Small is beautiful…

I saw an article about tiny homes in this weekend’s local newspaper. That is a topic that I have written about before, but not for some time. The houses in these stories are really tiny – some less than 100 Sq Ft. You can read more about tiny homes at several Web sites - http://www.tinyhomes.com/ is one. Most of the companies in this end of the business offer plans for the DIY builder or will prefabricate the home for you. Some even mount the tiny homes on wheels (see http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/ ).

I’ve also opined here about the general downsizing of just about everything that has come as a result of the current recession. I characterized it as a “reset” of the American way of life. Some have found that to be a relatively drastic view (or term). So, call it whatever you feel comfortable with; just as long as you acknowledge that some fundamental changes seem to have occurred.

The folks who might find this all to be a bit déjà vu are the grandparents or maybe great grandparents out there who lived through all or part of the great depression. Really anyone who grew up in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s remembers when houses weren’t all that big. Just about any older town or city has whole neighborhoods full of little brick bungalows that are 800-900 Sq Ft. Most had 2-3 bedrooms a living/dining room and a kitchen. Many likely did not have garages; although many had basements. Your grandmother may still tell stories about raising her family in one of these small houses - and a happy family it was, I’m sure that she’ll add. Many of those old home still exist, although most have had additions added and perhaps garages built by now.

I can remember back to my childhood and living until I was in third grade in a 400-500 Sq Ft , one-bedroom house that had a lean-to addition that served as the bedroom for my sister and me. The whole house was heated by a single coal-fired pot belly stove in the winter. I slept on an old Army cot and my sister had the bottom of an old sofa as a bed. When you’re young living like that can seem like a grand adventure. We moved to a “grand” 1,000 Sq Ft three bedroom ranch on a slab and I grew up through high school in that house. I never felt like I needed more. Later I raised my children in a 1,400 Sq Ft quad level home with 1.5 bathrooms, which we all seem to have survived fairly well.

By the 2000’s the master bedrooms of most new homes were bigger than the first house that I remember and the great rooms on most McMansions probably had more room than that house that I really grew up in. “Bigger is better” was the mantra for the 80’s 90’s and early 2000’s. Perhaps, that is no more the case. People have come to realize the waste and cost of those huge homes and much of the earning power that supported that excess has largely evaporated, at least in the so-called middle class, especially the blue-collar middle class.

Maybe this is really a good thing. Maybe the latest generation, who are learning to be happy with less, will turn out to be happier than the generations that were defined by excess and self-centered spending, but which never seemed to be happy with what they had. I don’t think we’ll end up seeing the market going back to tiny houses, or even new-build houses under1.000 Sq Ft.; but we will see smaller new-build homes with much more practical use of space and probably much better energy utilization, too. I for one think that’s a good thing.