ZaraNova / Ready-to-build designs / Nordic Cabin 201

ZaraNova collection · MODEL 201

Nordic CabinModel 201 · Two-level cabin · guest house · ADU

843 SF of real home in a cabin's footprint: a double-height living room behind a glass gable, kitchen, full bath, and a sleeping loft above. Ships anywhere and stands for a century.

See the three options View blueprints

18'-5" × 32'-7"

Nordic Cabin 201: Design model: three-quarter view of the glass gable

843SF heated

843SF total

1Bedroom (loft)

1Baths

2Levels

3–4 moTurnkey build

Overview

Nordic Cabin 201 is the smallest full home in the collection: 843 SF on two levels inside an 18'-5" × 32'-7" footprint, framed in the same cold-formed steel as the Barnhaus houses. It works as a guest house behind a main home, an accessory dwelling unit, a lake or forest cabin, or a short-term rental that never needs repainting.

The ground floor is one 512 SF room: kitchen along the wall, living area with a TV wall under the full-height glass gable, and a 6-foot covered terrace outside the doors. Behind the stair sit a full bath with a shower, toilet, and vanity, and a utility room that houses the HVAC system, the water heater, and the washer and dryer. Upstairs, a 265 SF loft bedroom looks down into the living room over a railing.

One bedroom, one bath. The walls are 4-inch insulated sandwich panels on a cold-formed steel frame, with an insulated panel roof and the thermowood-lined gable, so the cabin is quiet, warm in January, and non-combustible.

Every dimension on this page comes from the home's digital twin, the complete 3D model from which the steel is manufactured. What you're reading is not a rendering of an idea. It's the description of a fully engineered building.

Built to last for centuriesA steel frame and metal-skinned panels. Nothing organic to rot, warp, or feed termites. A structure that doesn't move, so it doesn't crack.
Non-combustible structureSteel frame, steel-skinned wall and roof panels. Insurers notice, and so does a family in a wildfire year.
Designed completely before it's builtA millimeter-accurate digital twin in which every window, duct, cabinet, and outlet is placed before anything is manufactured. The steel is cut from that twin.
Closed in within days4-inch insulated sandwich wall panels and an insulated panel roof go up on the frame as finished components, so the cabin is weather-tight almost as soon as it is standing.

Charcoal Standing-seamWalls and roof as rendered

ThermowoodGable reveal

Warm GreigeOption

Visualizations

Nordic Cabin 201: Design model: front elevation — Design model: front elevation

Nordic Cabin 201: Design model: rear and side — Design model: rear and side

Nordic Cabin 201: Design model: loft bedroom behind the glass gable — Design model: loft bedroom behind the glass gable

Nordic Cabin 201: Design model: ground floor with the kitchen and stair — Design model: ground floor with the kitchen and stair

Nordic Cabin 201: Design model: ground floor plan view — Design model: ground floor plan view

Blueprints

Floor plans for every level, building sections, and all elevations. Click any sheet to view it full screen. The complete permit set comes with every option below.

Nordic Cabin 201: Exploded floor diagram — Exploded floor diagram

Nordic Cabin 201: Floor plans, levels 1 and 2 — Floor plans, levels 1 and 2

Nordic Cabin 201: Sections 1-1 and 2-2 — Sections 1-1 and 2-2

Nordic Cabin 201: Elevations — Elevations

1 / 4Exploded floor diagramClick the sheet to view full screen

Rooms & areas

578 SFLevel 1, heated

265 SFLoft, heated

96 SFCovered terrace

512 SFKitchen + living

22'-11"Ridge height

Level 1

kitchen + living room, utility room, bath

578 SF

Level 2 · Loft

bedroom

265 SF

Terrace

covered terrace

96 SF

Heated area 843 SF = 843 SF total, the basis for the three prices below. Heated area counts every room on every level: bathrooms, closets, utility rooms, and halls included. Terraces (96 SF) are not counted. Room-by-room areas are on the blueprints.

Dimensions

18'-5"Interior width

32'-7"Interior depth

22'-11"Height, grade to ridge

6'-0"Covered terrace depth

512 SFKitchen + living

265 SFLoft bedroom

27 SFUtility room

1Full bath

Lot requirement: the footprint is roughly 18'-5" × 32'-7". Allowing for typical setbacks, Nordic Cabin 201 fits on a lot that fits most backyards and lake lots. We'll confirm fit against your specific lot and zoning during the consultation.

How it's built

The structure of a Nordic Cabin is simple: a steel frame, insulated wall panels, and an insulated roof, all made in the factory. Here is each part, from the inside out.

Cold-formed steel frame

Light-gauge galvanized steel profiles, joists, and trusses, manufactured on CNC roll-forming equipment directly from the digital twin. Each piece is labeled and packed in assembly order. Steel doesn't shrink, swell, warp, or rot, so walls stay laser-straight and floors never squeak.

Manufacturing · SteelModu ↗

4-inch insulated wall sandwich panels

The walls of every Nordic Cabin are 4-inch insulated sandwich panels: a rigid insulating core bonded between two metal skins, hung on the steel frame. One factory-made panel is the structure's sheathing, insulation, air barrier, and exterior finish at once, so the cabin closes in within days and stays warm in January.

Detail · Spec sheet on request

Insulated sandwich roof

Steel roof trusses carry insulated sandwich panels, a rigid insulating core between two metal skins, finished with a standing-rib metal roof. One factory-made component replaces decking, underlayment, insulation, and roofing.

Detail · Spec sheet on request

Three ways to buy

Nordic Cabin 201 is offered three ways, from the steel structure alone, shipped anywhere in the US or Canada, to a finished home built by us on your lot. Every option includes the complete blueprint set. Click an option to select it.

Option 1 · Ships US & Canada

Skeleton kit

$30 / SFof total area · ≈ $25,300 for 843 SF

The complete steel structure of the home, manufactured, flat-packed as a kit, and ready to ship.

All steel parts, CNC-manufactured from the digital twin: profiles, tracks, joists, trusses
Every part marked and packed in assembly order
Flat-packed and strapped for freight
Detailed step-by-step assembly instructions
Complete blueprint set, ready for permitting
Delivery not included, quoted by destination
Assembly, foundation, envelope, and finishes not included

Optional: our engineer or project manager on site to lead the assembly.

Select Option 1

Option 2 · Within 150 miles of Buffalo Grove, IL

Panelized & installed

$40 / SFof total area · ≈ $33,700 for 843 SF

The same steel, assembled into wall panels and trusses at our factory, delivered, and installed on your foundation by our crew.

Everything in Option 1
Wall panels, floor trusses, and roof trusses assembled in our factory
Installed on your foundation by a ZaraNova crew, with crane and site supervision included
Structure plumbed, braced, and ready for sheathing
Delivery not included, quoted by distance
Foundation, envelope, and finishes not included

Available to project sites within 150 miles of our facility in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.

Select Option 2

Option 3 · Our build region

Turnkey home

from $350 / SFof total area · ≈ $295,000 for 843 SF

Nordic Cabin 201 built start to finish by ZaraNova on your lot, 3 to 4 months from ground break to keys.

Architectural drawings, engineering, and permit handling
Foundation, structure, insulated wall and roof panels
Windows, doors, mechanical, electrical, plumbing
Interior finishes: flooring, doors, kitchen, bathrooms, appliances
Land, site work, and utility connections, quoted per lot

Final price per square foot depends on the finish and appliance level you select. Available in Chicagoland, the North Shore, and southern Wisconsin.

Select Option 3

Blueprints with every optionA complete blueprint set, ready for permitting in Illinois. Building in another state? The same set goes to an architect licensed in your state for review and stamp. We supply everything they need.

Permit fees not includedMunicipal permit and review fees are paid directly to your jurisdiction under every option.

Delivery quoted separatelyFreight for Options 1 and 2 is quoted by destination and distance once we know where the home is going.

One digital twin, three optionsAll three start from the same engineered model, so moving from a kit to an installed structure, or to a turnkey home, is a change of scope, not a redesign.

Customization

Love the concept but need changes? That's normal. Most of our clients start from Nordic Cabin 201 and adjust it: a second bath upstairs, a fireplace, a longer plan (see Nordic Cabin 202), or two cabins joined by a deck.

Because the house lives as a digital twin, changes are made in the model first, and the steel is manufactured to the new version. Small modifications are quick. Larger ones are re-engineered and re-priced before anything is fabricated. Either way, you see the exact result before a single part is cut.

Panel color, interior door style, flooring, and bathroom fixtures are all selections you make with us. They don't change the structure or the price of the shell.

Charcoal Standing-seamWalls and roof as rendered

ThermowoodGable reveal

Warm GreigeOption

Nordic Cabin 201