Tiny houses in Morocco

Morocco is not an obvious tiny-house country — the classic offer is riads, desert tent camps and apartment villas, none of which qualify for this atlas. But three genuine pockets exist, and each feels like a different country. Around Ifrane and Azrou, at 1,600 m in Africa's largest cedar forest, small wooden chalets with fireplaces serve Moroccan families escaping the lowland heat — alpine architecture, storks on the chimneys and real snow in winter.

On the Atlantic coast south of Essaouira, bungalows and timber chalets hide behind the dunes of Sidi Kaouki, a surf village where the trade winds keep summer cool and camels outnumber tourists on the beach. And in the Agafay, the stony 'little Sahara' forty minutes from Marrakech, a fixed geodesic dome delivers the desert-night experience — panoramic windows, dark skies, snow-capped Atlas on the horizon — without the long drive to the real dunes.

Timing differs by region: the coast works all year, Ifrane is at its most atmospheric with winter snow or as a cool summer refuge, and the Agafay is best October to April, before the desert heat makes daytime brutal.