London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

These Luxe New Prefab Homes Are Designed for Off-Grid Living

These Luxe New Prefab Homes Are Designed for Off-Grid Living

Tiny living meets luxury in these Bauhaus-inspired shipping container homes.

In the wake of the 2018 Woolsey Fire that devastated Southern California, Malibu architect Doug Burdge and builder Nate Garnero sought to provide their clients with temporary housing by repurposing shipping containers into fire-resistant tiny homes.

Drawing upon Garnero’s six years of cargotecture experience and Burdge’s design expertise, the duo recently launched the Buhaus: a tiny pre-permitted container home designed for indoor/outdoor living. "People appreciate great design, and most shipping container designs seem to be more low-end," says Burdge. "We wanted to create a higher-end shipping container living unit."



Constructed from a repurposed shipping container, the Buhaus offers 160 square feet of luxury living with off-grid capabilities.



Every Buhaus unit comes with a custom Murphy bed with integrated storage on all sides to maximize space. "We look at our unit as if someone was staying in a very cool hotel room," says Burdge. "It has everything they could need: a bed, sitting area, closet, mini bar, bathroom, and an incredible outdoor shower experience."

Garnero adds that the Buhaus is particularly well-suited for boutique hoteliers and property owners looking for an extra guest suite. He also envisions institutional uses-such as university housing-due to the quick build time and small construction footprint. Since everything within the unit is inspected by California Deputy Inspectors, buyers only need to secure local site planning permits.



When the Murphy bed is stowed away, a small section of the wall can be lowered to create a small table. Note the fire-resistant metal panels that can be lifted up to serve as shade elements for an outdoor living area; when pulled down, the panels can be secured for privacy and during inclement weather.



Buhaus debuted an early version of their Studio Unit at the WestEdge Design Fair in Santa Monica last year.

Buhaus-a combination of the words Bauhaus and Malibu-takes cues from the 20th-century movement with its clean, geometric form and focus on functionality. At 160 square feet, the Buhaus Studio Unit is efficiently divided into three sections: a living/sleeping area with a kitchenette, a bathroom, and an outdoor deck.



Glass folding doors on two sides fill the interior with light.



Rift oak lends warmth to the ceiling, floor, and surfaces in the dual-purpose bedroom/living space.

Custom built-ins, space-saving appliances, and a constant connection with the outdoors help the minimalist dwelling feel much larger than its size suggests. The base unit will be available for an all-inclusive price of $96,000 (not including site-related expenses), and it can be further customized with a selection of finishes and hardware options.



The bathroom connects seamlessly to the deck, which features a Jee-O by Purificare outdoor shower.



A Fine Fixtures pedestal sink is placed near a space-saving Kohler Verdera medicine cabinet and a Toto Legato toilet.

Buhaus is engineered for luxury, comfort, utility-and fire resistance. "The Buhaus meets California Wildfire Resiliency Codes, and its metal siding and insulation helps keep the heat away so it won’t burn in higher temperatures," notes Burdge. "Additionally, the unit meets the California Green Code and Title 24 Energy Codes.

"This unit is unique because it is off-grid capable. It has all the hookups necessary for alternative energy."



The compact bathroom is outfitted in Designer White Corian surfaces and high-end fixtures.



Buhaus can be customized with a variety of finishes, and buyers can choose from a range of "editions"-from standard polished aluminum to black and even camouflage exteriors. The build time is approximately three months.

The Buhaus will available for orders after it appears at Palm Spring Modernism Week in late February. The Buhaus showroom is expected to debut in the summer of 2020 in Malibu.



Buhaus floor plan

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×