living space, which is unsurprisingly multi-functional. It holds a home office, a small library, and the compact but complete kitchen. The kitchen has solid oak countertops and basic appliances like a small-size fridge, a deep sink, a two-burner gas stove, a mini stove, and a double-flow VMC air exchange. There isn't much storage space in there, but compromises have to be made – even in a home with a creative layout like this one.

At one end of the trailer, behind a pocket door, is the small bathroom, with a dry composting toilet and walk-in shower but no sink. At the other end is the kids' bedroom and a living area on top of it. Instead of using the dual-loft layout to increase sleeping accommodations, Baluchon opted for a single loft and an elevated living area on top of the secondary bedroom.

The result is something out of Harry Potter, but which kids will definitely find very charming: a small space under the platform of the living room that can sleep two children, separated from the rest of the house by a thick privacy curtain. A large window by the bed here prevents the space from feeling claustrophobic.

The elevated living room holds a large couch and a coffee table and can, if needed, turn into a guest room – or even a permanent bedroom, if a family of six would dare take on the challenge of sharing such a compact home.

The main bedroom is in the loft over the bathroom, accessible by means of a set of floating wooden stairs. The choice to use floating stairs instead of the usual ladder or storage-integrating staircase boils down to the desire to have minimal intrusion in the space, to keep it uncluttered. And it works. Though the desk is under the stairs, it doesn't feel tucked away as an afterthought.

Valhalla was delivered turnkey in 2018 and was the 15th project from Baluchon. The reason we're looking at it today is that, after all these years and the incredible way in which the tiny house industry has grown, it still stands out as a very creative build. It shows that you can "have it all" even in such a compact footprint while retaining mobility – and that you can downsize in comfort and style.