A Tiny House From Ireland

We came recently across this gem of a tiny house, and what’s more it’s located in our own country – Ireland! So we just had to share it with you. This tiny house belongs to Dominic Stevens, you can view additional pictures on his website: Irish Vernacular.

 

 

The house has a cool and bright interior. It’s shown here with exposed OSB flooring, and unfinished drywall, giving the house quite a bare, raw/exposed look. It’s unknown if a finish was applied to the walls and floor at a later date (probably not – it’s vernacular), but regardless painting timber beams has always been a bit of a ‘no-no’ to me.

 

An overview of the construction process can be seen in the pictures below. It shows the main aspects of the building process including preparation and site clearance, foundations, wall, floor and roof construction and erection, sheathing and installation of the moisture barrier, vapour barrier and cladding.

Site Preparation

Foundations

Roof Framing

Completed Tiny House Framing

Interior Tiny House Framing

Sheathing of Tiny House

Moisture Barrier and Cladding Front

Moisture Barrier and Cladding Rear

Interior View with Vapour Barrier

This tiny house was completed for just €25,000 (~$32,700) and took just 50 days to construct (over a period of 2 years)! Overall, I think this house was successful in meeting its design criteria, and while some aspects of the framing could be considered over-design, this home is still a highly functional, and cost effective space to live in.

Niall Burke

Structural engineer by day, tiny house designer by night. Niall has a keen interest in small spaces, green design, and sustainability. He started developing Humble Homes while studying for his masters degree in engineering. He is the founder and managing editor of Humble Homes.

20 Comments

    1. Hey Robert,

      I personally think that our tiny houses ranging from 14′ to 20′ to be ‘micro-dwellings’. I guess it’s really just all relative to what you’re used to! For some it’s a tiny house, for others it’s a small house!

    2. Robert,
      Let us leave defining tiny to the dreamer and designer, the owner and the resident…tiny is subjective.
      The concept of a ‘tiny home’ does not need to have strict definitions, it’s a way of living, a choice in how much excess we can do without, of meeting our housing needs with as little as we feel is comfortable…stepping down from 5,00 sq. ft. to just 1200 is going to make one feel they transitioned to tiny, that is subjective and true for the one who makes that change.

  2. Outstanding home build! I love the over-engineering! I find it criminal to build a home that won’t last for generations when doing so is just not as hard, or as expensive, as one might believe.
    We waste so much…and it’s a shame, we waste money, space, energy, all for things we don’t need…
    We are being ripped off by home builders, they sell us inferior products at over-inflated cost and fuel human desires for excess and waste. It’s criminal.

    1. A tiny home has no definition when it comes to area, if you move from 2500sq. ft. into a 500 sq. ft. you live in a tiny home…it’s silly to draw lines and make rules over what should be a concept and not one persons idea of tiny.

  4. Hi…. I LOVE these homes! BUT… I am TOO old to start building.. are there any already built homes that I can buy to put in place on a site??? IN Ireland????

    Thanks!!!

    1. Hey Rosemarie – I’m not aware of any tiny house builders in Ireland at the minute. I did look into it myself, but we simply didn’t have the time to pull it off with our day jobs.

  5. Hi, happy to have found you. I’m an American married to a Frenchman and we live half-time in France and half-time in Florida. Given American politics and foreign policies these days, I am however ready within the next 18 months to move my Florida time to Ireland time and want to purchase or build a tiny house on some land there (with a view, hopefully). I’m just beginning my research and would love to get any resources you might have regarding finding land, finding builders of tiny houses, regulations around putting tiny houses on land (sq footage minimums, hook-ups, etc), or who makes and sells tiny houses.

    Also, in the US it’s standard thinking that anything under 500 sq ft is a tiny house, but of course, there are those who would disagree.

    Thanks for your help! Cynthia

  6. Cynthia,
    Have you had any luck on research about tiny homes in Ireland?
    We are an American husband and wife looking at an investment property/tiny house in Ireland. Our daughter lives outside of Dublin but and we would like a home to use maybe 3 months out of the year in the South or West of IRE.
    Our U.S. Home is in Portland, Oregon… Where the Tiny House Craze is in full swing.
    I would love to glean any info you have come across.

  7. Hi Niall I am planning on building a tiny home 20 × 8 ‘6″ do you have any specs on fabracating the chassies as we dont have big trailers available in this country , I want to get it( type aproved ) my plan is to build and sell once I figure out all the regulations here

  8. Tracy,
    My husband and I (both US citizens) are interested in renting a tiny house 1-2 months at a time in the south or west of IRE. When you get your tiny house and are ready to rent it, please let us know….we’d love to be at the top of the list for an ongoing (every year) rental. We LOVE tiny houses! Don’t live in one…though we have downsized from 3500 to 1200 – a huge endeavor! BTW, we live in Charlotte NC and would be open to a house swap for Portland, if you’d be interested. One of our granddaughter s is attending Evergreen Univ. and we adore the Pacific NW!
    Thanks!

  10. Thanks so much Cian!! I am looking into the link and info you sent… I have seen these, but they would be the best idea for me…I am ‘ OLDER ‘ so I am nervous about trying to build a home, no mater how small at my age….rolling on the land with something is best!

    THANKS again Cian!!

  11. The Fancy Shed Company would be delighted to help build a tiny home, if you are interested in doing so! Joab grew up in a tiny home on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island and now creates contemporary garden spaces out of wood in NI. We hope to build our own tiny home in the near future and are currently working with a local (NI based) manufacturer to design and build a chassis for it. Feel free to get in touch to chat about it more via info@thefancyshedcompany.com Thanks, Bronagh : )

  12. I live in America and have a small piece of land in Clare. I would love to have a tiny house built for me. Do I need to deal with permits I wonder??? Thank you. I’d be happy to rent it out when I’m not home (ireland). California now

  13. Hi there, I’m in the UK, I was looking at this fantastic build some time before and during the beginning of the pandemic. He had all the information and drawings on his ” Irish Vernacular” website for everyone to view and use if they wanted. Now that everywhere is open and I’m in a position to be able to put a planning application in for consideration I’m unable to get his website to open so I can get the details and drawings. I’m getting a error 404 each time I try to access. Do you know if he’s still offering it for anyone to use or has it now been shut down? Any information would be helpful.

    Many thanks
    Kind regards
    Susie.