“Dear People Who Live in Fancy Tiny Houses, do you actually love living in a fancy tiny house?” wonders Lauren on Hipstercrite. Portlandia mocked the trend as only Portlandia can — with fold-away cat boxes (shudder). It definitely takes a special kind of person to live in a tiny home, so it makes sense that many curious about the trend would want to try before they buy.
A new startup from Harvard University, Getaway, wants to let you do just that. This is the first project for the university’s Millennial Housing Lab, and it was started by Jon Staff, an MBA student, and Peter Davis, a law student. The Lab studies issues around Millennial housing, as impacted by the choices made by many of this cohort to marry later and look for smaller, more affordable options.
Getaway’s first house, Ovida, is now available to rent for $99 a night. Harvard Graduate School of Design students Addison Godine, Wyatt Komarin, and Rachel Moranis designed the house, which is located in New Hampshire. There’s a reason for the rural locale: Those involved in Getaway want urbanites not only to get a taste of tiny-home living, but to see what it’s like to move a little further off the grid. The startup suggests you embrace the idea that you might not get cell reception. But the locale is still two hours from Boston, making it a reasonable weekend trip for city dwellers.
Named for a team member’s grandmother, Ovida is 160 square feet and has a stove, queen bed, shower, composting toilet, sink, and two alcoves with twin beds. For an extra $10 a person, you can have two extra guests for a total of four. There’s also a $15 pet fee.
While living in 160 square feet of space for one night might not give you the full-blown tiny house experience, it will definitely help you determine if you are not 100 percent cut out for micro-living.
