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Sorry for the long post here, but this topic really interests me on several levels. And I'm sorry if this has been discussed before.
I’m naturally a rather minimalist sort of person. I don’t understand the need or advantage or desire for much of the ‘stuff’ our society tends to accumulate these days (although I admit I have my own weaknesses in this regard for certain things; luckily not bad though).
As I’ve grown older, I’ve become more and more disenchanted with the ‘American Dream’ as it manifests itself most often these days. I’ve never really been interested in owning my own home. I’ve often wondered why that is. I think I’ve finally figured it out. I was surfing the net the other day and happened upon a website for a company called Tumbleweed Houses. I was immediately attracted to everything about this site and the owner’s philosophy about housing. I believe the reason I have become so lackluster with regards to owning my own home over the years is that most homes being built now are absolutely asinine (in my opinion), especially in light of the conservation movement that most of us seem to support so much on other issues.
Tumbleweed Houses specializes in designing small homes. They range from less than 100 sq ft to over 700 sq ft. After searching through this website, I thought to myself how much I would love one of these 300 or so sq ft homes on a few acres of land. That would be perfect for me. As I thought more about it, I reflected back to my childhood, a time when typical houses were so much smaller (but just starting to get ‘overweight’). I recall my aunt and uncle and three cousins (their kids) living in a house that I would say must have been maybe 600 to 700 sq ft. They did just fine in that house, and I used to love visiting because it was so homey and inviting. At that time, small houses weren’t out of the ordinary at all. Many tract homes from the 30’s, 40’s and early 50’s were around that size. Somewhere along the line, houses started expanding, zoning committees convinced us that we should keep expanding in home size, and the houses are now averaging, what? 2500 square ft or larger? Why? Why do we need that much space or want it? Nowadays, if you truly want a small home, you have to go to the slums (what used to be just normal folks in normal sized homes). That’s a reason I haven’t wanted a home--I don’t want to live in a slum, yet I don’t want an inefficient barn for a home.
Everyone is gaga over the ‘green’ movement, yet those barn-sized homes, no matter how well built, are NOT green. They are absolutely inefficient for today’s small family size. They take up more space, use more building material, use more electricity, use more gas, etc. They also waste more of people’s time and money--yardwork, cleaning, maintenance, etc. Most folks with huge houses never even use most of the house most of the time. A small home (say 1000 sq ft or less) would be far, far more efficient and ‘green’ than what we are forced into buying these days. Think of the savings on urban sprawl, power consumption, building materials, inflated house payments, time, etc, if homes were typically that smaller size and built efficiently. It worked just fine for our grandparents (in fact better). Why can’t it work for us?
Yet, the zoning laws make it hard for small homes. In my area, it’s illegal to build less than a certain size (which in my opinion is WAY too damned big). This seems really stupid to me in this day and age when we really should start thinking more logically and be a bit more conscious of spending foolishly and wasting resources for building, powering, and heating a home that is largely unused.
How do you all feel about smaller, more energy and space efficient homes? I’ll tell you, there are a couple of designs on that website that I would LOVE to live in. The ones I’m looking at are not the teeny, tiny houses... these are just small, at about 270 – 400 sq ft. That would be perfect for me. Just that one website has gotten me interested in owning my own place. I didn’t realize that there were such like-minded people out there now. I think this guy is a genius (a bit eccentric, but still a genius). I don’t see why two or three people wouldn’t be fine in such a home. It used to work in a time of abundance, so why can’t it now in this time of less?
Are any of you into this sort of thing??? Man, I think I will make a tee shirt of this company and just be a walking billboard. I’m that excited about it!
I persoanlly thnk what a person needs and what they can afford is bascailly very personal. Really tho don't get a thrilled from buying things like a kid. For example my wife spent three months getting me to go out and buy a new car for myself. She basically had to find me bored on a day and then suggest we just go look ;she told me later.I rarely buy on impulse at all except when I wanted something and found a real bargain on it.
The whole mentality of America, on the whole, is becoming more and more excessive and overweight. Houses, cars, TVs, food portions, etc. I find it quite embarrassing (and sad) that America is linked to such huge, extravagant "luxuries". It is so wasteful on so many levels. It's just not needed. I actually feel bad for people who drive those enormous SUVs... I'm sort of embarrassed for them.
I think many modern houses are too big, and am always amazed when I hear people saying that they "need" thousands of square feet and many bedrooms and bathrooms for just a small number of people. I wouldn't be willing to go too small, but certainly 1,000 square feet for our three-person family is sufficient.
I saw one of those home shopping shows on HGTV the other day where the couple was portrayed as being extremely "green" and wanted their home to be "eco-friendly." While I realize editing comes into play here, too, I was disappointed that the bulk of their environmentalism, or at least as depicted on the show, was by their choice to do drastic cosmetic remodels using environmentally-friendly materials (I think they did, to their credit, put in solar panels, too.) Nothing was said about their choice of a large house for two people, no discussion about location and whether or not it was car-dependent (it was the suburbs of Dayton, Ohio), or whether or not their remodeling decisions really were environmentally-friendly, or whether it was just window dressing and the trendy thing to do.
As far as zoning laws go, some places are far more friendly to smaller houses than other places. The other big issue that needs to get far more press is the introduction of so-called "granny flats;" (or alley flats) these are the houses/apartments, often above garages, that can go in the backyard. Some places welcome these (they provide housing options, boost density without changing exterior physical character of the neighborhood, add eyes to the alley in those places with alleys, etc.) but many places don't. These tiny houses are in a similar vein, and could easily fit on many existing lots
I have a house that is a little under 1,500 square feet, and I don't need, or want anything bigger. I could even live in something a little smaller, and it would be fine. Although, since my house is paid for, and with the housing market as sluggish as it is, I'm not likely to go out shopping for a smaller house any time soon.
As to the SUV's... well, I have a Durango, and a full-size pickup, and I feel just fine about them. Like the house, they are paid for, and I see no reason to buy anything else. I don't like small cars. I like my larger vehicles, because I can utilize them better than I ever could a car, (there is no way that I am going on a long trip, pick up feed, or hay bales, go out to the woods, fishing, or haul something large from the hardware store, with a small car).
While I applaud anyone who wants, and can utilize, a smaller vehicle, or a tiny little house, (they are kind of cute), not everyone will want things smaller. It's not always a case of mere useless extravagance to own a home larger than 1,000 feet, or to own a larger vehicle, no more than it is wrong for one person to enjoy a steak, and another to be a vegetarian. It's all a matter of choice, although I do think that balance is always important, inasmuch as one can.
I think it's all a matter of choice, even though my own opinion is that many newer house are enormous.
I think it's largely that people have it ingrained in their heads they must be doing better then the generation before them, and the best way to show you are doing better is to have bigger and more expensive stuff. Even better if you can do it faster, many do so by taking even more liberties with credit. However at some point there is a limit you can really do anything with.
I know my own family my grandparents were poor hog farmers, and their kids each went out to do more. Now their kids (I am in that pile, and I'm the second youngest) have been showing off how much more they can buy then their parents. I can see the older ones buying monster cars and big houses for their gaggles of kids (many have at least 4, save for myself and my younger cousin). Most reunions have one set that's indifferent to consumption and those who come together to show off everything they bought (and a few that come to beg off people) and you can see those who bought houses with rooms for wine cellars, billiards rooms, home cinemas. Of course a few minutes later many complain how they are barely making ends meet to pay for it all.
My wife's son-in-law is just finishing converting his old inner-city garage into a 600-sq.ft two story house. He's a professional buider from Germany, is doing all the labor himself to German standards, and the cost of materials came out to $22,000, generally all new materials rather than salvaged.
It took me and my boyfriend quite a bit of time to find our current house. We rent, and it seems that the only houses available were giant 3 or 4 bedroom monstrosities on teeny tiny lots... We wanted a small house for a small price and it was near impossible to find. Our friends wondered why we didn't want a big house, but it was just me, my boyfriend and our two dogs... no need for a giant house.
We finally found one and it's perfect Our kitchen and living room together (no dining room or family room or excessive extra show rooms) is the size of most of the master suites we saw while touring other rentals. We have one tiny bathroom (who hangs out in the bathroom anyway?) and 3 small bedrooms which is perfect for us.
I just don't get the mentality of bigger is better. It's just more square footage to clean and more room to put crap you don't really need.
From what I have heard there is a bill around that plans on creating an extra tax if your home is over 2.500 sq ft.
It will also make it impossible to sell your home unless it meets certain standards for windows, heating and insulation.
We have the same thing happening in the UK, but generally our houses are much smaller, in fact,when a house is advertised for sale the ads don't even tell you the sq footage.
Regarding vehicles that are gas guzzlers-I think it is just that in the US the cost of gas has just been so much lower there hasn't been any real financial incentives for the car manufacturers to do research into more efficient engines, or for people to care that there aren't many options.
I don't even think that the big engines are about performance as many people wouldn't have a clue how much acceleration their car had (or often what size engine) We are obsessed about mpg over here and diesel cars are very popular and available in nearly all makes and models.
I don't understand why people don't harness solar power more-you have so much sun!
My wife's son-in-law is just finishing converting his old inner-city garage into a 600-sq.ft two story house. He's a professional buider from Germany, is doing all the labor himself to German standards, and the cost of materials came out to $22,000, generally all new materials rather than salvaged.
Ooh, I really like that pic. Very nice!
Quote:
Originally Posted by JetJockey
It took me and my boyfriend quite a bit of time to find our current house. We rent, and it seems that the only houses available were giant 3 or 4 bedroom monstrosities on teeny tiny lots... We wanted a small house for a small price and it was near impossible to find. Our friends wondered why we didn't want a big house, but it was just me, my boyfriend and our two dogs... no need for a giant house.
We finally found one and it's perfect Our kitchen and living room together (no dining room or family room or excessive extra show rooms) is the size of most of the master suites we saw while touring other rentals. We have one tiny bathroom (who hangs out in the bathroom anyway?) and 3 small bedrooms which is perfect for us.
I just don't get the mentality of bigger is better. It's just more square footage to clean and more room to put crap you don't really need.
All my thoughts exactly. More to clean and more storage space for junk...
Quote:
Originally Posted by susan42
From what I have heard there is a bill around that plans on creating an extra tax if your home is over 2.500 sq ft.
It will also make it impossible to sell your home unless it meets certain standards for windows, heating and insulation.
We have the same thing happening in the UK, but generally our houses are much smaller, in fact,when a house is advertised for sale the ads don't even tell you the sq footage.
Regarding vehicles that are gas guzzlers-I think it is just that in the US the cost of gas has just been so much lower there hasn't been any real financial incentives for the car manufacturers to do research into more efficient engines, or for people to care that there aren't many options.
I don't even think that the big engines are about performance as many people wouldn't have a clue how much acceleration their car had (or often what size engine) We are obsessed about mpg over here and diesel cars are very popular and available in nearly all makes and models.
I don't understand why people don't harness solar power more-you have so much sun!
Long ago I was a horsepower freak... now, I too am obsessed with mpg and more efficient everything!
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tax on larger homes
