Photo: YouTube/Mint Tiny House (Composite)
No one’s saying that bigger is better, but any amount of “bigger” will definitely make a difference with a tiny house. Downsizing might be all the rage right now, but if there’s a way to reap its benefits while feeling as few of its downsides as possible, the Orca is probably it.
In late 2023, Mint Tiny House debuted the Orca Edition Park Model Canada. If a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, in this particular case, the name is everything, holding the key to the biggest features of the mobile home: it’s an Orca model in the largest footprint available, designed without a loft so as to follow Canadian regulations on THOWs (tiny house on wheels).
This means that the entire layout is on a single level, which, in conjunction with the unit’s positively gigantic size (relative to other tiny homes), makes it live like a proper family home. But on wheels.
Photo: Mint Tiny House Company
If the Orca name rings a bell, it’s because it’s been around for nearly one year and we covered it before. This time, we’re looking at a personalized version of the introductory model, which also happens to be for sale as of this writing. If you don’t have a literal bag full of cash lying around and the willingness to spend it on a tiny house, looking is free of charge.
Jokes aside, the Orca is an illustrative example of how much tiny houses have grown since their early days – almost literally so. Tiny living has been around for nearly three decades, but it only went mainstream over the past 10 years or so, as the housing crisis started forcing people to look for more affordable, preferably mobile housing alternatives.
Today, tiny houses are still at the height of their popularity, though there’s the feeling that the bubble has burst; we’re just not seeing it yet. Builders are offering variety in all aspects possible, from different sizes and layouts to finishes, features, and sleeping capacity.
Photo: Mint Tiny House Company
Park models remain at the top of the ladder whichever of these aspects you consider. Units like the Orca are proof.
Built on top of a four-axle custom trailer, the Orca is 44 feet (13.4 meters) in length and 12 feet (3.6 feet) wide, offering a total living space of 528 square feet (49 square meters) and none of the usual compromises of tiny homes. You don’t have to sleep in lofts and get dressed while sitting down on the bed, you get a proper bathroom and kitchen, and you even get a hallway separating one of the bedrooms from the kitchen.
Indeed, the home has “bedrooms,” in the plural: one at each end of the trailer, both large enough to fit king-size beds. In the introductory model, one of the bedrooms was styled as a nursery. In the unit now available, it’s furnished as a secondary bedroom with a built-in home office, as well as wardrobe space and room to move around without bumping elbows, knees, or toes against the furniture.
Photo: Mint Tiny House Company
In the space between the two bedrooms, Mint Tiny House places a chef’s kitchen with an island dinner table that can seat all four residents and an L-shaped block that integrates all the necessary modern appliances. Unlike a standard-size tiny house, the Orca offers an XL three-door fridge with freezer unit, a large dishwasher, and a four-burner range with microwave and extractor. It’s not an exaggeration to say that this kitchen is larger than what you’ll find in most city apartments.
The open-plan kitchen connects to a comparatively small living room with a couch facing a large-screen TV and a fireplace. Just because you’re living tiny doesn’t mean that you have to actually live tiny, you know?
On the other side of the kitchen is the hallway that holds the bathroom and the laundry station, which, for once, is not just a generic term that masks the existence of a washer dryer combo and not much else. You get a stacked washer and dryer, as well as space for folding the laundry and ironing, and storage space. This is a real laundry station, alright.
Photo: Mint Tiny House Company
To live up to the builder’s promise that this is “the future of tiny living,” the Orca also throws in three wardrobes, LED lighting throughout, high-efficiency windows, high-efficiency appliances, an actual soaking tub in the bathroom, dual-zone mini-split for AC and heating, and expansive glazing that bathes the interior in natural light.
In keeping with the idea that this is a very luxurious take on downsizing, the Orca Edition Park Model Canada comes with a price to match. The unit can be had for CAD 216,055 CAD or US$157,023.
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