Craftsmanship runs in Gonçalo Marrote’s veins.
His father was a carpenter, and so was his father before him. In 1990, the Marrotes founded Madeiguincho, a Portugal-based, family-run woodworking company specializing in furniture.
Drawing from his architectural education and inspired by his travels to places like Berlin, New York, India, and Nepal, Marrote steered the company toward a new frontier in 2016: tiny homes.
“Some people would say, ‘Why would you change something that is already good?’ but I wanted to do something connected to my studies and my love for tiny houses,” Marrote told Business Insider. “I made one, people liked it, and then I made two, and the company started to grow.”
So far, the company has built 25 tiny homes, with prices starting at €55,000 (about $58,600). The homes vary in size, ranging from 10 meters (about 108 square feet), 12.5 meters (about 135 square feet), to 17.5 meters (about 188 square feet).
Marrote, with a deep appreciation for nature, designs each custom-built home — no two are alike — to feel like an extension of its surrounding natural environment.
“About 90% of our product is sourced from wood,” he said. “The tiny homes are designed to make you feel at one with nature.”
In 2019, Madeiguincho, which constructs the tiny homes in Portugal, collaborating with local builders and architects, began shipping to the US. The first home landed in a Queens, New York backyard, where it is being used as an Airbnb property.
Take a look inside some of Madeiguincho’s tiny homes.
