Experimental from top to bottom, the Austrian Wohnwagon is one of the first tiny houses on wheels to come from the European country. The Wohnwagon (“living wagon” in German) is built from locally sourced Austrian woods and has sheep wool insulation, solar panels, a living roof and even a water circulation system that uses marsh plants to clean and re-use greywater.
The system works like this: rainwater is collected from the roof into storage tanks on the roof and under the ground and used in the home. The used water from the shower and sinks is then pumped onto the roof and cleaned by marsh plants that reside on top of the house. Within 24 hours, the water is clean and moves back into water tanks where it is heated or filtered for showering and drinking.
The Wohnwagon also has an interesting hot water heater and wood stove in one stylish unit. The Badeofen includes a container for heating wood for hot water when the roof top solar panels are not producing power.
As far as the design, the Wohnwagon is distinctly rounded on both the front and the rear and the porthole windows give it a sailboat quality. The front porch and the awning bring in the outdoors and the large windows bring light into the simple interior. Only natural oils were used on the exterior wood. One end of the home has a large bed with a pullout bed stored underneath. The bathroom is equipped with a composting toilet and a round shower and the kitchen has an oak countertop, a Dometic stove and refrigerator.
Currently, Austria has no building laws or precise rules for tiny houses on wheels, but the Wohnwagon crew offers workshops for potential owners on how to use these types of houses for simple living. They can be custom made and range in price from $40,000 Euros to $90,000 Euros ($42,000 to $95,000).
Photos by Wohnwagon
By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]
The Wohnwagon is the most innovative,livable,practical,and design beautiful tiny home I have seen!. I hope that this is available in the USA in the not too distant future. I am putting this on my bucket list. 🙂
~Elizabeth
This is a fascinating THOW. I like the idea of being self-sustaining as much as possible. This one is light and airy, a real plus.
What a beautiful creature! Here’s hoping all goes well with it.
Love the Badeofen, but it looks hard to find in North America.
How about a photo of the round shower? Sounds interesting.
Thank you so much! I just found the post about our wohnwagon and we are really honored! If you are looking for some pictures of the shower check out our website: http://bit.ly/1MzcNkO
I love this house the woods are gorgeous and it has so much storage. I also like the living roof idea! Wish I had the money. Beautiful home!
I must say, what a beauty! So many tiny houses exhibit stale, rehashed ideas these days; some are even terribly designed. But not this one! It rekindles my enthusiasm for tiny possibilities. Well done, there, in Germany!
Excuse me: Well done, there, in AUSTRIA!
What an ingenuous idea for reusing grey water! If I ever get my dream TH, I’ll incorporate this idea.
Totally self contained, will need to be stationary, water storage in ground. Not suitable in areas where freezing temperatures are common for good part of the year. Very innovative ideas though, some will trickle into North America. Well done.
The water recycling of this tiny home is ingenious, and is really putting the living roof to good use – not just in insulating the home – in filtering grey water! I’d be interested in knowing how the filtered water is collected from the roof, I’m imagining a gutter system that runs through the living roof or around it. Also because it is such a small water cycle what kind of maintenance would be involved, like keeping the plumbing clean, gutter cleaning and so forth.
lovely houses !!! esp the austrian !
Do you have me adresses in germany or austria who builds those houses ? I’m interested