This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
A company named Boxabl wants to bring down the cost of housing with a twist on the typical modular home. They’re making houses that are cheaper to ship because you unfold them once they’re on site.
We visited the company at their headquarters in Las Vegas to get a look at the Casita, which is the first model of their $50,000 foldable home.
Follow Rich DeMuro on Instagram for more tech news, tips and tricks.
Inside, there’s everything you need: a kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bathroom. Many of the fixtures and appliances come ready to go.
“It’s meant to be … a studio apartment for one or two people. The idea is that this would be targeted towards accessory dwelling units… which are becoming increasingly popular in California,” explained Galiano Tiramani, co-founder of Boxabl.
Boxabl let me help unfold their prototype home. Some of the process requires lifting equipment, but the rest is quite easy and can be done by humans. The outer wall folds down into a floor, then the two side walls unfold. Finally, the roof unfolds to cover the top.
Boxabl recently gained attention from headlines proclaiming Elon Musk lives in one of their tiny homes. They could neither confirm nor deny that.
“We certainly welcome the press and awareness that it’s brought to us,” said Tiramani.
So far, Boxabl has built three houses. Two are on site at their headquarters, which leaves a third we did not see. The HQ features a brand new, 170,000 square foot factory that’s about to begin work on orders.
“The goal here is to have the lowest cost housing solution ever,” said Tiramani.
Boxabl believes folding homes are key to efficient transport. The typical modular home is fourteen feet wide and requires that familiar “wide load” sign and escort trucks while it travels down a highway. Boxabl is making their foldable home just eight feet wide, which requires no special assistance. This means the homes can be shipped anywhere for potentially less cost.
“I think the only way to solve housing is with solutions like this that are technology oriented. It’s really an issue of supply and demand. If there’s more supply price will go down,” concluded Tiramani.
Boxabl will soon start making their first order of 156 homes for the Department of Defense. If all goes well, they want to expand operations and build more homes. They have a waiting list of over 100,000 people who want to unfold their next place to live.
Listen to the Rich on Tech podcast for answers to your tech questions.
The foldable house is in the style of a studio room and comes with one bathroom. It has a built-in shower, kitchenette, windows, a septic outlet,
It comes in four different sizes, 13×20 ft, 15x20ft, 16.5×20 ft, and 19x20ft. For the proposer of this article, I will be referring to the most popular size 19x20ft.
Consider placing your foldable amazon home on land that is owned by you or someone who has granted you permission to live on their property.
Installation can take as quick as 10-15 minutes to an hour, depending on how many people you have helping you. That is insane!