Lyon County, NV Accessory Structures: Tiny Homes (2026)
Tiny home rules in Lyon County, NV, covering tiny houses on wheels (THOWs), park model RVs, and tiny home on foundation builds, determine where they are legal and how they get permitted.
Key Facts
- Governing definition
- 2018 IRC tiny house: 400 sq ft or less, excluding lofts
- ADU size cap
- 50% of primary home or 1,100 sq ft, whichever less
- Foundation requirement
- Stamped design by a Nevada-licensed professional engineer
- Units per parcel
- One accessory dwelling unit per individual parcel
- Adopting ordinance
- Ord. 603, effective November 1, 2018
Summary
In unincorporated Lyon County, Nevada, a “tiny house” is defined by the 2018 International Residential Code as a dwelling of 400 square feet or less excluding lofts with its own kitchen, bath and sleeping space. Community Development permits tiny houses only in districts that already allow accessory dwelling units, and each unit must meet IRC construction standards on a foundation stamped by a Nevada-licensed engineer.
b. “Tiny houses”, as defined by the 2018 International Residential Code (IRC), are “a dwelling that is 400 square feet or less in floor area excluding lofts” and as “a single unit providing complete independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation”. Tiny Houses, as defined in this provision, are permitted in zoning districts that permit accessory dwelling units provided the units are constructed in accordance with IRC standards and are placed upon a foundation design stamped by a NV-licensed professional engineer.
Full Breakdown
The Lyon County Board of County Commissioners folded the tiny house rule into Chapter 335 of the Land Use and Development Code (Ord. 603, adopted November 1, 2018) as part of the countywide table of performance standards. Because a tiny house is treated as a type of accessory dwelling unit, it inherits every ADU limit in subsection A.1: the unit cannot exceed 50 percent of the livable area of the primary residence or 1,100 square feet of gross floor area, whichever is smaller, and a parcel is allowed only one accessory dwelling unit no matter how many parcels one owner controls.
A tiny house sited in a Residential District must go to the rear of the primary structure, or to the side only as a secondary option, and its height cannot exceed the principal structure's height. Setbacks follow the same principal-building setbacks listed in Chapters 310 through 314 for the applicable Agricultural, Resource, Residential, Commercial/Mixed-Use or Employment district. The Community Development Department's Director reviews exterior compatibility, siding, roof pitch, window detailing and foundation or skirting appearance against the main house before sign-off, and the applicant must show adequate off-street parking for anyone living in the unit.
Because the section requires IRC-standard construction and an engineer-stamped foundation, a park-model trailer or wheeled tiny house on skids does not qualify; only a permanently foundationed, code-built structure meets Lyon County's definition.
Violations & Fines
Building without the required Community Development permit, skipping the engineer-stamped foundation, or placing a tiny house in a district that does not allow accessory dwelling units is a code violation enforced under Title 1's code enforcement provisions, which can lead to a red tag, forced removal or retrofit, and civil penalties until the structure is brought into compliance or removed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put a tiny house on any residential lot in Lyon County?
Does a tiny house have to sit on a permanent foundation?
How big can a Lyon County tiny house be?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lyon County
Compare Lyon County to another location·View the Nevada accessory structures overview
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