Tiny house in Owl Mountains
answering your questions
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I’m posting this text into “Studio practice” section not necessarily because it has something to do with studio practice but because it explains why there’s not been much time for studio practice recently.
Our tiny house in Polish Owl Mountains (Lower Silesia) is finished and we’re working on furnishing it. What’s left to do is also a terrace and levelling the plot again, but that’s a story for another time.
A few weeks ago I asked if you have any questions about this ongoing project and I will try to answer them in this post. We’ve been travelling between Berlin and our cabin quite a lot this spring and summer and it’s been so wonderful and equally stressful to see this project take shape.
The design
The idea for a tiny house came to us some 5-6 years ago. We were considering Portugal, even found a beautiful plot there and then the pandemic hit and all plans changed. Because of the distance and because of our budget we decided to buy a plot in Poland instead, and as we don’t live in Poland we wanted to work with a modular pre-fabricated system to make things easier for us.
But as a trained architect I had to do some changes, right?
The technology of the cabin is the same as in the original project—wooden structure with cellulose insulation—and so is the outer shape of the building. We weren’t building with a regular construction permit, rather with an expedited construction application for holiday houses, so there was a maximum size of 35sqm to comply with. But I could run free with the placement of doors and windows, stairs, and the size of the mezzanine. We even visited two similar cabins built according the the original design and made dozens notes of the things we want to change.
We shrunk the sizes of giant fixed windows (controversial! but we’d feel like in a terrarium otherwise) and made most of them openable to enjoy the fresh air we came for. We strategically moved some of them to frame the beautiful landscapes that surround us. We got rid of the entrance hall in favour of a big kitchen with a long window because we cook a lot. Bathroom was redesigned too, to accommodate a floor-level shower and an extra window. And we decided to reduce the size of the mezzanine to open up the space all the way up to the top of the roof. For the interior we worked together with the construction company to keep the execution details neat and eco-friendly, from the joints of the modules to choosing the heaters. Well, it doesn't sound like a lot, but it took at least 5 redesigns and even a last-minute change after the application was already at the county office. All in all, around 5-6 months of re-drawing plans.
The features
Our house is built in an eco-friendly technology with eco-friendly building materials (as far as possible). Mostly wood, cellulose, non-toxic insulation, clay paints, wooden+aluminium windows and metal sheet roof. It sits on steel foundation which are pretty much giant 2m-long elements screwed into the ground. The house can be lifted (yes, it can fly!) and moved just as it came, with a crane and two trucks. The foundation-screws can be removed too, and the land would bear no memory of our cabin.
To keep this project as sustainable as possible we installed a small home biological sewage treatment plant and we have our own water well. We’re going to heat the cabin with air-to-air heat pump and we also have a small fireplace just-in-case. If overtime it turns out that solar panels on the roof would make economical sense we will add them, but for now we want to see how much electricity we even use to make an informed decision.
What’s still ahead of us is adding a wooden terrace, also placed on screw-in foundations, re-routing the path (the temporary driveway was needed for the crane), and eventually building a small greenhouse. For those asking—no pool planned for now, but maybe a hot tub at some point when the budget recovers?
The budget
We arrived at the most-requested subject.
We had an initial budget calculated for this project, but I have to say that our planned spendings almost doubled at this point. What we didn’t initially consider were all the extra expenses caused by the remote location in the mountains:
- building an access road at our own expense (the municipality declined to chip in)
- drilling a well which turned out much deeper than anticipated
- levelling a steep slope for the construction
- installing a sewage treatment plant (no sewage available in the village)
- laying the electric cables (guys, much more expensive than expected!)
- doing the foundations, as they were not included in the price
- hardening the ground for the crane
- transport from the factory (gas prices went up immensely since we singed the contract)
Add generally unstable prices during the pandemic building-boom and our budget had to be thrown out the window. On top of that, we made some choices that rump up the spendings, like swapping plastic windows for wood+aluminium or installing a heat pump. We definitely don’t regret it, but I think it’s worth noting that I am at my financial limit. Luckily it happened after the house is built so we can already use it and enjoy it.
Financing
So how could we afford it?
My boyfriend and I paid this project 50/50.
For my boyfriend it was quite straight-forward as he earns enough to finance a half of a small cabin with his job, end of story. For me it was a mix of different sources. The cost of the land was pretty much covered by a sale of another land I received from my parents. I could cover the initial project spendings and most of the construction with all the money I saved over the years from back when I was an architect. That being said, architects earn very (!) poorly, especially young architects, but I also have to say that I am very (!) good at saving. After the savings dried out, I took a small loan to keep going. And because Kaliko doesn’t make enough profit to pay my bills and pay back a loan, I had to get a part-time job some 5 months ago.
Hopefully once the cabin is furnished and the work outside is finished we will be able to rent it out, which will help us cover running expenses and possibly pay back part of the investment.
I know some of you asked for a specific number, but I think it misses the point. Prices can vary so much depending on the technology, standard, location and time-frame. For those who want to see what the architect offers, including the price list, here’s the link (in Polish and English).
All in all, a dream come true but also a huge challenge. What I want to say is that for me, regardless of the financial cost, it was much more emotionally taxing than anticipated. It is easy to romanticise a wooden cabin in the countryside but the process was anything but romantic. I don’t mind openly saying that I would probably not repeat the process if I knew what was coming, and at the same time I am over the moon that we got to the finish line and so proud that we now have this absolutely beautiful tiny house.
We spent a few nights there two weeks ago and every day we woke up with early sun rays on our faces (we don’t have curtains yet). I got up 6.30am and instantly opened the roof window, so that the beautiful crisp morning air coming from the fields could hit my lungs. I have to tell you, there is nothing better in the entire world than this smell.
P.S. We’re still looking for a name for this cabin, if you feel inspired, please share your ideas!
My prayer is that you will soon not need to rent out your little house, that you will be able to live there and move your studio there, where the very air will boost your energy and inspiration. It's beautiful, and looks much larger now than in earlier photos! Congratulations !
Wow! Congratulations on getting this far, it looks beautiful!