The little living units have become so popular, they've attracted the attention of one of the world's richest men: Elon Musk …
A photo shared with Insider appears to show Boxabl delivering a Casita to SpaceX.
Jorge Ramirez
… who lives in a $50,000 tiny unit that he rents from SpaceX in Boca Chica, Texas, the multibillionaire tweeted in June.
The exterior of the Casita.
In November 2020, Boxabl announced it had installed a Casita in Boca Chica, Texas for a "top secret customer."
A photo shared with Insider appears to show Boxabl delivering a Casita to SpaceX.
"Pretty exciting to have these guys as our initial customer," Boxabl founder Galiano Tiramani said in a YouTube video. "I think it indicates that people agree that we're on to something big here."
The dining area.
Tiramani did not confirm Musk's residency inside the prefabricated Casita with Insider, but the company hasn't shied away from alluding to its potential role in the tech powerhouse's tiny home.
The interior of the Casita.
The company's short history spans back to 2017, when the Las Vegas team decided to create its tiny homes after it saw a "huge opportunity to transition building construction worldwide into the factory assembly line," just like any other everyday product, Tiramani told Insider.
The exterior of the Casita.
"There's a number of reasons why housing hasn't really worked in the factory yet, so we've gone through it and solved all those problems," he said.
Boxabl logo on the side of a unit.
But unlike other prefab homes, the Casitas can be folded down from 20 feet to about 8.5 feet while it's being transported on a truck or towed by a pickup truck.
A Boxabl unit being moved with a Tesla.
Almost all of the Casita's finishes - such as the kitchen, bathroom, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC - are completed in the factory before it's shipped out.
A look inside the Casita.
So when the Casita arrives at its final destination, the home just needs to be unfolded (which takes a few hours) and then attached to its foundation and utilities, before it's totally move-in ready.
The Casita.
The 19.5-foot by 19.5-foot buildings can also be stacked and connected to create larger buildings. But if you're just looking for a bigger prefab home, wait a bit. Tiramani notes the company still plans to release larger units in the future.
But starting out with the "trendy, cool, and popular" tiny homes was strategic since it's hooked the eyes of more customers, according to Boxabl's founder.
A single and two-floor Casita.
The time, cost, and labor-efficient nature of creating homes in factories amid our housing shortage has been pushing more attention onto prefabrication, whether it be the Casita or other factory-built homes, like 3D printed units.
A two-floor Casita.
And many of these future clients - such as bigger companies - want more than one unit, so the "real demand for this initial product is incredibly massive," Tiramani said.
Setting up the Casita units.
The waitlist is just shy of 50,000 people, but in terms of the quantity of the homes, Boxabl has already seen interest for over 100,000 units.
A two-floor Casita.
With the help of influencer and social media marketing, the Las Vegas business already had a waitlist of 40,000 people before it started receiving attention from Musk fans.
A single and two-floor Casita.
"The target audience heard about this beforehand, and then the Musk press brought in general audience interest, maybe someone who didn't care about housing," Tiramani said.
The interior of the Casita.
And it only recently moved into a 170,000-square-foot factory in June with the hopes of producing a Casita every 90 minutes - or about 3,600 units per year - by the end of 2022 …
A look inside the Casita.
Let's start in the kitchen, which has a refrigerator, dual sinks, an oven, a dishwasher, a microwave, cabinets, and a dining table that connects with the countertops.
The kitchen.
The bathroom is next to the kitchen and comes with a shower and tub, a sink, a countertop, a backlit mirror, and a sliding door for privacy.
The bathroom.
And instead of the classic "lumber, hammer, and nails" construction method, the Casitas are built using steel, concrete, foam insulation, and laminated paneling.
The bathroom.
"The demand for housing is so incredibly massive, there's shortages everywhere and no one can build fast enough," Tiramani said. "It's great for us to know that so many people are interested in this product.
A Casita being moved.
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