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Polaris Tiny House 20′ x 8’6″

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This classic 20′ Craftsman tiny home has been featured by Tiny House Expedition, House Method magazine, on the cover of Tiny House Magazine, and the local news (twice). Custom designed and built by a North Carolina couple in 2015, Callie Brauel & Nathan Huening; it features everything you need for 2 adults to live comfortably in a compact footprint: plenty of storage, two lofts, a custom transforming sofa with diner seating, custom (dog-friendly) half-spiral staircase, stacked washer/dryer, coat closet, linen closet, radiant floor heat, drawer dishwasher, and 4-burner gas range. Callie & Nathan each have their own separate clothes closets with hanging rods for the occasional times they have to dress like grownups. The 2nd loft has variously been repurposed as a work-from-home office, guest/child’s bed, and study nook. Together with a covered deck and screened-in porch, they’ve been living tiny, nearly sacrifice-free full-time since 2016.

Delightful finishes like stained glass, aromatic cedar trim and shelves, all stainless steel appliances, concrete countertops, architectural black pipe brackets, and matching teal cushions and dishware create a sense of understated luxury in 270 SF. This house is ideal for either permanent or temporary living, can accommodate a couple with small children, is well-suited to dogs, and offers a layout flexible enough to adapt to changing needs.

On top of all that, it is simple to build.

Notes from the Designers

When we first conceived of the project, we aimed to make a space that 2 people could live in comfortably, full-time, with dogs. Our goal was to create a floor plan that was not only open and spacious but maximally practical and even configurable, which is explained below. Moreover, we wanted to use simple, inexpensive materials that are widely available not only to make it easy for us to build but for others as well.

 

The design includes a bed loft over the bathroom and a secondary flex loft over the sofa. The overall footprint is 8.5′ wide by 20′ long, or 160SF. Include the 2 lofts, and the total is around 250SF, and with the 10′ by 20′ porch, the total living space is about 450SF.

Some of our favorite features include:

  1. Radiant heat flooring
  2. DIY concrete countertops
  3. Aromatic red cedar trim
  4. Flush or composting toilet
  5. Stacked washer/dryer
  6. Drawer dishwasher
  7. All stainless steel appliances
  8. Gas range and gas water heater
  9. Convertible sofa/day bed
  10. Standing desk
  11. Dual closets
  12. Screened in porch with fan

Not including our own labor (but some of the paid labor of our friends), with materials, our cost for this build was about $45000 in 2017. Every window (except the 3 stained glass) that we used in the build we reclaimed from local surplus supply operations, as well as the 3.5″ polyiso rigid foam for insulation throughout that we found used on Craigslist.

Even though we’ve specified specific dimensions for doors and windows, you have a lot of latitude to customize the design around reclaimed supplies that you find! So look for your doors and windows first — certainly a large overall expense — and then build around whatever sizes you find to save money.

Walkthrough

As you enter Polaris, you’ll immediately notice how open and airy it feels. This is because you enter at the maximum interior ceiling height of about 11.5′, but also because there are 17 windows total throughout the build, so lots of light all around. Facing you is the kitchen counter and, to the right, the stairs up to the loft, which you can use to set things down. You’ll also see the standing desk with wall mounted monitor and keyboard shelf. To the left is the sofa that you can plop down on after a long day, which has lots of storage (for us, it’s cleaning supplies and winter clothes), but most importantly, it transforms into a day bed for guests or a diner table for meals and game nights.

Above the sofa is the secondary loft, which has variously been a guest bed, office with desk and chair, and reading/meditation nook. You access it by a lightweight RV ladder that is stashed in the loft joists and latched onto permanent hooks. Grab a book off the shelf, bring some coffee, take a nap, or gaze out the giant casement windows at the birds next door.

The kitchen is one-wall style, so all your countertop space is in a single row. It’s a highly functional space with a large, deep sink that we’ve used to entertain large parties — and even cook Thanksgiving dinner! A four-burner gas stovetop and the oven is large enough for family-style cooking, and all the open shelves display your ceramic ware at easy reach. There is a 10″ wide sliding pantry cabinet for all your dry goods and cabinets enough for pans, trash, recycling, and compost bins. After your big party, stash all the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and let machines do the dirty work! The 3/4 fridge is plenty of space for 2 people who cook often with fresh ingredients, and make sure that you include a venting hood that exhausts to the outside. It’s very important to remove as much heat and moisture as possible from a tiny space!

Through the kitchen, you’ll find a regular-sized apartment bathroom with full-size vanity, toilet, 36″ tiled shower stall, and extra cabinet space for hanging clothes, linens, soap, contact lenses, and anything else you need. We’ve variously used a flush toilet and a composting toilet depending on where the house was situated. Initially, we used a 5-gallon bucket with sawdust (very primitive), which worked fine, but then upgraded to a Separett (very fancy), which is a better experience. We also found a used shower door that is a 2-way full-size mirror so that you can check yourself out!

In back of the bathroom, along the exterior wall of the house, we cut out a 16″ door that leads to the enclosed trailer tongue box. This is our hidden laundry room! We store the 24″ stacked washer/dryer back there, as well as laundry baskets, winter jackets and mittens, ironing board, broom, and additional supplies like bleach and candle oil. We also mounted our hot water heater here as well as our whole house water and UV filters. Many tiny houses make use of the trailer tongue outside for things like an AC condensing unit. In our experience, enclosing that trapezoidal space gave us a lot more options.

The custom stairs offer a ton of storage and are shallow enough that all 3 of our dogs can climb up and down to the loft. Every step has storage of some kind, and we use these for our dog supplies such as food, medicine, treats, and toys. There’s also a large drawer that we use for overflow pantry goods. Climbing the stairs, you’ll reach the bed loft, which is spacious enough to fit our extra comfy California King bed. The skylight is great for ambiance and star gazing (and emergency egress) but not so great for sleeping in! We added custom blackout shades for all our windows to control light and heat in the summer. You’ll also notice in the bed loft the custom shelves and brackets that serve multiple purposes: visual privacy, safety railing, and most importantly 6 baskets to hold clothes.

DIGITAL Plans - $199
PRINTED Plans - $229

Basic Information

Designer

Cranmore Meadows

Name of Plan

Polaris Tiny House

 

Number of bedrooms/sleeping areas

3

Square Footage

178 SF (271 SF with lofts)

Dimensions

8.5’ x 20’ trailer with bump-out over the tongue

APPROXIMATE Weight

12,000 lbs

APPROXIMATE Cost

DIY: $52,500
Turn-Key: $70,000+

(add approx. 10% to 20% to account for the rise of building material costs)

What the Polaris Tiny House Plans Include:

The 11-page set of architectural drawings includes general information, elevations, and full-color pictures for both the house and the deck, as well as:

  • Framing details
  • Electrical details
  • Appliance list
  • Door and window details
  • Custom kitchen millwork
  • Custom sofa millwork
  • Custom stair millwork
  • Deck and porch details
  • Custom sofa plans
  • Custom storage stairs plans
  • 45-minute consultation with Cranmore Meadows founders
  • License to build ONE tiny house based on the Polaris design

PLUS, REMEMBER YOUR $200+ IN FREE BONUSES!

Photos

Features List

Design Style

Craftsman

Square Footage

178 SF (271 SF with Lofts)

Foundation Details

Car Hauler Trailer (bed in between wheel wells)

Primary Bedroom Location

Loft with Storage Stairs Access

Sleeps

4 People or more

Designed for Tall People

Roof Style

Shed

Exterior Door

Long End Location

Designed for Extreme Cold

Skylight

Transitional Space Design

Custom Sectional Sofa with Storage

Drawer Bed 

Removable Dining Table

Home Office

Kitchen Details

Apartment Size Appliances

Pantry

Dishwasher

Additional Loft

Ladder Access

Storage

Lounge

Home Office

Secondary Bedroom

Bathroom Details

Full-Size Lavatory

Shower

Standard Flush, Composting, or Incinerating Toilet

Linen storage

Water Heater

On-Demand

Heat / AC

Minisplit

Radiant Floors

Washer/Dryer

Stackable W/D

Insulation

Rigid Foam

Polaris Tiny House FLOOR PLAN:

Polaris Tiny House Plans FAQs

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How many square feet is your tiny house?

It is 271 square feet if you include lofts, 178 SF without them (NOTE: we did exterior wall to exterior wall: 8’6” vs. 8’ and we included the washer/dryer bump out but not the extra storage accessed from the outside).

Do I have to build the deck, too?

Definitely not! We built the house first and added the standalone deck later. But it definitely adds a lot both to have a covered entryway as well as a screened-in dining area.

How is the deck attached?

With 4 lag screws into the house frame via siding trim. The deck sits on its own feet, apart from the house; in fact, theoretically, you could hitch up the trailer and drive the home away, and the deck would still be standing in place.

Do I have to use the exact same appliances?

No, you have some wiggle room. The mini-split can be anything (9000 BTUs is fine), but as built, the range has to be 30” wide. Of course, you could put in a standard 36” range, but you’d lose the cabinet and countertop space. As designed, you need a fridge no more than 24” wide and 60” tall to fit under the custom stairs.

Do I have to put in radiant heat in the floor?

No, that’s optional! Our mini-split is a heat pump, as well, so you can use it for either heating or cooling. But floor heat is a really nice feature to have, is easy to install, and only cost about $500 extra in materials, so definitely worth it. Your feet stay warm during the winter, and we almost never use the main overhead heat.

What kind of toilet do you have?

Initially, we had a regular flush toilet — the smallest one we could find. We switched later to a primitive bucket style with sawdust and then upgraded to a Separett, which we like and recommend.

What kind of roofing material did you use?

We installed standing seam metal roofing from a local supplier (ABC Supply). This is an upgrade from the standard metal roofing you might find at a local big box store, but it is worth it for the quality and custom color options. They provide pretty good guidance on how to install it; Youtube helped with the rest.

Why did you choose a shed-style roof?

It provides more space in the lofts than a traditional gable. It’s not quite as charming or quaint — it doesn’t look like a little “house” — but it also allowed us to add clerestory windows on the high side, which adds a ton more light and character and which you can’t really do otherwise.

What kind of insulation did you use?

We used all reclaimed 3.5” polyiso cyanurate rigid foam insulation which fits in between the studs. Really great R-value, and because ours was reclaimed, we took extra plastic out of the landfill and waste stream. Main disadvantage is having to cut out channels for things like electrical wires (an old, dull handsaw is fine). But you could use anything you want, including spray foam or pink fiberglass or mineral wool or whatever.

Should I install a skylight?

Doing it over, I wouldn’t. It sounds charming, but in practice, the light wakes you up in the morning and adds heat to an already-warm bed loft when heat rises in the summer. Plus, you open up the possibility of a roof leak down the road. Instead, I would include windows on either side of the wall that open for cross breeze and emergency egress. This will save money too!

What kind of countertop did you use?

We poured custom concrete countertops just following instructions from Youtube. It was the first time we tried it, and it worked great… but did require 4 people to lift and install! Of course, you can use whatever material you want.

What are the 2 bump-outs for?

On one side, over the trailer tongue, we enclosed a trapezoid-shaped room that holds our washer/dryer unit and serves as a laundry room. It’s accessible from the inside. We also mounted the water heater and water filter to this assembly. On the back, we have a small box accessible from the outside that we use for our exterior AC condensing unit and propane tanks for the stove and water heater. We also have shelves that hold tools, hoses, and sawdust for the composting toilet.

How did you install the washer/dryer?

We have a removable panel that screws in from the outside that we can remove for access and repairs. That, and 3 young strapping men.

Where did you source the windows?

From all over! Anywhere we could find them: Craigslist, Marketplace, local re-supply shops. All 17 windows in the build are reclaimed or used, and we just constructed the wall around the dimensions we had. If you want to do the same, start with the windows and door, and then frame your headers accordingly. This will save you a ton of money versus buying new.

How did you make the shelves?

We used black iron pipe — normally used for gas lines — as tinker toys to construct shelf brackets throughout. Just make sure to clean them with mineral spirits first and use some pipe dope when threading them to get a good tight fit.

Which trailer did you use?

We purchased directly from Tumbleweed back when they offered trailers for sale. They don’t any more, but you can find them all over the country now. It was about $5500 for a 20’ trailer back in 2015 — probably the single most expensive component of the build. Get one that’s meant to be used as a tiny house foundation (vs. equipment hauler), and DEFINITELY get one with squared wheel wells!

What kind of exterior cladding did you use?

It’s pine wedge siding we got from a local wood supplier (Capitol City Lumber in Raleigh, NC). That was the best price and fairly easy to install, but expensive. We like wood for the character and because it’s natural and sustainable but does require periodic maintenance. We stained it to look like cedar. We also used real cedar shakes for the half-story above the door.

What kind of interior cladding did you use?

For the floors, floating vinyl tongue and groove. For the walls, 3/8” plywood that we painted white. For the ceiling, 5mm Luan plywood that we treated with tung oil.

Where did you get your ceramic and dishware?

We commissioned an entire set of bowls, plates, and mugs from a local potter. We knew that we’d have exposed shelves and so chose a glaze color that matched our teal and gray color scheme. Then the dishware becomes art on your wall.

Polaris Tiny House Features

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  • Main bedroom loft accessed by storage stairs, fits king bed and includes storage that doubles as privacy screen
  • Secondary loft accessed by ladder—can be used as office, lounge, bedroom, or extra storage space
  • Transforming sectional sofa—includes storage, removable dining table, and turns into a daybed
  • Spacious bathroom includes sink, closet, full-size shower
  • Coat closet/mini-laundry room with stacked W/D

Included in the Polaris Tiny House Plans

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Plans Include:

The 11-page set of architectural drawings includes general information, elevations, and full-color pictures for both the house and the deck, as well as:

  • Framing details
  • Electrical details
  • Appliance list
  • Door and window details
  • Custom kitchen millwork
  • Custom sofa millwork
  • Custom stair millwork
  • Deck and porch details
  • Custom sofa plans
  • Custom storage stairs plans
  • 45-minute consultation with Cranmore Meadows founders
  • License to build ONE tiny house based on the Polaris design

$200+ FREE Bonuses:

  • How to Build a Tiny House downloadable video series
  • Digital Tiny House Workshop
DIGITAL Plans - $199
PRINTED Plans - $229

Polaris Tiny House Plans Samples:

TOUR THE POLARIS TINY HOUSE!

DIGITAL Plans - $199
PRINTED Plans - $229
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  • dog friendly tiny house
  • tiny home plans
  • tiny house design
  • tiny house floor plans
  • tiny house on wheels
  • tiny house plans
  • tiny house with detachable deck
  • tiny house with full size sofa
  • tiny house with home office
  • tiny house with king size bed
  • tiny house with laundry room
  • tiny house with screened in porch
  • tiny house with stackable washer/dryer
  • tiny house with stairs
  • tiny house with storage stairs
  • tiny house with transforming furniture
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