Tiny Home Movement.. who's in?

[biosurfer1]

Weekend get away in the mountains? Sure

Full time dwelling? No way

[tevake]

This is one of the hardest part of my current setup, no shelter for the S C.



Oh yea the chilly weather is not really fun either.

That could be the big advantage of a well built four season tiny house.

Cheers Richard

[aigel]

In retirement with kids gone, I can easily see myself live permanently on 800-1000 sf. house.
Small house or single wide mobile home - no problem, as long as there is shop / garage space and a decent size lot. But not tiny. Tiny is my truck camper that I can 4x4 anywhere.

I am all for downsizing and having less crap, but going to 200 sf for daily living is just plain stupid. It does not take that much more money or energy to keep a decent living space.

I do NOT know what I'd do with 3500 sf.

G

[BlueSkyJaunte]

My wife is fascinated by these "tiny living" shows, magazines, houses, etc. Her favorite for years has been ideabox.

I frequently have to remind her that we have 3 kids and an entire 1-car garage-sized storage unit filled with her stuff.

[Evans, Marv]

By myself, I could live in a hole in the ground. My wife not so much. That said, I don't think I'd choose to live in such a tiny space. I spent many summers living in 10x20 mountain cabins during the '70s for up to four months at a time. I loved it. There was no running water, no electricity, no refrigerator, a pit toilet, and a shower made of a 15 gallon drum with the shower spigot in the bung (I loved taking a shower when it was snowing a few times). Lighting was via Coleman lanterns and cooking was on a three burner Coleman stove with an accompanying wood stove for heat and cooking. I used about three gallons of white gas per month. You couldn't beat it for inexpensive living, but I think you would eventually need to expand if you lived like that on a year round basis year after year.

[aigel]

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte

My wife is fascinated by these "tiny living" shows, magazines, houses, etc. Her favorite for years has been ideabox.

I frequently have to remind her that we have 3 kids and an entire 1-car garage-sized storage unit filled with her stuff.

LOL - it is a nice fantasy to think you'll need less and get rid of all your crap one day!

That idea box house looks like a cross between a shotgun house and a trailer. It would be too small for me, unless I was single.

G

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by tevake

This is one of the hardest part of my current setup, no shelter for the S C.



Oh yea the chilly weather is not really fun either.

That could be the big advantage of a well built four season tiny house.

Cheers Richard

Ya our tiny house will have a nice detached garage nearby. And very well insulated. Its all in how you build it!

[Rick Lee]

In the former east bloc countries, back in the day, a lot of families had weekend dachas or garden houses. They were allowed to own the land and sell whatever they produced on it. I remember seeing a lot of them in E. Germany and Hungary. They were the size of those sheds you see out in front of Home Depot and Lowes, but were on some decent sized lots. When you spend the week in a tiny high-rise apt., often with no elevator, it was kind of nice to get out to the country for the weekend. I did a lot with my friends in E. Germany. But I can't imagine doing that for more than a weekend.

[tevake]

Hey I like my comfort, just don't need a ton of space indoors. And I am single so that eases the situation.
Living in the R V is like living aboard a sailboat in that it's best when under way.
Using the mobility makes the compromises worthwhile.

Not uncomfortable while stationary depending on the site and weather.

Cheers Richard

[Don Ro]

My place is on an acre...2,600 sq. ft. house.
4 bedrooms full of my "clutter", as my g/f calls it.
I occasionally have 3 motorcycles in my sun room...Love the s p a c e.

[tevake]

A lot can fit on a small space. Complete galley with upright fridge/ freezer, convection oven, four burner stove. Queen bed. Split bathroom, shower opposite. TV s front and back, nice sound system. Etc.

So right Sid it can be made comfortable in a wide range of conditions.
Are you thinking of partially built into the ground? Desert style?

The structure I'm thinking about would allow the coach to be parked under cover, which would greatly expand its weather comfort range.

Cheers Richard

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I've been following this movement for several years and I find it encouraging that it's finally getting some traction and notice. What I'm calling "suburban micro housing" is an area that I'm working on independently as a focal part of my own architectural practice (two in schematic design, one in mid-CDs - maybe I'll post some graphics here later...) The so-called "micro housing" movement up until now has been centralized around dense urban spaces however I think there's a real opportunity to apply the same sorts of practices, efficiencies and sensibilities to less urbanized sites thereby maximizing green space, outdoor recreational areas, square footage for gardening or other agricultural / quasi-agricultural uses, etc. I am a huge proponent of "de-cluttering" and have been a staunch opponent of the "McMansionization of America" going back to even prior to when it became the "flavor of the month" in the heyday of the housing bubble - the mid-2000s.

It's really starting to get noticed and take hold - I hope permanently. The underlying mindsets (i.e. "bigger is not necessarily better", "reduce our footprint", "learn to co-exist better with nature", "more stuff does not equate to happiness", etc.) are sustainable, wise and frankly, just common sense. I'm fascinated with how to structure space in such a way that one's needs are met without feeling cramped in relatively low square-footage structures. There's a lot of precedent out there and many common themes can be identified.

The residential housing market in the United States in particular has been frankly idiotic for way too long - huge, oversized houses on postage stamp lots, built shoddily with low quality materials, then these "perfumed pigs" foisted onto others as part of an endless pattern of flipping (translation: "trying to dump the problems onto the next unsuspecting sucker"). The whole thing is horribly inefficient, unsustainable and ultimately serves only very greedy, very short-term-thinking developers and obnoxiously wealthy bankers (neither of whom I'm particularly in love with). There's a real opportunity here to build a new kind of community where people can enjoy all the positive aspects of homeownership (equity, sense of pride in community, no more "rental rut", personal pride and fulfillment, self-sufficiency, etc.) without feeling cramped or like they're living in a dollhouse.

Over the last few years I've worked hard to increase the efficiency of use of my present home - a 1940 craftsman style residence that (when I bought it) was in serious need of TLC and attention. It's 1,600 square feet (basically a 40'x40x plan) and reasonably compact / efficient. It quite comfortably houses me and three cats, often one other adult and occasionally up to two kids. I've got space left over and as time goes on and I'm able to pare down / donate / sell / get rid of stuff there's more and more "extra" space. I have no doubt that a family of two or three could quite comfortably live in <1,000 sq. ft. if they are thoughtful, reasonably clean and organized, don't get caught up in the consumerist hype and wanton "Walmartish" consumption habits - continually buying lots of junk they don't need.

To echo the above sentiment - there's nothing wrong with smallish residences with largish garages. The problem is that (1) too many garages get turned into junk collections / storage units rather than places to actually park motor vehicles and (2) they are usually sited poorly (from the street all one sees are big, bland boxes with enormous garage doors on them). If garages are used properly they can augment a thoughtful micro house and the associated lifestyle very, very well. If not, they become like too many recent suburban (I see this particularly in the midwest) residential subdivisions - moderate sized houses with insanely huge 4, 5 and 6-car garages glommed onto the front of them that *might* have a car in there occasionally. This is silly and poor use. The kinds of layouts I've been focusing on typically take the garage away from the street and integrate it into the site as an architectural element including a drive path and one or more walking paths. They can be attached or detached (or semi-attached) to the main residence. They absolutely do NOT stick a huge, 20' high box right up against the street-facing lot setback line (as is the typical developer approach). Semi-subterranean helps too (sometimes) - I've developed a scheme for a four-car garage on my own house that employs this to retain good visibility from the residence and "step up" the massing in a more thoughtful way than just slamming a giant garage onto the lot would.

The point is, I'm really, really excited as an architect about this movement and the potential it represents - buildings are starting to become thoughtful again and driven by client NEEDS, not what sales schlubs and greedy developers tell people they WANT. There is a huge opportunity here and I'm getting in on the ground floor. This really can lead to a better, more sustainable, more thoughtful sort of society if it's approached thoughtfully.

I'm VERY happy to see this topic on here. I'm a huge advocate of having only a few - typically nice - things and believe this is the most sensible way to go, balancing a need for enjoying life and the good things it has to offer, rewarding success against living sensibly, minimally and sustainably. This seems to be more of a prevailing mindset as time goes on and I hope it holds. I truly believe it will pay dividends for individuals (They will gain psychological and financial freedom by not being shackled to stupidly-expensive houses they don't need or by being stuck paying rent their whole life) and our society as a whole (by using our resources more thoughtfully than slamming up gigantic boxes made of plastic and Chinese-made toxic junk materials).

[93nav]

Originally Posted by dantilla

tiny house would be okay, as long as there is a huge garage.

++1

[look 171]

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

I saw an episode of tinyhousehunting the other day and came away scratching my head for the stupidity and nieveness of some people. The host was showing a single guy a 24'x8' fifth wheel that had 4 slideout areas for more floor space once you have stopped and set up. This rig looked and acted just like any standard RV but had stained wood siding, an drywall on the interior walls. The paper plans to build this beast was $750, and could be built by the owner for $40,000. The turnkey price was $70,000. I was checking out Craigslist the next day and found a 2013 34" fifth wheel RV with 4 slideouts and a luxury interior. It came with a 2010 Ford F250 diesel King Ranch edition truck all for $33,000.

I just don't get the concept of why these gullible buyers araen't looking in the RV market for nicer and larger living quarters for half the money.

cause' it aint cool and it doesn't save the world's fresh air problem.

[look 171]

I can't see the attraction on some of these smaller houses. Go an ask the younger generation, you will get a completely different tune to what's been said here. When did we get so big? Many of the houses (can't say for other parts of the country) build pre war were small 1200sq' average homes. they started getting bigger in the 60s.

I can live in a 1000sq' home when I am retires, but I must have some elbow room outside with a good size garage. Q weekend get away cabin in the hills would be perfect. 1000' is easy to maintain. Micro units of about 4-500 sq' home are gaining traction here in LA. Once they are done, they sell like hot cakes. Younger folks are really drawn to them. They seem to like small cars, little homes. Their kids have no place to play. Oh, I forgot, they don't need to go out to play. its done electronically in a little box in front of them.

[KFC911]

I foresee building a smallish house on my somewhat rural acreage in the midst of Bambi woods and my awesome fishin' holes in the next few years . I couldn't live on a sailboat for very long...even a 70'er is cramped after a bit....YMMV.

[Seahawk]

I spend a lot of time on this site, which has a broad range of thought. They are very up front about the legal and pracical aspect of tiny homes.

The top 10 in Green Architecture for 2015 : TreeHugger

The links at the bottom of each page can take you deeper into a subject.

Here is a more shipping container related link:

Shipping Container Prefab : TreeHugger

[wdfifteen]

In my county 400 sq ft is the minimum area for a habitable "house." You can't get a building permit for a house smaller than that. I've taken trips in campers and I get claustrophobic. I just curl up in a corner and stay there until I can get outside. A tiny house wouldn't work for me in this climate.

[gprsh924]

To me, if you have kids it's a complete non starter. You need more space than that.

I am in what I consider the most comfortable house size/layout for my lifestyle pre and post kids. 1800 sq ft, 3 bedrooms. Plenty of space for guests, hug kitchen and living room area to spend time in and for hosting, and then a second family room downstairs setup with the better home theater for watching movies, football Sunday's, and some nights where I want to watch The Wire while my wife watches the housewives upstairs. And the 3rd bedroom is an office for when we work from home (about 20%) of the time combined. It's perfect. I see no good coming from living on top of your spouse.

[nota]

the first liveaboard sailboat was 24'x8'
before that we had a 31x8 alloy travel trailer
after the sail boat we got a 47'x12 houseboat