The home of Mary and Gerhard Ringel in Santa Cruz, California is one of the cutest you’ve ever seen.
Not simply because it’s painted in a lovely yellow with turquoise, teal, periwinkle, and magenta highlights. However, the house was built from two retired streetcars that were replaced by buses in 1926.
The attic is erected on top of the streetcar roofs. The living room, with its curving roof and old iron brackets, is found once you walk off the porch and scrunch down to get through the short front entrance.
You can tell you’re in a vintage streetcar since the room is lined with transom-style windows. The two cars are connected by a 3.5-foot gap, with one car measuring 25 feet and the other measuring 30 feet.
The dining area and living room are in the first level, while the bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen are in the second. That automobile also has an expansion, giving the bedroom an additional 8 feet of space to work with.
Mary, a massage therapist, and Gerhard, an engineer, carpenter, and handyman, opted to downsize to their streetcar home, which they purchased from a 2,500-square-foot house.
‘At first, we thought we’d never live in such a house. No way, it’s insane, but you know it’ll be entertaining. Mary told Houzz, ‘It feels like you’re a hobbit.’
To fit in with the fashionable and exciting beach community ambiance, they decided to paint their house in gorgeous colors.
The outside colors were chosen by local artist and painter Gregory LeBaron of Transformational Color, who also picked a lively color palette for the interior.
‘It was unusual because the ceilings are low.’ Gerhard adds, ‘I almost struck my head on the ceiling, which was fairly run down.’
The couple had to replace the home’s plastic acrylic ceilings and lift the roof. They also took off the tile, installed hardwood flooring, and repaired the clawfoot tub.
‘We wanted it to be more deliberate and well-designed while yet maintaining that magical vibe,’ Gerhard explains.
Cob buildings and a treehouse in a 200-year-old oak tree may be found at the back of the house.’ We adore the property because it has a lot of charm and magic,’ Mary explains.
A single-family house in the United States has a median size of 2,301 square feet, according to iProperty Management, whereas a tiny home is defined as one that is between 400 and 1,000 square feet in size and is around 8 feet tall.
Tiny homes are around one-fifth the price of a regular home, ranging from $59,884 to $23,000, however one couple claimed to have built a 192-square-foot home for less than $8,000.
Tiny houses also consume roughly 7% less energy than a standard home. About 15.5 percent of these residences, like the Ringels’, are in California.
Play the video below to take a tour of the couple’s stunning and magical house!