Of course, there are many pioneers A frame houses in more winter climates but we are so excited to see our very own, The Triangle Siargao, featuring in one of these books this year. Stay tuned, you’ll soon have the pleasure to see that publication…

While big resorts are rejected because of their lack of customization and character, renting triangle houses or A frame houses, cabins and tiny houses is definitely the new trend. 

So why this infatuation with A-frame houses?

A-frame houses seem to be icons in the architectural world and it all started from the mid-fifties up to the late seventies when A-frame houses and cabins became the most popular vacation homes.

Did you know?

The first world’s a-frame called “The Bennati cabin”, came to life in California 87 years ago, when the audacious architect Rudolph Schindler decided not to follow his boss’s orders to build a house in the French Norman style. He created a variation of this house design, inspired by the triangle shape, and the A-frame design was born.

It took some postwar prosperous consumers buoyed with the idea of spending money on leisure as well as some intrepid designers, many based in northern California, to turn what had historically been a basic house shape used for ice houses and chicken coups and began the trend that saw them turn into the vast array of A-frame designs we see today.
They rapidly started taking over as people’s first choice for a second home and were often located somewhere in the wilderness away from their urban lives.

And what about A-frame houses in the modern era? 

Now it appears that history may be repeating itself as the A-frame house obsession takes off again. Even before the Covid-19, there was a blossoming trend of people looking for the more simple pleasures in life ; scorning the lavish and looking for real connections to people, environments and nature. Disconnecting from their always on digital and urban lifestyles.  This has brought A-frames back to the forefront for many of the same reasons as they first took off in the 50’s.

From Brazil to Sri Lanka passing by Lake Tahoe, A-frame houses are now enjoying another lease of life. The giant windows and huge amounts of natural light just mean they are so perfectly suited to being in a stunning environment where you want to embrace the outdoors as much as possible.

This has now accelerated with the adoption of social media over the last decade and in particular Instagram. The best A-frame houses are located in inherently instagrammable locations, like the Treehouse on Shasta Lake (US) or the Snowboarder’s Cabin located in the snowing mountains of Canada. Beautiful backdrops with a striking A-frame house makes perfect instagram content. It really is a golden age for A-frames and we’re so happy to be a part of it.

These house designs attract a wide range of customers who are looking for something a bit different, maybe something a little off-the-wall, something isolated and calm. Now their simple but striking style has become a playground of creativity for architects.

The versatility of A-frame houses in design, function and budget

A-frame houses are also popular because this particular house design can easily be adapted to everyone’s budget.

Indeed, A-frame designs now span many budgets from affordable basic cabins –  like the 115 sq ft (11 sq meters)  DIY A-frame Kit designed by the New York based studio Den. This affordable A-frame cabin requires no building permit in a majority of locations around the world, and will be shipped to you for 21 000 US dollars. This sleek and modern house design will however only provide you with a place to sleep.

If you’re interested in something wider in order to have a pretty place to spend your vacations, you’ll also be able to find many a-frame house designs online, that you can buy for a price range between 300 and 7 000 US dollars. For example, Ayfraym, a US based company, provides A-frame houses plans, from a tiny house with one bedroom to huge houses with three bedrooms and a two car garage.

For those looking for a unique a-frame house design, you’ll find specialised architects who will be able to create luxury design-led A-frames. Thoses experts will include green principle to the architecture, using the best local materials from your location and thinking about how your a-frame would fit to the surrounding nature.  

How about sustainability and A-frame house ?

While 2019-2020 was all about mid century and minimalism, 2021 is stamping everything with SUSTAINABILITY, and yes, in capital letters. This view will be around for quite some time, we all hope, and while it will always remain a challenge to achieve, it is one that we are most welcome to face : always striving to improve our sustainability, protect the environment around us and around the world.

Sustainable architecture means committing to these new challenges of being more sustainable in material choices, within the social aspect as well as protecting the environment and synchronising with the natural landscape around us.

Watching the latest A-frame houses that are popping up around the globe, we can definitely say that a-frames are compatible with sustainability. They indeed integrate beautifully into the natural world. We’ll soon post another article dedicated to this topic. 

How long will this second A-frame house trend last?

Last time the world’s fascination with A-frames lasted for more than 20 years. Will this happen again? Do we think that Covid-19 has caused a seismic shift in people’s behaviours and desires, driving people to want to reconnect with their natural world after months trapped in their urban lifestyles?

At The Triangles Siargao we feel we are all truly inspired by living differently, by living closer to nature and we hope to share this with our guests again very soon. 

Receive our latest posts and limited offers first !

Read our latest articles

• Siargao Island : Challenging ecotourism in the Philippines
• 5 reasons why you should stay in an Airbnb when in Siargao island
• Why are A-frame houses so popular today?
• How the original Triangle Siargao has inspired many places on the island
• What are the travel requirements to travel to Siargao island in 2021 ?