Try On a Tiny House for Size
The Tiny House Movement is a huge trend. But is it for you? Why not take a test drive? Millennial Housing Lab, a startup founded by Harvard Business, Law and Design students, has created Getaway, a project featuring tiny escapes you can book and try on for size in the Boston Area.
As evident by its name, Millennial Housing Lab focuses on “developing and realizing fresh housing ideas for a new generation.” But one doesn’t have to be a millennial to appreciate housing innovation, lower (i.e. affordable) rent, “community-minded lifestyles,” and basically just a downsized life where peace and simplicity are more important than status and consumption.
Getaway is their first project, intended to “get more tiny houses built and to get more folks staying in them.” Their three wee but eco-friendly cabins, or Getaway houses, on wheels are just 160 square feet. They are simply designed and set in serene nature settings to allow your mind to clear and escape from frenetic city life. Their intimate scale, and proximity and architectural openness to nature, is meant to ground you and experience life authentically “outside the realm of normative life.”
The Ovida or Bunkhouse Break features a lake view and sleeps four. The Lorraine is billed as a writer’s retreat, featuring smart home technology and solar energy. It sleeps two. The snuggly Clara is nestled in a rural setting and sleeps up to four. All cabins are located within a two-hours’ drive from Boston, and are named after team members’ grandparents. They feature all the necessities you need to spend a night away from home.
Designer Wyatt Komarin writes on the Getaway blog: “We build cabins because it is the most powerful way that we know of to seek the authentic in human experience. They are simple, materially warm, minimally adorned spaces among trees and meadows in quiet places and, ultimately, in which to dwell.” Materials are high-quality wood and metal, nothing plastic or composite.
“I find the challenges of designing at a small scale to be very fulfilling,” Komarin said. “We’ve got to pack a lot of program into a 160-square-foot footprint.”
In the spirit of adventure, the location of your tiny house is kept secret until at least 24 hours before your trip. Rates start at $99. And after a night of downsizing, you might be ready to look deeper into the Tiny House Movement and whether micro living off the grid is for you. For inquiries, go to getaway.house.
