Photo: Clayton Park Models (composite)
When it first hit the alternative-building radar, tiny living focused exclusively on intentional living, mobility, and affordability, which limited its reach to young, eco-conscious first-home buyers where comfort wasn’t exactly a priority. Newer builds like Coldwater are anything but.
Coldwater or Sea Shore is one of the newest models from Alabama-based builder Clayton Park Models, part of the Park model series. It is a huge tiny house, and as strange as that description may seem, that is what allows it to live like a real family home, but on wheels.
Tiny homes are compact, tiny dwellings that, rather than being built on solid ground and with a poured foundation, are built on top of trailers.
In essence, tiny houses are towable because of their compact size. Also because of their compact size, they require a lot of decluttering before they can be used as long-term homes. In other words, the smaller the house, the less stuff you can put in it, which tiny house proponents say makes for a less stressful, happier, and more intentional life.
Photo: Clayton Park Models
Tiny houses are still all these things in theory and for a limited number of owners, but everyday reality has changed them in all their important aspects. Today's tiny houses are larger and better equipped, with a focus on comfort over basic functionality, as well as the needs of the family.
In countries like the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, park model tinies offer all the benefits of miniature living and none of the drawbacks, thanks to a more generous layout and high-end features. They lose mobility in the process because they can no longer be towed without a special permit, but it's a tradeoff many customers have found bearable.
The Coldwater unit we’re looking at today is the physical representation of this compromise. With a total length of 45 feet (13.7 meters) and a width of 12 feet (3.5 meters), the home offers 395 square feet (36.7 square meters) of living space divided into well-defined areas that resemble what you’d get in a standard home.
Photo: Clayton Park Models
You’ll also get things you’ll never find in a typical tiny house, like a built-in covered porch that can be used for anything from an outdoor dining area to an outdoor kitchen, a separate air conditioning and heating unit, a downstairs master bedroom with a built-in his-and-hers closet, and a full-sized kitchen.
In fact, everything about the Coldwater is full-size. While most tiny houses simply mimic the features of a standard home but in a more compact form, the Coldwater has actual rooms with plenty of room to move around. Sleeping capacity is up to six, including two children in the central loft and two more adults on a pull-out couch in the living room.
The unit shown in the video tour at the bottom of the page is designed to accommodate 2 people, which means it is larger than any other tiny unit out there. The living room consists of a sitting area and a dining area and leads to the outdoor porch.
Photo: Clayton Park Models
The kitchen consists of the actual kitchen block containing all the basic appliances (5-burner hob, oven, microwave, fridge with freezer) and a separate block that can be transformed into a coffee station with integrated storage space.
The hallway that divides the downstairs bedroom from the main living area houses the laundry room on one side and the stairs to the loft on the other. The bedroom itself is atypical for a tiny house, both because it's on the ground floor and because it offers a surprising amount of storage. There's a built-in dresser at the foot of the bed and a his-and-hers closet next to it, behind a very rustic-looking barn door.
The loft is above the large bathroom and is open to the living room. Like most tiny house lofts, it is nothing spectacular, but it seems large enough to fit two twin beds and some storage.
Photo: Clayton Park Models
The Coldwater’s features also include dual mini-splits for air conditioning and heating, a metal roof, and an all-wood interior with contrasting walls and ceilings. Clayton Park Models offers it with optional appliances. In other words, the Frigidaire refrigerator, stove, oven, microwave, and dishwasher seen in the video tour are not part of the standard package.
Plus, you can optionally add extra-cool features like a wine cooler, an optional wet bar, or a fireplace under the big-screen TV in the living room, as well as a second entry door in the master bedroom. All of these features will add to the final price, with the starting price not exactly cheap. The Coldwater model starts at $89,200, which only includes shipping to nearby areas.
For those of you who only window shop, a tiny house like this one demonstrates how much miniature living has evolved and, at the same time, how flexible it has become.
