Ottawa, Canada–based couple Vince and Ayşe Macdonald have long dreamed of road tripping throughout North America—and with retirement on the horizon, they reached out to Fritz Tiny Homes to make their wish come true.

“Vince and Ayşe are super active, and they wanted a tiny home that would fit the life they want to live—so that’s what we built,” says Heather Fritz, who designs and builds homes with her husband, Kevin. “We don’t think you should have to sacrifice to go tiny.”

The home’s blue-and-gray, standing-seam metal exterior expresses a simple aesthetic, but the interior is packed with everything the Macdonalds could want and need. “This might be the most complex home we’ll ever build in terms of how much we were able to fit into a small space,” Kevin says.

Vince and Ayşe searched high and low for the right builder before choosing Fritz Tiny Homes. “Kevin and Heather cared about meeting our needs, and not just building a tiny house,” Ayşe explains.

The couple’s list of needs included an off-grid home on a gooseneck trailer—“We wanted the ability to travel and boondock,” Vince says. They also requested a deck where they could sit and have coffee in the morning, a home office, and a storage area for their e-bikes, folding kayaks, and cross-country skis. “Our e-bikes are especially important to us,” Vince says. “We wanted power to charge them, to be able to conveniently load and unload them, and for them to be secure when stowed.”

Kevin and Heather set the storage compartment for the e-bikes, kayaks, and skis on the underside of the tiny home, and they included a ramp and a rack that make loading and stowing quick and easy. The storage compartment also holds a portion of the tiny home’s utilities.

An Anova Precision oven and a full-size LG refrigerator with a freezer at the bottom provide ease and luxury for Vince and Ayşe, who love to play cards at the dining table. " layout="" credit="Anthem Creative" photoUserId=""/>

“This might be the most complex home we’ll ever build in terms of how much we were able to fit into a small space.”
—Kevin Fritz, designer and builder

A storage closet with utilities and space to hang coats lies just inside the entry, which leads to an airy living room with a picture window, a built-in movie projector, and a sofa that converts to a bunk bed. A custom walnut coffee table pulls out from beneath a built-in walnut table in the adjacent kitchen/dining area, and it fits perfectly in front of the sofa.

Kevin and Heather outfitted the kitchen with a Therien cooktop and hood, an Anova Precision oven, and a full-size LG refrigerator. The bathroom is outfitted with luxurious features like a soaking tub, a washer/dryer, and a rainfall shower head.

Kevin even created a small passageway in the wall for Vince and Ayşe’s cat to access a litter box located in the bottom step of the staircase that leads to the bedroom. “They pull the litter box out from a drawer in the staircase when they need to clean it,” Kevin says.

For the bedroom, Kevin and Heather created a headboard with built-in reading lights. The shape mimics the silhouette of a mountain range and references Vince and Ayşe’s love of the outdoors. " layout="bleed" credit="Anthem Creative" photoUserId=""/>

As a finishing touch, Heather and Kevin painted the front door a sunny shade of yellow and marked it with the number eight. “We put the number eight on the front door because this is their eighth and final home,” Heather explains. “The yellow represents how fun and funky they are and the fact that these are their golden years.”

The door makes Vince and Ayşe smile every time they enter—but it’s the way Kevin and Heather tailored the tiny home’s design to suit their dream that brings the most joy. “We like traveling and the outdoors, so having the opportunity to move our own home around is important to us,” Vince says. “Whether we’re in our bedroom or the kitchen, this home just feels spacious and very calming.”

More projects by Fritz Tiny Homes:

A Couple Launch a Tiny Home Company With a 268-Square-Foot Dwelling

A Yoga Instructor’s Tiny Home Stretches the Limits of Small Space Design

Project Credits:

Design and Construction: Fritz Tiny Homes / @fritztinyhomes

Appears In

A Retired Couple Set Out for Adventure in an Off-Grid Tiny House