It’s no secret that interest in tiny homes is on the rise in the United States. As a solution to homelessness and sustainable, affordable residential housing, demand for these compact living quarters reflects the need for more housing nationwide.
Enter BOXABL, a modular home company, which has debuted its latest model: the Baby Box.
With a price tag currently set at $19,999, the Baby Box is considered a turn-key housing solution that claims to be foldable and so simple to construct that one person can set it up — without any help or tools — in just an hour.
The Baby Box is 120-square-feet in size and comes packed on a trailer. It weighs 2,900 pounds and has a 1,000-pound hitch weight, meaning it could be pulled by most SUVs or trucks, just like a traditional RV.
This ultra-tiny home offers a climate-controlled living space, with an air conditioner and heat pump; smoke and CO2 detectors; and a fire extinguisher. The Baby Box is also solar-compatible and can be run off of a 4.5-kW generator.
It also includes an in-house designed “SLS,” or “Sit, Lounge, Sleep,” sofa, a countertop induction stove, small refrigerator, USB outlets, a foot-operated flush toilet, and a glass shower.
Similar to an RV, the home has everything one might need to thrive — just on a small scale.
“When we began our initial research and development in 2017, we asked ourselves why housing wasn’t being mass-produced at a factory like almost every other major product category in the world,” BOXABL shares on its website.
“We’ve been able to create a platform that allows for modular, prefabricated homes that are produced at scale in a factory and can fold up for transportation to the final installation location … [which] has the potential to bring high quality, affordable homes to the mass market in ways that have never been done before.”
While the Baby Box can be a great fit for travelers or off-grid, modular living, it also offers an affordable housing option as an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU.
ADUs are becoming more commonplace in the fight to expand affordable housing in major cities across the country. They allow for development on existing properties, which helps bolster sustainable urban density and provide housing to low-income individuals who may not be able to afford property of their own.
In fact, BOXABL vendor, Pinnacle Construction, just secured its first residential construction permit in Santa Clary County, near San Jose, California.
The company will not be able to install its larger model, the BOXABL Casita, as ADUs in the county.
The Casita is a 361-square-foot tiny home that includes a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom and can easily be utilized as a backyard home or “granny flat,” for homeowners to expand their living space or offer affordable housing to other members of their community.
“We’re proud to lead the way in bringing affordable, high-quality housing solutions to Santa Clara County,” Temo Corona, president of Pinnacle Construction, said in a statement.
“The BOXABL Casita is a game-changer, offering a fast, practical, and sustainable approach to meeting the growing demand for housing in our community.”
Santa Clara County is working to implement pre-approved plans for ADUs to help streamline construction and increase access to affordable housing.
While the BOXABL Casita is the first model from the company to gain construction permission from the county, the innovative nature of the Baby Box means it could soon lend itself to similar developments.
“The potential impact of our products will go way beyond just the individual consumer,” the company writes on its website.
“We believe … entities such as housing developments, governments, workforce housing projects, and tribes will be able to utilize our products to deploy their potential projects effectively, efficiently, and at scale.”
Header image courtesy of BOXABL
