The first post I published on the Tiny House Blog was about Montana Mobile Cabins. This company continues to be a favorite of mine seven years later and I like to bring you updates and photos of their projects every now and again.
This weeks Tiny House in a Landscape features Montana Mobile Cabins 12 x 16 foot studio cabin. A simple cabin design with a big covered front porch.
Studio Cabin – 12×16 delivery to the Flathead Valley, Montana.
Interior view Studio Cabin, three in one kitchenette with 2 burner electric stove, sink and under-counter refrigerator. The bath is to the right with shower and toilet.
Studio Cabin 12×16, view to loft with bathroom and kitchenette under loft.
To learn more about Montana Mobile Cabins you can go to their website here: http://montanamobilecabins.com/ and to their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/MontanaMobileCabins
Damn, thank god I don’t live in usa….these prices are bloody absurd. Nice cabins and all but definitely meant to be rich boys’ toys.
I agree the prices of these small homes make me cringe. I don’t understand the price per square foot is much higher then regular construction, Why is that? I
I so agree.
The reason why is time, effort and specialty items.
Smaller items (stoves, heaters, sinks, showers, etc) are specialty items and cost more to begin with so they will add to your cost.
Next is time and effort, and for these things smaller does not always make a huge difference. If I were to build a single wall with standard 2x4s and drywall, while it would require twice the materials to make it 16ft long rather than 8ft long it would not take a significantly longer time. So by making it 8ft long you haven’t really saved much on the labour. And that is really what you are paying for with these homes is the labour. Just like using a mechanic, a plumber or anything else. Materials are cheap, labour isn’t.
That is why we don’t all take the time off our job and just knock together a house, because we can’t afford the cost of the amount of time it would take us.
You said it!
I couldnt agree with you more. I just dont understand why any one would spend that type money on something that small and inefficent. check us out
I built a cabin over 20 years of almost identical design, except mine was built on site and had a 12/12 pitch (this one looks like 8/12) roof and dormers on both sides for additional headroom in the loft ; the open ceiling in the front adds to the feeling of space, and the t & g roofing works great, and needs no support other than the ridgepole as the 2×6 will support a 6 foot span with a static load. I sold it and it has been lived in ever since, though the buyer put an addition on one side. This one looks great! Well done.
I agree with Terence – I haven’t been to the website to look at this company’s particular prices – but I have been to many, many websites for prefab tiny houses and the mark-up seems incredibly high for most of them. Of course they are working with the current market but still… It would be nice to find more options for prefab tiny homes that are within reach of the common person especially since most of them are difficult to finance. And just in my circle, I’ve found those can afford to buy the small homes, usually don’t want them. I’m still looking for the perfect tiny home – but the journey is fun!
Log cabins are extremely labour intensive. Try peeling a log some time, then making a well fitted joint. Multiply by however many you need. Even for the very experienced it still takes a while to make one of these things. You are paying for a lot of hand labour. While dimensional lumber is still expensive it’s cheaper than prepared logs because you’re paying for a lot of machine work and the labour involved in putting dimensional lumber together is a lot simpler. You can get machine prepared logs but they’re missing all the natural variation that holds so much appeal.
You can have a place built cheap, built fast or built well but you only get to pick two out of three.
What gets me about these tiny houses is not only their baffling price tag, but the fact that they’re all so spare on the inside. You get a meh kitchen, a ridiculously tiny bathroom, and a ladder to a loft. (Yeah, and what if you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night? And climbing down a ladder isn’t much fun under any circumstances).You can get a Keystone RV for a similar or lesser price, and it’ll be loaded with all kinds of fixtures, furniture, all the bells and whistles, plus a bedroom on the ground floor. I’m wondering if the best thing to do is to simply buy a new or used RV and have someone refurb the outside so that it looks more like a house. Best of both worlds.
A lot of people who like these homes want a simple, minimalist lifestyle. If I had to have a loaded RV, I’d just as soon live in a regular house. I’d love to have a cabin like this.
I agree. Seems like the romantic attachment to the simple design and minimalist lifestyle has great appeal. These darling little environments would entice anyone. I have wanted the minimalist life for years and the transition to it takes time, but I can dream. Every day I realize I am glad “you can’t take it with you” and I am really really glad I don’t have to.
We built a 800 sqft cabin; top construction but coming at $300 the sqft!!!
Impossible to resale!
Our contractor warned us that it would be easier to resale if we made it bigger as very little more material would imply much more square footage.
What Jack up the sqft cost are plumbing, electricity and specific appliances which are steady that you have a 800 or 1200 sqft place
this one is nicely done. I have lived in two in my life time and I’m very sorry I sold the last one.
Resale poor because prices are outrageous. I am still living in a mobile but want a small cabin with greenhouse. Only way is to build yourself. I am collecting materials.
as pascale said, tiny is more expensive up front because the expensive stuff is still there. the exterior walls, the insulation, wiring, plumbing, roofing, windows, doors, not to mention possible alternative, off grid appliances, water and electricity sources. but after it is done you will pay very little to run the unit. i know a guy here in new england who has built a tiny (less than 200 sq ft) home and he told me he paid $120 to heat his house for the entire winter. his electric bill is in the single digits. added square footage is cheap up front but expensive to maintain. and lets not even discuss property taxes….
What you get for what you pay for some of these extremely tiny homes is I think ridiculous. Here is a 688 Sq ft. home that is everything a couple needs for app $35,000.00. Now this makes sense to me.