5 tiny houses we loved this week: from the radically minimalist to the totally tricked out

Another week, another fresh crop of tiny house news. Here, we catch you up on the standout projects you should know.

When your favorite micro home trends collide, you get this shipping container converted into a polished tiny house. Designed by Missouri-based Custom Contain Living, this 312-square-foot dwelling dedicates about a third of the original 40-foot container to a new covered porch. The relatively spacious interior, dressed up in warm furnishings barn wood paneling and birch cabinets, can fit a standard five-foot tub/shower unit, combo washer/dryer, and full-size dishwasher. It’s asking $47,900.

Built by a students from Santa Clara University, the 238-square-foot rEvolve House rEvolve House just took the top honor at a first-of-its-kind tiny house competition for college students in California. The house runs on eight 330w solar panels and can rotate to follow the sun and maximize solar efficiency. Inside, there’s a kitchen with a seating bench and fold-down table, 35-square-foot wet room with a dry-flush toilet, built-in shelving, and an elevated living/sleeping area with a Murphy bed. There’s also a roof deck accessible via a spiral staircase.

Designed as a backyard writer’s cabin, this gabled "Enchanted Shed" by Vienna firm Sue Architekten this 322-square-foot blackened timber retreat can be entered via a ladder and up through a hatch in its floor. It’s definitely got a cooler look than conventional tiny house on wheels. And while it doesn’t have a bathroom or kitchen right now, it’s easy to imagine installing them on the lower level, currently used to store garden equipment.

This 340-square-foot off-grid tiny house built by Canadian green living blog Greenmoxie had us at the drawbridge deck. The house uses a slew of reclaimed materials for everything from the barn wood ceiling and bathroom barn door to windows and light fixtures. The tiny house’s eco-friendly cred can be found in the 1 kW solar PV system with 11 kW storage capacity, a roof water recovery system, and low-voltage LED lighting as well.

Designed by famed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma for outdoors brand Snow Peak, this all-wood tiny house with streamlined LED lights is perfect for minimalist nomads. Now, this project might seem a bit extreme with its radically pared-back ethos, but rest assured it’s still a work in progress. More elements will be added in the future.