Want a portable pocket home you can use as an RV, an Airbnb rental or maybe a tiny guesthouse in your backyard?
Meet the LightHotel, an "art project" that has been functioning as a one-room hotel for the past two years — and is now for sale for $85,000.
This is not your grandpa's RV. It's sleek and modern, designed by award-winning architect Geoff Warner of Alchemy, St. Paul, creator of the weeHouse.
"We wanted to explore issues of sustainability and embracing the luxury of less," said Warner of the LightHotel. "We wanted to see how big we could make it feel. And see how cool we could make it."
Built inside an 8-by-20-foot shipping container by Warner, students from the University of Minnesota School of Architecture and a team of trade professionals, the LightHotel features a 120-square-foot living space, including a bathroom with shower. There's no kitchen. The LightHouse was designed to be parked in various urban locations where dining destinations are all around. "The city is your lobby," said Warner.
Maybe you've even seen the LightHotel, which has gotten around in the two-plus years since it was built. It's been towed to more than two dozen places, including the State Fair, Como Park, Summit Brewing and various festivals. As an Airbnb rental, it rents for $100 to $200 a night.
Now the architecture firm has decided to stop moonlighting in the hospitality industry. "To operate it as a hotel is a lot of work," said Warner. "It's time to get it into somebody's hands."
The LightHotel, which is permitted as an RV, comes with a trailer and most of its furnishings. It's heated with propane pellets, and was designed to operate off the electrical grid but also plugs into the grid, and comes equipped with solar panels, in-floor heat, a 250-gallon water tank under the bed and a graywater management system, as well as a spray-foam shell and triple-pane windows and doors.
"My wife and I stayed in it on a night it was 20 below," Warner said. "We wanted to see what the issues were. It was warm."
The LightHotel is not listed on the MLS. Interested potential buyers are invited to email info@weehouse.com.
