A couple's 80-square-foot tiny home on Airbnb is made almost entirely of glass so guests can sleep u

• A couple hosts guests at a tiny glass Airbnb in Georgia that went viral on TikTok.  
• The 80-square-foot home is located just south of Atlanta on a 132-acre property filled with wildlife. 
• Guests can sleep under the stars and take a dip in the nearby hot tub heated by actual fire. 

Tiny-home living isn't for everyone, as Rachel and Parker Boice know firsthand.

In 2017, the Georgia-based couple bought a 275-square-foot tiny house on wheels that they intended to live in full-time with their daughter. Unfortunately, Rachel said, raising their daughter, who was 1 at the time but "extremely loud," wasn't as easy as they thought it would be in such a small space.

Simply put, "it didn't work out," she said. But instead of selling the property off completely, the couple put it up for rent on Airbnb, where it quickly became a hit. 

Inspired by the success of their first Airbnb, the couple decided to pursue a new rental venture: building a tiny house made almost entirely of glass so guests could sleep under the stars. Take a look. 

Rachel and Parker Boice's tiny glass home is built on 132 acres of forest just south of Atlanta.

The tiny glass house is built on the same plot of land as their original tiny home, which they continue to rent out on Airbnb. 

However, as the houses are separated by acres of land, guests staying at either rarely cross paths. "There's just nobody even close, which is really nice," Rachel said. "It makes it really private."

As secluded as both homes are, they aren't completely isolated from the outside world. In fact, they're just a few minutes' drive from grocery stores like Walmart and Publix, gas stations, and a Dollar General. 

The cool part, Rachel said, is that all the necessities are close but the nature-surrounded property still feels like a "completely different world."

The couple initially hired a tiny-house contractor to build the glass structure. But they ended up needing to finish it themselves, which took five months.

The concept of a tiny glass house was something Parker had been thinking of for years, Rachel said. But it was the success of their first Airbnb that made him want to take the leap. 

"He finally was like, 'Well, this one's working, so let's try another one,'" she said.

To do so, the couple worked with a contractor who managed to build most of the structure. But before the tiny home was completed, the contractor had to pull out — leaving Rachel and Parker to finish the project on their own. 

"He just had bigger fish to fry, to be honest," Rachel said. As neither Rachel nor Parker had a ton of prior experience in construction, completing the home took longer than expected. 

"Instead of it taking a month, it took like five months to get done," she said.

From little things like putting in netting to prevent bugs from crawling in to figuring out how to ventilate the structure and stop leakage after the glass was installed, the process involved plenty of trial and error for the couple. 

"It was a learning experience, for sure," Rachel said. 

The couple did have some help from friends and family, who took turns staying at the Airbnb to give them feedback before they opened up for guests, Rachel said.

Rachel and Parker finished building the tiny home in February 2022, and the first thing they did after completing construction was invite loved ones to stay. 

The couple asked their friends questions about the home — "What was it missing? What did you need? What was great?" — and received "honest feedback," Rachel said. That constructive criticism then allowed them to make a few tweaks to the structure before officially opening up for Airbnb bookings in March 2022.

Straight out of the gate, Rachel said, the glass house was a hit. 

Interest in the tiny glass home dipped slightly over the summer, but it surged again after Rachel posted a tour of the Airbnb on TikTok.

From the start, Rachel said the glass house has always between 75% to 95% booked. 

Last summer, though, she and Parker did notice that it slowed down a bit. But that changed when Rachel posted a TikTok tour of the home in September. As of Saturday, the video had over 10 million views.

"It went viral," Rachel said, adding that as a result, they are nearly completely booked until May 2024. "It was a blessing."

They originally listed the Airbnb at a nightly rate of $89 plus a $40 cleaning fee. After the TikTok video went viral, they ditched the separate cleaning fee and increased the nightly rate to $139 on weekdays and $159 on weekends.

As rustic as the house is, Rachel said it's well-prepared to provide a comfortable experience year-round.

With so much glass, you might assume that staying in the Airbnb during the summer would be somewhat of a sweaty nightmare. But Rachel said that's not the case.

"You would think that it would have the greenhouse effect and just get really, really hot," she said.

However, the house is well-ventilated and comes with an air-conditioning unit that runs on ice and water.

The home is also built on a piece of land covered with trees. "It has a nice tree canopy over it," Rachel said. "During the summer, honestly, if you're in the woods, it's not that bad because there is a little bit of a breeze and then it blocks the direct sunlight." 

In the winter, Rachel said a stay at the house can feel more like camping rather than glamping. 

"Just a couple nights ago, it got down to 32 degrees Fahrenheit, so it definitely can get cold, but we provide sleeping bags that are rated for those lower temperatures," she said. 

She noted that guests can also stay warm by keeping the front doors of the home shut and packing hand warmers. 

"I tell people, like, 'Bring the little hand warmers if you're an extra cold person,' which I am. I love cold-weather camping, but you have to do a little extra preparation for that," she said. 

The tiny glass house also comes with an outhouse with a composting toilet that doesn't smell if used correctly, Rachel said.

Composting toilets, which don't use running water, can be pretty shocking if you've never used one before.

But when set up correctly, Rachel said the rustic toilet doesn't give off a bed smell. 

"There are two compartments, you have the solid waste and then the liquid waste, and so as long as you keep those two separate, you don't have a smell because solid waste, once it sits for a little bit, it just naturally composts," she said. 

The waste eventually turns into dirt, which does have a "musty, earthy smell," Rachel said, adding that it's pretty indistinguishable as everything else around the home smells the same. 

Nevertheless, the toilet is just one of the ways Rachel said her Airbnb is a perfect option for those who want to experience the "rawness" of camping without sacrificing all modern amenities. 

In order to enjoy the hot tub, guests need to know how to light a fire.

There might not be a shower with running water on-site, but there is a hot tub. 

To enjoy a hot bath in the woods, though, Rachel said guests must first build a fire within a furnace attached to the tub. 

It's a lot more work than running a bath, but Rachel said it's worth it.

"There is something special about putting your hand to something and getting a reward out of it," she said. "It kind of takes us back to who we used to be."

A hot meal also requires guests to get hands-on and start a fire, which Rachel admits isn't an easy task for everyone.

Unlike Rachel and Parker, who have been on months-long camping trips in the past, some guests can find basic wilderness skills tricky, such as lighting a fire. 

To help, Rachel said they provide basic fire-starting instructions and kindling, and they encourage people to check out YouTube tutorials. 

"There are so many videos out there," Rachel said. But even then, there have been occasions where she's needed to drive out to the Airbnb to show guests how to start a fire in person. 

"I'll go out and help, and they're literally just holding a big log and trying to light it," Rachel said. "And I'm like, 'That's not how that works. Let me show you.'"

During the day, Rachel encourages guests to explore the surrounding property, which is filled with wildlife, hiking trails, and "beautiful" creeks.

"It's beautiful," she said. "There's a small creek that the glass house actually sits next to, and then the small creek runs into a larger creek that's on the property, so you can go wade in it."

The creek is just a few feet deep, making it perfectly safe and a particular hit with dogs who like to play in the water, Rachel said. Guests will also find several hiking trails that run through patches of pine forest and open fields, which are home to turkey, deer, turtles, foxes, coyotes, and some snakes. 

"We'll have some king snakes, which are black snakes. They're completely harmless. We don't really have poisonous snakes," she added. 

Thanks to the location of the Airbnb, there's also essentially zero chance of having a run-in with a bear, Rachel said.

"We're kind of in the sweet spot in the middle of the state where we don't have bears. There are bears in North Georgia, and there are bears in South Georgia going into Florida, but there are not really any in our area," she said. 

Ultimately, Rachel said she and her husband designed the tiny glass house to give others a much-needed escape from the hustle and bustle of modern life.

With just a 1000-watt battery — just enough power to keep the lights on in the house and charge a few cell phones — guests at the tiny home are getting a real taste of the outdoors, Rachel said. 

But that's the point, she added. 

"When we actually built the glass house, we were going through a really challenging time in our personal lives," she said. "So often, when we're hurting, the best thing we can do is to do something for someone else, because then it's like blessing others blesses you."

Building the glass home didn't just fulfill a dream for the couple. It was also a healing experience — one they wanted to share with others. 

"We both love the outdoors. We both love hiking and camping. You just get so much clarity when you're in nature," Rachel said. "We've come a long way. But it is good to go back to our roots."

Axel Springer, Insider Inc.'s parent company, is an investor in Airbnb.

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