AS CLOSE TO A TINY HOME AS WE’LL GET: THE ARLO
The first DROP Structure designed as a dwelling, the Arlo expands our collection from strictly temporary living spaces to include long-term options.
“The potential of the Arlo, for us, is almost transformative,” Ryan said. “We’ve always made spaces designed around the needs of people, but this will be the first that’s created from the very beginning to offer a long-term living option.”
With the optional two-bedroom floor plan, the Arlo makes apartment-style living portable, so you can take your life with you to the mountains, rivers and oceans – or even your own backyard.
The Arlo includes:
Two optional floor plans, with one or two bedrooms
Bathroom with custom cabinets & quartz countertops
Custom kitchen with quartz countertops and space to accommodate an electric 2-burner cooktop, range hood, dishwasher, and fridge (appliances not included)
Our largest footprint, measuring 535 sq. ft – 12'8" wide x 42' long x 13' tall
Our route to designing our first livable space was winding, but that journey has been essential.
We’ve taken every lesson learned along the way and incorporated it into the Arlo, creating a space that feels truly like home.
Are DROP Structures tiny homes?
From the moment we opened our doors, we got the question:
“Can I live in a DROP Structure?”
Of course, the answer was, “Technically, yes.”
People have lived in tents, teepees and yurts for millennia.
But, that yes always came with a strong caveat.
While sleeping in the first Mono is easy, the lack of plumbing posed the most obvious issue for anyone who wanted to live in one. Our more creative customers came up with workarounds, including using camp gear to outfit a tiny cabin for overnight use.
“When we built the first Mono, we didn’t intend for it to become a living space. But, others saw the potential and made their homes in DROP Structures. So, we’ve known the demand is out there.” Ryan said.
But, when clients began to live in their structures for longer periods of time, they faced other problems that required new solutions to problems we hadn’t anticipated. One plant-loving couple discovered their breath, combined with the moisture from their plants, created moisture issues in the Holo they were living in.
We fixed the issue with an extra passive vent, but the problem emphasized that our units were not designed for the pressures of long-term living.
Installing plumbing
In response to the demand for larger units, we developed the Duo, adding bathrooms and kitchenettes that soon spread to all of our units.
But, without separate rooms or full kitchens, our classic units were still designed for short-term stays.
For many of our clients, that was enough. They placed their Holos, Duos and Monos on mountainsides, and by lakes to create gorgeous weekend retreats. For some clients, however, it still wasn’t enough – they wanted more from their DROP Structure.
“We kept getting requests for bigger spaces,” David Webber, Chief Operations Officer, said. “People wanted to have a place where the whole family could stay, whether it was on their own acreage or at a micro resort.”
So, we challenged ourselves to create a DROP Structure that would meet the demand for something more permanent, while maintaining the ease of shipping and installation we’ve so carefully developed.
That was the moment we announced to the world that the Arlo 2 would be coming soon. Which, it turned out, was very ambitious.
Growing pains of a truly livable space
Every structure we design is constrained, not just by our mission, but by the width and length of a trailer, the height of a bridge. So, every single decision we make in the design of a structure has to be critically considered and reconsidered multiple times.
“The logistics of delivery make each square foot exponentially more challenging, so it took a lot of work to balance living space with size, deliverability and aesthetics,” Casey Hattersley, Head of Design & Drafting, said.
One of the final roadblocks we encountered occurred just after we completed the first Arlo – the structure was too tall to make it out of our shop’s overhead doors. So, we had to temporarily strip off the siding and crawl it along the ground, keeping it as low as possible to even make it to the trailer.
We’ve since redesigned the Arlo to lower the peak just enough to make egress a little more straightforward.
Designing a (tiny) home
Most of our clients, we realize, will not live in their Arlo. Most will be placed off the beaten path for use as recreational cabins, whether personal or commercial.
But now we can, without caveat, tell our clients that yes, you can live – year-round and permanently – in a DROP Structure.
And that brings a host of possibilities we’re excited to explore.
“For most designers, this may be a small space, but for me, after working with all these other small spaces, it just seems like there’s so much potential.” Lisa Abernathy, our interior designer, said.
For more on the design process, head over to our Youtube for a discussion with Lisa and Cassey about the design of the Arlo.
For pricing, head over to the Arlo page.
