Lina Menard’s house is called “The Lucky Penny” – and she certainly feels lucky to have it.
She designed the house for herself – and while she has other tiny properties she can utilize, this is her main living space.
But we’ll warn you – commenters were not fans of this particular model. Apparently, there’s such a thing as a tiny house that’s simply too tiny for some.
Of course, the important thing is that it’s bliss to its tenant.
While the majority of the budget went towards building materials, Menard provides quite a thorough cost breakdown on her website, including the $1,500 she spent on volunteer meals during construction! And she also included the sweat equity of herself and volunteers, which she estimated at $16,000 (800 hours at $20/hour).
Located in Portland, Oregon, the home cost a total of $25,000 to construct.
She now estimates the value to be upwards of $40,000.
The house is nestled in a cohousing community called Going Places which includes two other sets of residents and yard space.
Menard’s house has one seriously small footprint. It’s just 8’4″ wide and 14’9″ long at the exterior!
But she’s managed to make it homey and liveable with thoughtful-but-minimal decor and far more practical elements such as an electric point-of-use water heater, an electric space heater (which she uses from roughly October through March), a mini-fridge and mini chest freezer, a one-burner induction cooktop, a convection toaster oven, and a kitchen sink.
A little box on the porch keeps things nice and cool when the weather is cold so that the fridge and freezer aren’t always in use.
While her shower wasn’t quite complete by the time of the tour (and was only built to hold 4 gallons of water!), Menard says she often showers at the bigger house on the property or the yoga studio she attends anyway.
Many of her materials were salvaged and her appliances are all energy efficient.
But let’s just anticipate the question everyone has when they see a tiny home:
Where do you go to the bathroom?
Well, one has to make sacrifices, and an in-home toilet was one of them for Menard. There is, of course, a bathroom facility – it’s just shared with the rest of her compound outside the tiny home.
And as for sleeping – there’s no loft, which is many people’s favorite part of the tiny house tour.
But Menard enjoys having high ceilings throughout (and a skylight!), so her bed is only slightly lofted in the back of the home.
That way, she can enjoy lots of light from every angle and there’s no upper floor blocking the sun from streaming in.
Big windows are the key in this particular space when it comes to keeping things bright and airy.
And as you can see, while the kitchen may be small and storage space limited, but Menard’s cat Raffi still has plenty of room to hop up on the counter!
Despite barely having 100 square feet to move around in, Menard can still enjoy creature comforts as well.
A little pull out table is perfect for a cup of tea with a friend, for example.
Many people took issue with the storage space that included many of Menard’s belongings AND Raffi’s litter box, but people in tiny houses are used to being tidy as well!
Raffi must have some good communication skills about his bathroom needs!
This is definitely one of the tiniest tiny homes we’ve seen, but we can’t help but give kudos to those who take up such little space and resources and don’t spend time collecting “stuff” that will someday just be landfill.
Menard’s house is perfect for her and Raffi, and that’s all that matters.
Be sure to scroll down below for the full tour of her super tiny home.
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