Guest Post by Frank Dobrucki
My Tiny House Dilemma/Challenge. Years ago, as I was watching the Las Vegas housing market crumble, the local TV News was reporting that Las Vegas did not have to worry about the national trend in housing, because Las Vegas was going vertical! Yes, we had well over 100 huge high-rise projects on the horizon! I thought that the newscasters were out of their mind. There is no way that you can insulate one type of housing project, specially when it is an outrageously overpriced concept and believe that this will save us from economic catastrophe. Fast-forward, Las Vegas is truly ground zero when it comes to the national housing market disaster. All of the high-rise projects included, even though most were never built!
Photo Credits: Frank Dobrucki
When I looked at the floor plans of many of the projects, several entry-level models were less than 800 square feet and had starting prices of $600,000 and monthly homeowner fees of approximately $800 to $1,000. I knew that I could do a better job of coming up with the kind of housing that people really need and something that people could afford.
Whenever I looked at what “truly” affordable housing means, I kept finding these little tiny storage sheds with ladders and lofts. Nothing about these units made me feel than anybody could ever be comfortable living there. My challenge was to design a small footprint housing unit that was 1) affordable, 2) efficient, 3) practical, and most important, to me 4) comfortable and fun to live in.
I knew that I would be designing a one-story unit. The idea of climbing up and down a ladder did not appeal to me. The ladder concept excludes a lot of people and I can just imagine how dangerous a fall could be in the middle of the night when you had to use the bathroom. Not to knock the green movement, but I wasn’t really all that excited about the woodsy look either. I think that color and texture play a very important role in the design process and well insulated drywall that can be painted or wallpapered is much more adaptable to a greater variety of people. I also knew that I wanted a great kitchen. I love to cook and I wasn’t interested in a little electric burner and a microwave that is nestled under the counter somewhere. Finally, I wanted a real bathroom. The standard bathroom is designed as a 5’X 8’ room. This is mostly specified because a standard tub/shower enclosure comes in a 5’ length. Interestingly, just because it really fit, I came up with a 6’X 9’ bathroom.
In the end, I came up with a 24’X 24’ cube that intersects the needs of many things. As there are no walls separating the living room, dining, kitchen or bedroom areas, the space seems much bigger than it actually is. The ceilings are 9’ high, which also contributes to the feeling of a much larger space. There is plenty of storage. I call this project the “Domain-Studio” and the total living space is 576 sq. ft. You can see the “Domain-Studio” at: www.dropitanywhere.com
When I finished this design, I actually built the first unit. It was so incredibly exciting to see my drawing come to life. I am absolutely crazy about the “Domain-Studio” and believe that this housing unit could revolutionize the concept of affordable housing in cities across the country. The main difference with the “Domain-Studio” is that it is meant to be a stackable unit. The primary design calls for a building-block technology that can be fitted on top of commercial buildings. Most commercial buildings have flat roofs. Look at most supermarket shopping centers; strip malls, even downtown commercial buildings. Most all of these buildings have flat roofs. Why not take advantage of these flat roofs and make affordable housing available where people want to live, in areas where driving would not always be needed. Look at all of the mall properties across the country. Many of these malls are dying a slow economic death! Imagine what kind of life-support could be achieved by placing several hundred living units “on-property.” Many of these malls could be reinvented to include late night dining, coffee shops and other business that could serve as social gathering places because of the new resident population. As a real estate developer, nothing excited me more than being able to build a housing project without have to buy any land!
Back in the 1980’s, I ventured in the mobile home park area. I actually owned a park in New England for a couple of years. I learned a lot about manufactured housing and saw the pros and cons of cheap inexpensive housing. Today, I am playing with a totally new concept and that is with the idea of a vertical rental tower. The idea would be to build a steel cage structure where you could simply slide in Domain units and the owner of the Domain unit would rent the tower space much like a mobile home owner rents the ground in a mobile home park.
The “Domain-Studio” is a $69,900 priced home. This unit would cost approximately $500 per month to “own.” While I never thought that I would or could design anything smaller than the “Domain-Studio, — I did! I went back to my drawing board and actually came up with two smaller units. The first is the “Domain-360” — which is exactly as its name suggests, a 360’ square foot unit. The motivation for the “Domain-360” was to accomplish one thing that the “Domain-Studio” could not. The “Domain-360” is built on one single all-steel super floor platform, which means that this unit leaves the factory 100% finished. There is no onsite work needed to button up or connect anything other than exterior connections for water, sewer and electricity. Both Domain units are 24’ long, which means that they can be stacked side by side in the same building configurations. The “Domain-360” uses the same basic layout of the larger unit, with virtually the same Living Room, Kitchen and Dining area. The difference is in the bathroom, closet and bedroom areas. The “Domain-360” does not have a dedicated bedroom area, but instead uses a MurphyBed wall system, which also doubles as an office/study area.
The “Domain-360” is priced at $59,900 and the monthly cost would be approximately $400 per month to “own.” Both Domain units come completely finished with cabinets, appliances, mini-split electric heat-pump HVAC and Kohler bathrooms. With 9’ ceilings, there is plenty of space to extend cabinets in the closets for additional storage.
My final design was for a very small unit, which I see for people that truly want the most minimal experience. I call this unit, the “Domain-Shelter.” The Domain Shelter is a 10’X 14’ cube that has 140 sq. ft. Everything is minimized, but I tried very hard to keep to my practicalities and not compromise on quality and comfort. The “Domain-Shelter” has factory-built kitchenette unit that has a small two burner stove, with an oven, under counter refrigerator, and built-in microwave. There is also a 4’ Kohler bathroom with a 4-piece fiberglass shower unit. One really neat feature of the steel super floor is that you can include outdoor space for a deck that will have incredible support and strength. One idea that I have is to include an 8’ deck on the back of this tiny unit, which would you an extra 80 square feet of outdoor living area for dining, outdoor grilling, and entertaining. Like the other Domain units, even the “Domain-Shelter” is able to be stacked.
Theses are my three Domain units. My challenge now is to get my first development project off the ground.