Tiny Houses: A New Trend?

I wrote here last year about micro apartments, many of them only a couple of hundred square feet or less. Now that “smaller is better” movement has moved to free-standing homes. Have you ever admired a dollhouse and half-wished you could live there? This may be the next best thing. Much of this post is from an article by Geoff Williams, FrontDoor.com.

In this age of credit crunches, subprime mortgages and rising energy costs that make McMansions almost as reviled as Hummers, maybe it was inevitable that a tiny house movement would start to take off. If you're drawing a blank, tiny houses are typically 64 square feet to 774 square feet, and some environmentalists and enthusiasts argue that they're the perfect antidote to our housing problems. After all, it costs less to buy a tiny house -- not to mention furnish, heat and cool it. If you want the simple life, you can't get much simpler than this. We actually have a few homes in Milford that might qualify, since they are in the range of about 600 Sq Ft. If the idea appeals to you, and you think you might want to ditch the idea of living large, here are some things to consider first:

COST - Tiny houses cost a fraction of what a bigger house costs, but the math will still surprise you: $15,000 to $45,000. Others might go as high as $90,000. It depends who
you hire to build your home, what the materials are constructed out of and what amenities you want. But many of the tiny home builders take great pride in their work and argue that the craftsmanship and quality of the materials dictate the higher prices. And while $90,000 may seem astronomical, the homeowner is still making out like a bandit when paying for maintenance costs. Some tiny homebuilders are also increasing the “Green” aspect of tiny homes by building them out of re-claimed materials. Think of the savings when it’s time to re-roof and you only need 2-3 bundles or when you order the 3-4 replacement windows when that time comes.

SAFETY – Although they are about the same size, true tiny houses are not mobile homes, and one could argue that they make a smaller target during a windstorm. It would also likely be easier to exit, in the event of a fire, and one might imagine that they may be somewhat safe from burglars, who are likely to conclude that a tiny home wouldn't have much of value to steal. There's also no chance of a thief sneaking into a tiny house without the owner noticing. And if there's a dog on the property? Fuhgeddaboutit. I suppose the dog may feel right at home in the smallest of these homes. Oops, my bad.

YOUR MINDSET - It sounds like a nice notion, living in a way that makes a smaller footprint on the environment, but one shouldn't rush into this, cautions Michael Janzen, a
40-year-old Sacramento bank executive who has a blog called Tiny House Design and is planning on building a tiny home to move in with his wife and young daughter. But he
recognizes that one tiny home may be too cramped; so he may well wind up doing what is often recommended: live in two, or even three tiny houses. But a tiny house isn't for everyone, which is why Janzen cautions that if anybody is considering the idea, he would first suggest simplifying things before moving. I’ve opined here a couple of times about simplifying your life and getting rid of stuff that you really don’t need. I suppose that if I were going to go tiny for my home I’d also need to jettison a few of the excess pounds that I’m carrying around, so that I’d fit.

SIDE BENEFIT – Perhaps a side benefit might be that Ken and Barbie could be living in the tiny home next to you and you can borrow the Barbie Mobile. Sorry – I couldn’t help myself on that one. My bad, again!

So, if cozy is a word that you’d really like to associate with your home lifestyle, the tiny home may be for you. For more on (and a serious look at) tiny houses go to these links:

Tumbleweed Tiny Houses
Tiny Texas Houses
Tiny Houses Net
Tiny House Designs