Do you want to absolutely leave this planet right now? Me too. Since we can’t really become qualified astronauts and get on a mission to get some ‘space’ from 2020, I found the next best thing – an off-the-grid stay in a lunar lander! Boat architect, Kurt Hughes, has designed a tiny home in Central Washington modeled after the lunar lander module and it is truly as close as us civilians can get to having a literal out-of-this-world stay.
Hughes handcrafted this tiny home to combine his love for houses and boats, and while we have seen many tiny homes having one that looks like a spaceship capsule is exciting! Why the lunar lander? Because it was a home and a ship. Obviously it is not as technically complex as a real NASA lunar lander, so living won’t require any special training and it will certainly be more comfortable. Unlike the real Apollo 11 module, this Lunar Lander is very spacious on the inside. The 250 square feet hexagonal pod weighs 3000 pounds and sits on the banks of Columbia river so you have a lot of open ‘space’. There is a small deck for the inhabitants to enjoy the view and Hughes tried to make sure the pod has a minimum impact on the environment around it.
The home has an open floor plan and two floors with a living area and a bedroom zone. Now you won’t have a crazy view of the cosmic world, but there is a beautiful geodesic skylight to give you a view of the night sky and allow plenty of natural light in. A staircase leads downstairs to the isolated cryogenic sleep chamber (also known as a bedroom by non-astronaut folks!). The lunar module home is complete with a functioning kitchen and bathroom. There is also a cozy coffee table nook which can be used for remote work as well as for intimate meals. To make it authentic, the house number is written in a font called American Captain Patrius that is the same one found on the original Apollo vessels.
The space nerd in my can’t help but countdown already…3…2…1…solid rocket booster ignition and liftoff!
Designer: Kurt Hughes