Supersizing isn't limited to fast-food menus, trucks and daily drivers, or takeaway drinks. It's also noticeable in the last places you'd expect – like tiny houses, whose very name seems to rule out the possibility of supersizing.
Tiny houses and the still-sweeping trend of downsizing first popped up on the housing radar in the early 2000s, when it was more of an eco-friendlier alternative to traditional housing. At the time, only the most hipster hippies would live in a tiny house built on a trailer because that entailed an almost too drastic reduction of all material possessions.
Tiny living still implies serious decluttering, but today's builders have found a way to overstep that, fueled by demand from their ever-growing customer base. This is how park tinies were born. Park model tiny houses are supersized tiny living, allowing for a bigger living footprint, more features, and even luxurious touches while still smaller and more mobile than traditional houses.
They will not be as mobile as a "traditional" tiny house, the kind that goes up on a single- or dual-axle trailer, but they make up for that with everything else they have to offer. Plus, as one tiny house builder was saying just recently, most of the people who buy tiny houses don't really plan to do that much traveling with them in tow, after all.
Photo: Timbercraft Tiny Homes
The evolution of the Boxcar model from Alabama, U.S.-based builder Timbercraft Tiny Homes is a good example of how tinies have grown in size over the years. First introduced in 2016 as a triple-axle tiny with a very boxy design (hence the name), the latest iteration of the model is what you'd call a "monster" take on the original design.
The Boxcar is, quite obviously, neither a box nor a car. It debuted as a cutesy cottage-like tiny based on a triple-axle trailer, offering just 160 square feet (15 square meters) of living space. It wasn't much, but it was still more than what you'd get then from other builders.
A couple of years later, Timbercraft Tiny Homes introduced the custom model Boxcar GN, which then became a series model. It was a gooseneck variant of the original, which meant it put the bedroom in the gooseneck part of the house and thus created ampler living spaces to fit all family members.
Photo: Timbercraft Tiny Homes
This was the first concrete step towards supersizing the Boxcar.
Neither model is still available today when the builder is offering the park model Boxcar only. It comes with a standard 41-foot (12.5-meter) total length, to which you can add an integrated, non-removable deck that lives like a covered terrace and can be anything from an outdoor kitchen to an exterior entertaining area.
The latest Boxcar offers a whopping 399 square feet (37 square meters) of living space spread across a single-level layout. This means no sleeping lofts you have to crawl into at the end of the day, no tight storage spaces, and very few compromises. Of course, as you can see in the unit showcased below, you can add a loft to get a 6-person home.
Photo: Timbercraft Tiny Homes
Today's Boxcar looks like a proper home and is actually larger – and much nicer – than most crowded city apartments. Its most enviable highlights are the ground-floor main bedroom with a queen-size bed and plenty of space to move around and a ginormous U-shaped kitchen with residential appliances.
Equipped with a convertible sofa in the spacious living room, this unit can easily fit an entire family of four. With a two-person occupancy in mind, it's quite palatial when compared to most tiny houses.
The home is basked in natural light throughout, thanks to a lot of windows. The styling is still cottage-inspired but with obvious country manor influences – just scaled down to size to fit onto a five- or six-axle trailer. Finishes include white shiplap walls, hardwood floors, solid wood furniture, and real tiles, and the combination of warm browns and white helps with the cottagecore aesthetic.
Photo: Timbercraft Tiny Homes
Like with the other models from this builder's lineup, the Boxcar is also ideal for further customization. Completed units showcased by Timbercraft Tiny Homes show various exterior colors, various color combinations for the interior, and variations like a standing tub or an oversize walk-in glass shower. The addition of the integrated porch is the one thing that makes the biggest difference, though, as it adds to the living space, as well as price, and further limits the home's mobility.
Speaking of pricing, Timbercraft Tiny Homes doesn't offer an MRSP for any of their units, citing this flexibility in personalization options for it. They do, however, say that their "tiny homes are designed to accommodate your needs and budget," which you should take to mean you can go wild if you can afford it – and not necessarily that they're cheap.
As a reference, a new park tiny from this builder usually starts upwards of $80,000. Along with the supersizing of tinies, we're also – obviously – getting supersized prices.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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