Anaheim, CA – Wilderwise Homes’ “small home” concept doesn’t seem too small.
The tiny, two-story home is 8 feet by 21 feet 13 feet as it is towed down the road.
The aluminum house weighs four tons, and it takes an F-250 truck to move it.
But once the car is fully parked, owners can flip the switch and watch the electric actuator and gas springs inside the modular unit expand the roof an additional four feet, providing an extra story of space and comfort most other small homes don’t.
Wilderwise House offers everything one would need in a home. On the first floor there is a small sofa, electric double stove, sink, separate air conditioner, washer and dryer combo, refrigerator, compostable toilet and shower with waterfall shower.
At the top of a narrow, steep staircase is another living area with a living room and separate bedroom with a queen-size bed. There’s plenty of hidden storage – under the sofa, the bed, and pull-out units built into the side of the drawer.
The living space on the upper and lower floors combined is approximately 295 square feet.
Unlike other tiny homes that are roughly one-and-a-half stories tall, Wilderwise’s additional expandable second story–and mobile portability–gives the company an edge in a rapidly growing small home business.
“With the affordable housing crisis we’re facing, tiny homes are a great way for people to find an affordable solution,” Wilderwise founder and CEO Arya Mazanek said during Spectrum News’ tour of the tiny two-story home.
Wilderwise is one of several small home manufacturers displaying their products Friday through Sunday, April 29 through May 1, at the Anaheim Home, Garden and Tiny House Show at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The weekend show features several companies specializing in home décor, gardening, and rebuilding. And of course, there are plenty of tiny homes, modular condominiums and ideas for people to expand their homes or put in their backyard.
In the past two years, the coronavirus pandemic, along with historically low mortgage rates and work-from-home policies, has accelerated demand for single-family homes, driving up prices and creating bidding wars.
The median home price in Orange County recently reached $1 million.
Those left in the market have to contend with rising rents, and some live on the streets.
Manufactured homes or detached stick-built additions, ranging from 100 square feet to 400 square feet of living space, seem to answer the growing problem of homeless and the affordable housing crisis.
Places like Los Angeles, North Carolina, and others have created small home villages to address the growing housing and homeless crisis.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed several housing bills to facilitate and simplify the construction of an ADU, Additional Small Unit and other tiny homes on single family plots. The idea is for homeowners to build and rent ADUs, which increases the supply of housing.
However, several Southern California cities backed out of Newsom’s housing plans, suing the state to stop housing bills.
Mazanek, co-founder of Wilderwise, said the original concept for Wilderwise, born five years ago, was to build a sustainable, lightweight, retractable, mobile two-story home. It is an RV and ADU hybrid.
Ideally, people could buy a two-story house and put it in their home (according to local zoning and ADU laws), in a mobile park or tow and live off the grid. The aluminum houses are built in Serbia and shipped to clients.
The Wilderwise home starts at $85,000, she said, adding that six people have already ordered.
“we give [owners] Freedom to live out of heavy debt or heavy mortgage payments and move them wherever they want seasonally or travel across the country.”
However, owning a two-story house can cause problems. It’s not as simple as buying a two-story mobile home and parking it in a driveway or in front of their house.
“It’s a complex answer to a simple question,” she said. “The laws about tiny homes have changed. You can’t put them anywhere. But more and more states and cities are starting to allow them. Some of them are in free-standing open areas, but in places like California, they are within ADU law. And they can be allowed as a unit. ADU.”
Mazanek said more testing needs to be done, but she found that the two-story house could withstand winds of 60 to 65 miles per hour. She added that the house can be secured to the ground to protect it from high winds.
Tiny homes are intended for the right audience – nomads, young couples, or old people who are downsized. Living in a small cabin with children may not be appropriate but is possible.
However, living in a small house allows people to save money, and provides freedom.
“We want to promote a new sustainable lifestyle for people, one that enables them to live according to their values and live lives that are important to them,” she said. “We want people to follow their dreams, and their home to be the catalyst.”
