QUICK FACTS:
Are Tiny Houses Legal In California: YES*
Tiny House Costs In California: $45,000 – $125,000
Tiny House Friendly Cities: Fresno, Ojai, Sacramento
California Tiny House Fresno, CA
PRICE RANGE
$22,000 – $115,000
Launched in 2014, California Tiny House is a family-owned and operated business. These California tiny house builders strive for lasting quality, innovation, and livability in all their projects. In addition to design and construction, they’re active in the world of education and legalization in the tiny home world.
Sierra Tiny Houses Sacramento, CA
PRICE RANGE
$67,000 to $110,000
Sierra Tiny Homes focus on affordable, artisan tiny homes for Northern California and Northern Nevada. This talented California tiny house builder offers multiple options of their tiny homes on wheels (THOWs) to provide you with a variety of solutions to meet your budget and lifestyle. In addition, they’re a dealer for Trailer Made Trailers to help you move your tiny house on the road.
Forever Tiny Homes Anderson, CA
PRICE RANGE
$37,000 to $95,000
Formerly known as Liberty Cabins, Forever Tiny Homes is an established California tiny house builder with a heavy following. They offer multiple sizes of RVIA Certified tiny homes and within all budgets to help you achieve your tiny dream. On the Forever Tiny Homes site, you’ll also find their custom tiny homes builder to help you create the tiny house of your dreams.
Cheeky Monkey Tiny Houses Thousand Palms, CA
PRICE RANGE
$47,000 to $90,000
Cheeky Monkey Tiny Homes provides quality California tiny homes at reasonable prices. The homes are peppered up and down the West Coast. After working in the tiny house industry for years and learning from their experiences, they saw an opportunity to create their own company and help tiny home lovers build places of their own. These cute tiny houses are perfect for beginning homeowners.
Pacifica Tiny Homes Pacifica, CA
PRICE RANGE
$47,000 to $85,000
Pacifica Tiny Homes is a popular California tiny home builder specializing in affordable tiny homes. Pacifica offers a “make yourself at home” process to help you dig into the designing with a wide variety of tiny house plans, colors, finishes, and materials. The tiny house design process is simple, and the homes capture the true California aesthetic.
Tortoise Shell Home Cedarpines Park, CA
PRICE RANGE
$4,200 and up
Tortoise Shell Home is a no-frills, simple company to help you buy the perfect trailer for your California tiny home. You can create your own customized trailer model or buy a tiny house trailer from pre-created designs.
Tiny Smart House Albany, OR
PRICE RANGE
Contact for Prices
Tiny Smart House Trailers are custom for each client. This California tiny house trailer dealer creates trailers designed for strength and engineered to be lightweight and balanced.
Iron Eagle Tiny House Trailers Fairview, OR
PRICE RANGE
Custom $3,800 and up
Iron Eagle Tiny House Trailers have been placing thousands of tiny homes on their PAD Series trailers since 2006. The trailers are tested for strength and durability and have been developed to be the perfect tiny house foundation. Although the company is located in neighboring Oregon, they are an excellent resource for California tiny house trailer seekers.
Looking For Pre-Built Tiny Homes In California? Here Are Tiny Homes For Sale in CA
If you’re not quite ready to build your own tiny house in California, there are plenty of great tiny house listings along the west coast. You can find pre-built tiny homes for sale on Tiny House Listings, Zillow, and other realtor websites. Be sure to check the neighboring states of Nevada, Arizona, and Oregon, as you can often purchase a tiny house and move it to a new location. With so many living options in California, chances are you’ll find a great tiny house that’s perfect for living the laid-back tiny life.
California has always been a place of great beauty, new beginnings, and a frontier lifestyle. It makes sense that California is a great place for tiny houses. With some of the most impressive landscapes in the world, California has it all—mountains, desert, beaches, and more. Year-round warm weather makes it an excellent climate for an outdoor-friendly, active lifestyle. California is perfect for homesteading, living on the road, or setting up a foundation and building a tiny house.
California tiny house communities are steadily growing. New places are cropping up that allow people to park their THOWs or build on a designated spot with access to community amenities like sewer, water, and even gardening. Here are a few of the best California Tiny House Communities to explore.
Delta Bay in Isleton
Located between Sacramento and San Francisco, Isleton’s Delta Bay Marina and Park Delta Bay offer waterfront life on 15 acres of stunning forested wetlands. With access to boating, fishing, and water activities, nearby wildlife habitats, and wine country, Delta Bay provides all the best of California life.
San Diego’s Tiny House Block
Tiny House Block is just outside of East San Diego, offering short or extended-stay tiny house rentals and communal living. This resort village is perfect for those who want to get away and try the tiny life for a short time or those who are looking into longer-term options.
Lemon Cove Village at Sequoia National Park
California is home to some of the most stunning National parks in the world (and the birthplace of the Sierra Club). Lemon Cove Village is a tiny house-friendly RV park, situated near Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. Right in the Sierra Nevada mountains’ foothills, this tiny house community offers the best of the outdoors with rafting, boating, hiking, and plenty of access to the fantastic Californian outdoors.
California is vast and diverse. With 58 different counties, it’s essential that you check the rules, zoning laws, and building codes before building a tiny house in California. The rules and regulations can vary greatly, particularly when it comes to the use and location of a tiny house.
In some areas of California, like Napa, Sonoma, and Sacramento, backyard tiny houses are allowed as “caregiver dwellings.” In Fresno, THOWs are permitted without the caregiver caveat, and other areas are considering following this example. It’s also important to note that certain larger cities like Los Angeles are less tiny house-friendly, especially within city limits (although that is changing rapidly – (Read the PDF here).
Recently, tiny house building code was changed across California, making foundation and trailer requirements more flexible. California tiny house builders need to turn in an application for their foundation design, showing how the materials will meet the code. This change was adopted state-wide rather than city-by-city, making it even easier to build a tiny house in California.
Although the laws are changing, it’s crucial to stay up on the latest guidelines, so you’re sure that you’re building up to code. California is the place of settlers and pioneers, so it makes sense that California tiny house builders are figuring out how to navigate this frontier. Many Californians see tiny homes as a solution to the affordable housing and homeless crisis in the state.
If you’re hoping to build a tiny house in California, here are some essential resources by area for many of the significant tiny house spots in the state. Remember, you should always review the latest information as it may change as the tiny house movement expands.
State-wide
In California, tiny houses must fit into the following categories:
- Site-built dwelling (meeting all California building codes, with prior approval)
- Recreational Vehicle
- Camping cabin
- Factory-built housing
- Manufactured home
- Parked trailer
Tiny homes are defined as 400 square feet or less of floor area. They must be built on chassis with axels or placed on a permanent foundation on real property. RVs are also legal, but for THOWs, there are specific requirements, including license and registration with the California DMV. THOWs must function and look like a conventional home, supporting cooking, sleeping, and other dwelling activities. They must also have 100 square feet of space.
County Specific Tiny House Codes
The following resources can help you navigate key counties in California:
Fresno County California
Fresno County is tiny house friendly and allows backyard tiny houses as well. Tiny houses must meet some basic livability requirements, but the laws are quite flexible, especially those regarding accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
Requirements for Fresno County can be found here. (Read the PDF here)
Sonoma County California
Beautiful Sonoma is also tiny house friendly, with site-constructed tiny houses reviewed as part of the standard building requirements. Tiny houses must be on foundations, and Sonoma County allows manufactured and factory-built houses as well. THOWs are considered RVs and must meet RV requirements. They are only allowed as temporary housing and don’t qualify as ADUs.
Humboldt County California
Humboldt County provides a helpful fact sheet (Read the PDF here) to navigate their California tiny house builders’ guidelines and ordinances. These guidelines designate tiny houses from THOWs, and different restrictions apply to each.
Nevada and Placer Counties California
In Nevada and Placer Counties, tiny homes are only allowed on foundations or as ADUs. Tiny houses on wheels must only be used in mobile home and RV parks. More details about the requirements and guidelines can be found from Tiny Portable Cedar Cabins.
Shasta County, California
Shasta County defines THOWs as recreational vehicles, and like many counties, only allows them in an RV park or campground. There are specific side guidelines that require tiny homes on foundations to be around 400 square feet.
Tiny house guidelines from Shasta County can be found here. (Read the PDF here)
Contra Costa County California
Contra Costa defines tiny houses as homes built on foundations. Tiny houses on wheels are considered RVs and subject to the regulations put forth by the DMV (and may not be used permanently as housing). The building code has certain sections that apply to California tiny house builders.
For the Contra Costa County tiny house guidelines, explore here. (Read the PDF here)
Mariposa County California
Home to Sacramento, Mariposa County is a popular area of California. They allow tiny houses, with some restrictions. The guidelines for Mariposa county separate tiny houses on foundations from tiny houses on wheels, which are defined as recreational vehicles.
Guidelines for Mariposa County tiny homes can be found here. (Read the PDF here)
City Specific Tiny House Codes
With hundreds of cities in California, there are many different restrictions and guidelines. It’s important to check with each area before you build or move. The following resources are for a few of the key cities in California.
San Francisco
This helpful article reviews the tiny house guidelines in San Francisco and helps you figure out how to build a tiny house without breaking the law.
San Jose
A recent San Jose ordinance allows tiny houses on wheels under certain guidelines. The amendment for the municipal code changes affecting ADUs can be found here. (Read the PDF here)
Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California, is also getting on board with the tiny house movement. The County Board recently voted to allow ADUs, moveable tiny homes and planned unit developments. These changes will make Santa Cruz a more tiny house-friendly city, similar to San Jose and Fresno.
Clovis
The city of Clovis has taken great strides to make tiny houses accessible by creating flexible guidelines for ADUs and even giving away free tiny house plans. This city sees tiny houses as a solution to the housing crisis that has come about in most of California. Allowing homeowners to build tiny houses on their own property can allow families, adult children, and other caretakers to live right on site.
Alameda
If you’re looking for a simple way to set up an ADU, Alameda Tiny Homes is a California tiny house builder who will help you through every step of the process. They take care of the permitting, building, and navigation needed to set up an ADU tiny home in Alameda, CA. With recent permit changes in Alameda, it’s a great place to build a tiny house on your property.
Los Angeles
Recently, LA updated its building code to allow mobile tiny homes as ADUs. This change in the municipal code provides flexibility for THOWs, if they meet certain criteria, like not having visible wheels.
You can read the guidelines for the construction of ADUs in LA here. (Read the PDF here)
The ordinance for ADUs in Los Angeles can be found here. (Read the PDF here)
Santa Clara
Santa Clara also changed their code to allow more flexibility for ADUs. Similar to Los Angeles, the ADUs are allowed provided they meet certain criteria, which can be found here.
San Diego
San Diego is a favorite California city, thanks to its temperate climate and beautiful landscape. Like many other California cities, they have become more open to tiny homes in the recent past, particularly ADUs.
You can find San Diego’s ADU guidelines here. (Read the PDF here)
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo is another tiny house-friendly city, particularly for adults. They allow tiny houses on wheels as ADUs, provided they meet the criteria set forth here.
The San Luis Obispo ordinance on tiny houses as ADUs can be found here. (Read the PDF here)
Richmond
Richmond is running a pilot program to see how tiny houses on wheels can serve their community. This program will likely make Richmond another great tiny house-friendly city in California. You can read about the city’s municipal code here.
Roseville
Located within the Sacramento area, Roseville is another California city that has grown to include tiny house guidelines in their city code. You can view the guidelines for Roseville here.
Tiny House Laws In California:
Tiny House Building Codes In California:
*Disclaimer: The information provided on this website should not be taken as an expert opinion, consultation, or advisement of any kind. Building codes, home building, zoning, local laws etc are complicated and ultimately your responsibility to execute legally and safely. You must do your own research, consult with and verify with all applicable authorities, local officials, regulatory bodies, code and zoning officials, and city/state/federal governments. See our full legal page for further information here: https://thetinylife.com/about-us/legal/
It’s wonderful to see affordable tiny homes
Possible in California for people can
Survive in peaceful time.
I’m looking for a final similar setup in
a flat 2 acre Lot of silent area near Ukiah
Or so.
There are 2 builders on your site that are no longer in business (bankruptcy) and actually stole money from customers. Please remove Cheeky Monkey and Sierra Tiny Homes.
Thank you, Jennifer
Thank you! I was just about to visit their sites.
This is a request for free mail catalog. Thank You