The CubeOne by Nestron: A Sci-Fi Take on Tiny Homes
Last Updated: Mar 17, 2025The CubeOne by Nestron: A Sci-Fi Take on Tiny Homes
After David and Juliette Howard married, they began looking for an alternative to renting an apartment in the city where they lived. Both were looking for a path to homeownership, but they also wanted to avoid the 30-year mortgage that plagued so many young couples that they knew. The Howards experienced the uncertainty that accompanies young families when they're searching for jobs and a place for their lives to take root. They didn't want to financially bind themselves to a place where they might only live for another year or two.
They considered renting out an ADU that a friend offered on Airbnb. They even took a serious look at building a skoolie. When David came across some pictures of the CubeOne by Nestron, he knew he'd found the perfect solution to the housing "crisis."
Table of Contents
- What is the CubeOne?
- A Tiny Home With a Sci-Fi Twist
- Sustainability Features of the CubeOne
- A Quick Path to Homeownership
What is the CubeOne?
Nestron is a Singapore-based company with manufacturing headquarters in China. Several years ago, Nestron's founders visited rural and marginalized communities in Papua New Guinea and were struck by the lack of suitable and affordable housing for the growing island population. This experience led Nestron's founders to design a housing alternative that could bring the best sustainable building technologies to people on a budget.
The CubeOne is one of four prefab housing models developed by the company. It's a tiny home at only 14.5 square meters (156 square feet) but manages to incorporate several unique, high-tech, space-saving features. For people like the Howards, the fact that the CubeOne doesn't require a foundation was one of the main selling points.
"We have no idea where we are going to be next year, and that uncertainty has made it difficult for us to think about where and how to live," David says. "When I came across CubeOne on the Internet, the fact that it can be picked up and taken from spot to spot was certainly a draw."
A Tiny Home With a Sci-Fi Twist
When people think about tiny homes, they often conjure up images of quaint cottages in the countryside with wood-burning stoves and a beautiful view of a mountain lake. As Rise's many articles on tiny homes have shown, however, they certainly break with any "cookie-cutter" design. One's creativity may be the only limit.
The CubeOne tiny home looks like it belongs more in the center of New York City than in some rural town. Its futuristic design includes a galvanized-steel shell and exceptional insulation. Natural and nontoxic rock wool (also known as mineral wool) insulation is used to protect the home from the natural elements. The built-in furniture maximizes the amount of available space. It gives the vibe of a tiny studio apartment found in any metropolitan downtown area.
Voice-controlled colored lighting, a television and state-of-the-art sound system, and air conditioning are all controlled by artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, which makes this a truly "smart" home.
"I don't think we are going to live in a 156-square-foot home all our lives," David says, "but the smart technology incorporated into the Nestron unit would make this a perfect home office someday. I work from home. In a couple of years, when we do find a place to settle down, I imagine the CubeOne easily transitioning into my office that can be in the backyard."
Tobias Roberts
Tobias runs an agroecology farm and a natural building collective in the mountains of El Salvador. He specializes in earthen construction methods and uses permaculture design methods to integrate structures into the sustainability of the landscape.
