The new travel trailer from Rifle’s Land Ark. (Courtesy Land Ark)
A Colorado company known for building tiny homes is pivoting to refocus on travel RVs.
Brian and Jonie Buzarde built their own tiny home in 2011, traveling across the country in it and eventually moving to Colorado. Six years later, they founded their company Land Ark, selling tiny homes constructed in a workshop in Rifle.
Today, they are in their early 40s, have two sons and are launching easy-to-tow RVs that travel with people rather than focusing on the homes.
“(Sales), they’ve been sporadic with the tiny house thing and that’s one reason why we’re pivoting, also our price point and what it takes us to build these things,” Brian Buzarde said. “The market for a really, really high-end tiny house is very niche, so we wanted to pivot toward something that can actually function in more situations.”
Buzarde declined to disclose sales numbers.
The base model tiny home, Drake, cost over $200,000 in 2022. Land Ark also custom-built tiny homes, and the construction cost for those could be well over $230,000, Buzarde said.
The tiny homes sold on Land Ark’s website. Land Ark also sold some of its tiny homes to RV parks hoping to modernize and have more energy-efficient housing.
Now, Land Ark’s new models focus on ease of travel.
The interior of the travel trailer. (Courtesy Land Ark)
Land Ark’s new travel trailer has more clearance, independent axle suspension, off-grid systems for electricity production and water collection, as well as incinerating toilets, which means no sewage tanks to dump, Buzarde said.
“We’re really trying to take our aesthetic and put it into new products that function for travel,” said Buzarde, who is an architect and designer for homes of all sizes.
The travel trailer has multiple sitting areas, and transforming work and sleep areas, a bathroom that can expand and store. The trailer can sleep four people, and Land Ark plans to make a larger version that can sleep up to eight.
Buzarde said assembling the lightweight RV-style models is cheaper and quicker than the tiny homes. The travel trailer starts at $220,000, according to the company’s website. The larger version is expected to start at $295,000. Buzarde declined to disclose the cost to build.
“This new model represents where we’re moving today, what we’ve been building for,” Buzarde said. “(Our models) have always technically been RVs, but they’ve really been tiny houses — large, heavy, drop and stay or if you have property to put it on — we’re getting out of that space and embracing the RV side of it.”
The new travel trailer from Rifle’s Land Ark. (Courtesy Land Ark)
A Colorado company known for building tiny homes is pivoting to refocus on travel RVs.
Brian and Jonie Buzarde built their own tiny home in 2011, traveling across the country in it and eventually moving to Colorado. Six years later, they founded their company Land Ark, selling tiny homes constructed in a workshop in Rifle.
Today, they are in their early 40s, have two sons and are launching easy-to-tow RVs that travel with people rather than focusing on the homes.
“(Sales), they’ve been sporadic with the tiny house thing and that’s one reason why we’re pivoting, also our price point and what it takes us to build these things,” Brian Buzarde said. “The market for a really, really high-end tiny house is very niche, so we wanted to pivot toward something that can actually function in more situations.”
Buzarde declined to disclose sales numbers.
The base model tiny home, Drake, cost over $200,000 in 2022. Land Ark also custom-built tiny homes, and the construction cost for those could be well over $230,000, Buzarde said.
The tiny homes sold on Land Ark’s website. Land Ark also sold some of its tiny homes to RV parks hoping to modernize and have more energy-efficient housing.
Now, Land Ark’s new models focus on ease of travel.
The interior of the travel trailer. (Courtesy Land Ark)
Land Ark’s new travel trailer has more clearance, independent axle suspension, off-grid systems for electricity production and water collection, as well as incinerating toilets, which means no sewage tanks to dump, Buzarde said.
“We’re really trying to take our aesthetic and put it into new products that function for travel,” said Buzarde, who is an architect and designer for homes of all sizes.
The travel trailer has multiple sitting areas, and transforming work and sleep areas, a bathroom that can expand and store. The trailer can sleep four people, and Land Ark plans to make a larger version that can sleep up to eight.
Buzarde said assembling the lightweight RV-style models is cheaper and quicker than the tiny homes. The travel trailer starts at $220,000, according to the company’s website. The larger version is expected to start at $295,000. Buzarde declined to disclose the cost to build.
“This new model represents where we’re moving today, what we’ve been building for,” Buzarde said. “(Our models) have always technically been RVs, but they’ve really been tiny houses — large, heavy, drop and stay or if you have property to put it on — we’re getting out of that space and embracing the RV side of it.”
