You Won’t Have to Crouch in the Lofted Bedrooms of These Tiny Homes
Welcome to Tiny Home Profiles, an interview series with people pushing the limits of living small. From space-saving hacks to flexible floor plans, here’s what they say makes for the best tiny homes on the planet. Know of a builder we should talk to? Reach out.
"We wanted to help people live more intentionally through a smaller footprint," says Heather Fritz. She and her husband, Kevin, had quit their jobs to start Fritz Tiny Homes, building a first design in their backyard to explore living with less.
When they started, they felt they had a good idea of what to do. Kevin had built their most recent home, and before that, the couple lived in a garden suite before moving into a converted city bus. Those experiences in living small informed the design of the backyard prototype, and their first home found a buyer before it was even finished. The couple would go on to build three more projects before distilling what they learned into lineup of five tiny homes.
Here, we talk to Heather about how these first experiences informed their off-the-shelf models and what, exactly, one of their $150,000 tiny home includes.
Fritz Tiny Homes offers five models ranging in size from 190 to 325 square feet. They start at $65,000.
What qualities make your tiny home stand apart from the rest?
We are passionate about building resilient, long-lasting homes for all climates. We want people to be able to live in them anywhere. We know how to build for Canadian winters; our homes can handle -40 degrees Farenheit and intense snow load but they also can handle the summer heat.
What sets us apart is our designs—we have been told over and over our homes feel so spacious and big. Often, people who did not think they could live in a tiny home will walk through one of ours and feel differently about them. It is our utilization of windows and the way we fight for every square inch of storage that make our homes so livable.
The homes are made from structural insulated panels (SIPs) attached to a wood frame. The envelope is clad in varying combinations of wood and metal siding.
The units come standard with eight fiberglass windows and a glass door. One of the four-by-six-foot living room windows can be swapped out for a larger window at an additional cost.
What’s the most exciting project you’ve realized to date?
It’s so hard to choose one, but I would say the Trahan build. It was our first custom home, which was featured in Dwell. We had such great synergy with our client during the design phase and she brought us some wild ideas, like wanting to build a tiny home that blended the feel of an A-frame cabin and a midcentury modern mansion. She wanted room for yoga and a place for her stationary bike. We delivered the home to Vancouver Island and installed it for her.
The layouts of the original models—the Halcyon 01, 02, and the Lux—follow similar schemes, where a double-height kitchen and living area are situated near the entry.
In the Halcyon 01, the bed sits above the bathroom at the back. In the larger Halcyon 2 model, the rear of the floor plan has another bedroom and, as an upgrade, its larger living room can be converted into an enclosed primary suite.
We went on to tweak that custom Trahan design and release it as part of our tiny home model line. It’s called the Halcyon Lux. We modified a few things to make the home more accessible to people with limited mobility. The first Lux model was sold to a doctor in Ontario who is now living on her parent’s land in the country.
Another favorite was building a Halcyon 02 for a family from Virginia who bought land in Southwest Harbor, Maine. They had originally looked at building a big cabin on the oceanfront property, but the timeline was too long. They have teenage kids and wanted to capitalize on the memories and connection together on the land now, so a tiny home made more sense for them. Knowing the home will serve the family as a place for rest and connection is so heartwarming to us. It also holds a special place in my heart as my family is from Maine. Kevin and I had the opportunity to be a part of the install and bring our family along. That project can be found here.
An IBC boiler is used for radiant floor heating and hot water, while an integrated ERV system helps to maintain air quality, temperature, and humidity. Both are included in the quoted price.
What does your base model cost and what does that pricing include?
Our smallest tiny house on wheels is the Halcyon 01, a 28-by-8-and-a-half-foot plan with a loft, which costs $204,500 CAD ($151K USD). The home is a certified RV in both Canada and the U.S.
That price includes the following: eight fiberglass windows and a full glass door; a living room with a couch; a storage hutch with a front hall closet; a kitchenette with storage solutions and custom concrete countertops; a bathroom with a soaking tub, washer-dryer combo, and laundry storage; a standing loft bedroom with two windows; a full wardrobe with integrated storage and lighting in the headboard hardwood; custom concrete tile and hardwood throughout; dimmable flush mount LED lighting; custom cabinetry and millwork; a boiler for radiant in-floor heating and hot water on demand; an energy recovery ventilator; metal siding for a maintenance-free exterior; wood-framed construction with spray-foam insulation and ZIP-R system for an efficient building envelope; and a custom-built foundation.
The price does not include delivery or installation.
Apart from concealing surprisingly deep drawers and closets across their units, Fritz Tiny Homes curates other thoughtful, space-saving add-ons: in the example pictured above, the Gemini Sofa from Resource Furniture is pulled up into a bunk bed.
What aspects of the design can a client customize?
We walk our clients through a selection process where we help them choose from a list of curated options. They can choose colors, wood species, appliances, styles of couches and fabric, etc.
Things that would add to the cost of your build would be: air conditioning, blinds, mattresses, sofa add-ons such as a pull-out or trundle bed, and a dishwasher; upgrading windows from the standard four-by-eight feet to full glass; LED lighting to the stairs; accommodations for pets; specific furniture pieces like bedroom suites, desks, and a floor-to-ceiling "library"; an electric fireplace; running conduit for a TV; skirting your home and adding decking or an awning; and hook up kits and blocking.
Where are your tiny homes currently available?
We build all our homes in our facility in Devon, Canada, and ship across North America. We have homes in Alberta, Ontario, and across the U.S., including one at an elevation of 11,000 feet outside Crested Butte, two next to the ocean in Maine and Santa Cruz, and another in Montana. We currently have homes heading to Florida, California, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alaska, and the mountains of Washington, to list a few.
Are there plans to expand to different parts of the world?
We dream of seeing our homes all over the world. That is the beauty of a portable product. We look forward to expanding beyond North America.
Fritz Tiny Homes are lined with custom millwork, hardwood, and concrete tile. Dimmable flush mount LEDs are also added throughout, from the bathroom mirror to the staircase treads.
With the Halcyon Lux, the bathroom can come with either a soaker tub or walk-in shower at no additional charge.
Is your design currently pre-permitted in any U.S. municipalities?
Yes, but it will depend on the designation and bylaws specific to a city. For example, in March, we are craning one of our tiny homes on wheels into a backyard in Los Angeles, where tiny homes are permitted.
How long can a client expect the process to take after they put down a deposit?
Six months to a year, depending on which tiny home model they choose.
Do you assist with the placement of the tiny home?
We offer support for all of the above and can travel to assist with site setup.
The Halcyon Stay, which is coming soon, includes a more spacious bedroom and bathroom, as wall as wrap-around windows and built-in covered patio. Another new design, the Halcyon Studio is a 195-square-foot space intended for use as a detached office or bedroom.
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