SLO-based designer redefines smaller living spaces with Rööm 

Timon Phillips aims to potentially change the future of housing with Rööm, a 9-by-9-foot modern, stand-alone dwelling designed as a portable modular kit that can be expanded over time.

The residential designer describes Rööm as an escape from his former day job.

"I woke up one night and thought, 'What happened?'" Phillips said. "I'm working on this really mundane thing that I was not passionate about at all. And I thought I wanted to get back. I wanted to feel happy and joyful again in what I was doing."

Through Phillips' design and build company Hut Inc., Rööm combines Japanese timber frame designs with Scandinavian and Finnish design principles.

To transform Rööm from a computer-generated rendering to a real-life modern dwelling, Phillips headed to Craigslist to find someone who would be willing to support his dream. That person eventually ended up being Army veteran Nick Irwin, who was looking to put in an exterior office for his wife. Irwin said that they had looked at brands like Tuff Shed and other similar models, but nothing matched up to the quality of Phillips' work.

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• Photo Courtesy Of Timon Phillips/hut Inc.
• A MODERN HUT Timon Phillips is an architectural designer that wants to redefine smaller living spaces through his newest product, Rööm.

"Timon mills his own wood, he does it all himself. It looks a lot cleaner, it's a lot more uniform, very customized in that respect," Irwin said. "And the other thing, too, is he finishes it out—so when you get a Tuff Shed, none of it's finished inside. It's just the framing, right? Whereas the way he does it, it's ready to go as soon as he has it all up."

Not only is each and every Rööm handcrafted by Phillips down to the drywall, the entire structure is made out of sustainable materials. The timber is sourced from a sawmill in Northern California that salvages sugar pine logs from wildfire areas before they start decaying. Unlike conventional forms of insulation like fiberglass and foam, Phillips uses hemp and wood fiber to keep each Rööm nice and toasty.

"I'm very conscious about sustainability and a healthy planet, so I wanted to use old materials that would essentially break down into nothing, not using any foam, no plastics, not using things that are harmful to the environment," Phillips said.

The things that Phillips can't do himself are outsourced to local businesses. He works with a Morro Bay electrician, a metalworker based in Atascadero, local window suppliers, and he sources his steel from Santa Maria.

"We're trying to stay out of the corporate world as much as possible," Phillips said. "So we're trying to keep our footprint [small], working with small companies and innovative companies and companies that have a sustainable ethos like ours."

Once Phillips fabricates all the parts in his SLO-based shop, the Rööm is ready to be transported and assembled on-site. Construction at the Millers' property in Paso Robles began in August 2022, and it took four months for Phillips to assemble the entire thing. Ideally, Phillips says that the Rööm would be ready to go in three weeks or less, but construction at the Irwins' property was delayed due to supply chain issues.

"The unit we make, like the one in Paso, comes with lighting and electrical outlets," Phillips said. "Plumbing and the kitchenette—those are what we'll be offering soon with ADUs."

The convenient aspect of the Rööm is that its introductory 9-by-9 model doesn't require a permit to erect on your property—ADUs (accessory dwelling units) smaller than 750 square feet don't need a permit in California. However, if owners are debating whether to expand their Rööm or connect to a utilities service, Phillips can get a head start by working on the base model while waiting for city or county approval.

"It's a building that's based on a system, and the system is adaptable to how you want to design it, how you know what terrain it's going to be on. And it's expandable. So you can just play with it," Phillips said.

It's been nearly a month since Phillips finished constructing the Irwins' Rööm, and they couldn't be any happier with it.

"It came out better than we ever expected. My wife was so happy throughout the whole process, and then, now that she's in there, she's super super happy," Irwin said. "All she ever wants to do is hang out in there now."

Fast fact

• With cougar sightings on the rise in SLO County, take an opportunity to educate yourself about these majestic animals. Virtually join the Cougar Conservancy, National Park Service, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on Jan. 5, 2023, at 6:30 p.m to learn how to safely coexist with cougars: youtube.com/watch?v=wyUe4DWrv4Y. ∆

Reach Staff Writer Shwetha Sundarrajan at [email protected].