These days, people are eager to start buying in this real estate market. There are those looking to buy a foreclosure. Many others are hoping to qualify for a mortgage loan and are determined to get the best home loan rates available. All this to find the home of their dreams! And to some, that dream home is one you won’t expect.
Believe it or not, these houses are the chosen castles of some intrepid folk. I say this because I look at such a choice as going against the grain in a big way during a time when lifestyles and budgets have increased to accommodate super sized appetites for all things material. Typical size of such a small dwelling: 50 to 750 square feet. Typical price to build: $15,000 – $35,000.
In this age of “bigger is better”, there are people who actually prefer living in smaller spaces than larger homes, even though they had a choice in this regard. Those who insist on such terms are usually folks who live on their own or have really small families — maybe counting themselves, and a couple of goldfish.
As a matter of choice, I’d question the practicality of this lifestyle decision if it so happens to involve children, though I have a secret I’ll share with you. We have some relatives who *really* take the life of simplicity ULTRA seriously. They live in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand somewhere, 2 days walk from town through dense forest. They reside in a tiny cottage where the recommended mode of transport is a small plane (due to access conditions). Like the people featured in some of the homes pictured here, they have no running electricity and even water. They rely on a babbling river for all their requirements and they get supplies every so often by flying out to that nearest town. They are true survivalists (and I still don’t know how we could possible be related to them as we are complete wimps at this sort of thing) and the most stunning fact of all — they have two young children they are raising in this mold. So yes, I suppose this type of living can be undertaken by ANYONE.
Living this way can also be due to pure necessity for some apartment dwellers or mobile home owners. No problem, as there have been some keenly creative ways to counteract the shortcomings of such a set up. Not only that, but HGTV shows devoted to small spaces have been the rage.
Regardless of what makes someone choose to live in tighter quarters, there are benefits in doing so. Some people have shared their personal stories as to what makes them go this route. Let’s review the pluses.
The Benefits Of A Smaller Home
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It could actually improve your health.
How so? It forces you to want to leave your place more often and stay more active. The home becomes simply a functional place for rest and temporary relaxation. The lack of amenities or other conveniences will force you to change your lifestyle and perhaps move more than you would otherwise.
It is mobile.
Many folks with such homes can tow them around at will. Now if they function like an RV, I wonder why such homeowners just don’t own RVs instead?
You automatically live more simply.
The simple life has become attractive to many people who have decided to eschew the complexities and burdens of a life revolving around material things. This’ll change you, for sure. With less space to work with, you’ll have to live with less, and in so doing, you become less attached to things. There’s a certain freedom that comes with making a commitment to go down this path.
It’s cheaper.
One obvious ramification is that a really tiny house will command a much smaller amount to build. There’s a company that addresses this niche in home building called the “Tumbleweed Tiny House Co.” Costs for such houses can range from $15,000 to $30,000, depending on size and amenities provided. And don’t look now but a restroom and functional kitchen are considered amenities in such homes.
It involves less maintenance and upkeep.
An obvious consequence of less space is less stuff that breaks down, less work to keep things clean and functional and less services needed to keep things going.
With all the good news on small homes and simple living, there’s even support for this movement through a community called The Small House Society, “a group that advocates downsizing homes and living in concert with the environment.”
To close, here are a few more points of interest I came across: someone’s Top 10 Reasons Small Spaces Are Bigger Than Big Ones and some cool floor plans for those ready to consider the simpler life by downsizing.
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This is an inspiring post. I have always wanted to get a tiny house like these. I don’t think I could do it full-time, but it would be a great little getaway house. It would definitely make having a vacation home more affordable, since there’s less to build & maintain.
I’m not quite sure if I would go as far as a 10′ by 10′ box, but we just decided to move out of a bigger home and into a smaller apartment. It’s easier, cheaper to maintain and closer to all the things we like. I love being able to walk out of my house and straight into one of my favorite restaurants.
By the way, this article makes it seem like smaller living is all about being rural and living in the wilderness, but smaller living can also mean getting away from suburban mcmansions and moving into a smaller urban home.
Gal
This really is inspiring stuff. A bit like living in a ‘permanent’ tent. I don’t think many people could downsize this far, but reading about these homes really does make you wonder about the crazy way we get ourselves into huge debt to afford the vast homes we think are our right and an absolute necessity. Here in the UK, where interest rates are on the rise again, many young people are taking on mortgages of five and six times their annual salaries over terms of anything from 25 to 40 years. Do we really need to spend so much on our homes? This article shows the answer is a very definite ‘no’!
Smaller is not necessarily less. I find that everything has its place and time. When you are growing a family, it may be wise to have a bit more space to move about, but as we grow older and the kids fly the coop, it totally makes sense to go smaller. I think that smaller homes are great when living single, or with small families. I can see it getting hairy when the family gets larger though.
It doesn’t make too much sense to have a huge mansion with only two people rattling inside of it, even if you have the money to live in it. In that sense, that’s just ego talking, or a display of status. But then again, some wealthy people fill up such a home with live-in housekeepers, household managers, groundskeepers and stuff. Where have I seen this now? Maybe I’ve been watching too many Poirot movies lately
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That’s really an interesting idea. I wouldn’t mind having a couple of these scattered around in some good vacation places. They could be quite good getaways. But then why not just by a condo or something instead.
Those spaces are fine as long as it’s one person that live there. Once you have a family or have relatives living with you, you can forget it.
We all want the house that is equilivant to what we grew up in, if not bigger. Because that is what we are used of. Those houses featured is waaaaaay to small
I’m not sure I could live in a place smaller than 1000 square feet. That’s the size of my apartment and I already feel cramped with my wife. Then again, it might just be a sign of poor thinking and getting brainwashed that bigger is always better.
2 years ago I downsized from a one bedroom apt to a studio and loved it. It helped me get rid of things that I had accumulated but didn’t use. 6 months ago when I got married instead of moving into a bigger place my wife moved in and we downsized again. Now we can talk even when I am in the kitchen and she is in the den. Not to mention it saves us about $600/month.
At least when people say that they would not “want” to live in these smallest houses, it acknowledges that size is a choice and most “unaffordable housing” arguments are actually about discretionary consumption, not necessities.
I have thought about putting a storage building on my land in Taos and making it my vacation home, lol. Seriously. I like the article. I’ll have to link to it on my Cheap Houses blog.
I love this article. The pictures are fantastic.
I represent one of those “single people” mentioned in the post, (I do have a dog, but no goldfish) and I am a big supporter of downsizing. I live in San Francisco, and couple years ago I moved from a 900 sq ft. condo to a 300 sq. ft studio apartment, with no regrets whatsover. But even that was unnecessary, and so now I keep a room in the warehouse of my family’s business, while spending several nights a week with friends or family, in their nice big houses. And still no regrets!
Mr. Alex B, you sound like you’ve got the best of all worlds…
Thanks to everyone for the compliments and for sharing your thoughts!
When I was younger, I was raised to think that the ultimate sign of success was ownership of a huge house. Then I got older, and realized the bigger the house (or apartment) the more space to decorate (pricey) and clean (just annoying). Unless I’m rich enough to afford an on-site maid (and I’ll never be) I think I’d prefer a smaller place. I’d rather own a decent amount of land with a smaller house. Not as small as the ones pictured, but I’m perfectly happy with my current studio arrangement. I could actually afford to rent a one bedroom now (just barely) but I like not having to deal with two rooms. And I can’t even imagine how much utilities would cost me in a larger house.
My husband and I have been going back and forth on if we should move or not. As the person who is in charge of the cleaning and a lot of the maintenance of our home, I am in favor of smaller spaces. I have a hard time keeping up with what we already have so why would I want more to take care of? Great post!
Stopped by to read your post for carnival of Real Estate.
I am a fan of small houses. I don’t live in one now but have in the past. So I can say for sure, smaller is better.
My wife and I just had a baby and are getting ready to move into a 765 sq.ft. home that I designed….It does have a large screened porched and deck on the back….Wish us luck!
PS – price to build was $130,000 (not $15,000 as the article suggests) but I’m on the coast in hurricane country where things have to be build strong and elevated off the ground. It also has a vaulted ceiling in the living room and 9 foot ceiling throughout, so it’s not quite as small feeling
Yowch, Daniel….I know construction costs have increased for us Gulf Coasters (reason I’ve put off building for now), but yowie….that’s a LOT! I’d be living on the screen porch a lot….especially in cool weather. Sleeping porches rock!
These houses are adorable, but I’m not sure I’m ready to be trapped in 400 s/f with my husband, daughter and pets. A couple of them, though, looked like primo guest cottages, or a writer’s retreat for me. Whooeee….a space to escape to! Even my husband was nodding and saying yeah, that looked good (possibly, he’s tired of me whining about the parade of people/pets each time I sit down at the computer).
I lived for years in 230 s/f in New Orleans (no heat, no a/c, no oven (which the last tenant used for heat)–my place was so small, when I opened the sofa bed at night, I couldn’t open the French doors opposite it more than halfway, and the sofa bed was a nearly wall-to-wall piece of furniture. Four gallon hot water tank….morning showers in the winter were hellish; it was 42 degrees in my living room one morning, and the porcelain shower tiles were REALLY cold…was almost afraid I’d stick to them. Shower was so small I felt I ought to grease my hips before hopping in….just in case. But despite its shortfalls (like blowing every (expensive!) glass fuse every time I plugged in my blowdryer and tv at the same time, I loved living there. Wasn’t sorry to upgrade to the next size apartment…an additional 150 s/f, though. At $250 a month, there wasn’t much room to complain, and it was all mine. So yeah, I think I could manage quite well in 400 s/f–if I could just bring myself to part with my book collection.
Seriously, the larger ones are definitely what should have been built here along the Gulf Coast for temp housing, instead of these ridiculous FEMA trailers outgassing Lord knows what in the way of chemicals. Everyone I know who’s living in one is sick….and the things are made of tissue paper and tin foil. At the $70 grand a crack or so that the govt has shelled out for basically disposable housing, these things would have been a much better option. And permanent. My sister’s trailer allegedly sleeps seven…if they’re pygmies. One bed is 4.5 feet long, and two bunks are rated to hold only 100 pounds each. HUH?? Too bad the govt. didn’t see this before they shelled out untold millions on the trailers!
@N’Awlins Kat
Those are incredible stories you have. I still cannot believe how great the fallout has been from the hurricanes over there. I got a kick out of reading about your “small house” experiences. Right now, my sister lives in a fairly good sized home (around 2,400 square feet) but they’re hosting a visiting family plus long term guests all the time so they’ve been putting up 12 – 14 people in their house since December of last year. Something like that would give a normal sized house the illusion of being quite small! It’s a riot every time I visit them.
@Daniel
Good luck with your move, let us know how it goes!
@Everyone
I’m glad to know how everyone digs the small homes. I especially appreciate the comments from people who’ve lived in larger places before! There’s something to be said about having cozy digs…
SVB–OMG…12-14 people? We did that LAST year! Arrrgh. Never again, please God. My house is 1650 s/f now….and we only added our best friends and their three teenagers for 10 months. And I don’t care HOW much you love someone….the old “three days for fish and guests” is true.
Tell your sis I soooo feel for her. My washer and dryer never stopped running, and for a time, we had five laptop computers and my husband’s desktop all running in the living room and kitchen. My husband was working from home for a while, their three boys were home schooled, and their mom was in college, with all her classes transfered to online, and my daughter’s school was platooning with another Catholic school, so she left at 6am and got off at noon. Our friends usually slept at a relative’s house, but they were here from about 7 am to midnight, every day. I don’t know how people with large families do it; some of our friends had 15 and 20 people in their houses for months. We are very spoiled.
Yes, life here changed a lot two years ago, and I don’t think it’ll ever be back to the way it was, but it’s amazing the adjustments you can make when you have to. We were evacuated for three weeks to Maryland, the ones last to return on our block. When we arrived home, our neighbors were waiting for us to help empty our SUV, my deep freeze and fridge had been cleaned out before they were ruined, and the following night our block had a block party. The electricity was spotty, the debris piles 10 feet high at the curbs, and no streetlights or anything, but we hauled out generators and portable spotlights, gas grills and ice chests and had a whale of a party. And that’s why a lot of us don’t want to leave.
Thinking of N’Awlins Kat and the FEMA trailers
Lowes Katrina Cottages
*sigh*
I wanted a teeny tiny house, but my husband simply would not go for it. He’s frugal in other ways, so it’s not as if this was another point of contention. But it would have been so fabulous to get ourselves an ittybitty house.
I love living in a small space. However, I am claustrophobic and the photo of that man laying and reading in that little area made me cringe. I would love to pay less and buy a small home, but not that small. I find that I can be happy in a much smaller home than what the average American seems to require however it is rare to see really small single family homes and I really would prefer that to an apartment for various reasons. I’d love to learn more about purchasing a small home that isn’t quite as small as the ones above.
The location of these houses look amazing, imagine waking up to that every morning. If i had to choose between a big house or a small one with views like the above i think ill happily go with the view. You can always upgrade again once you have a family.
It doesn’t matter actually to me the size of my house (although I admit I don’t want a very small one). What’s important is the people I will live with in that house. I should be comfortable with them and I am free to just do everything or nothing at all.
I must say that the last picture is the coolest I’ve ever seen. Truthfully they will probably make me feel really cramped but the idea is cool =)
If you want to decorate on a budget, furniture retailers have outlet stores where you can usually find good bargains.
You have got to check out this gorgeous 330 sq ft bungalow.
welovesmall.com