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Hey folks, I believe that the McMansions of the late 80's thru the 90's and early 2000's will soon, if not already, be seen as the most dated old trend/fad since Polyester leisure suits and Disco balls.....
Not only are homes trending smaller in all ways, not to mention green, BUT there is a relatively new trend called Micro-Homes......
These are a trip....They are container shipped, and average 100 sq. Ft.........they sell for on average $28,000 US dollars......They remind me of trailer court homes a bit, but definitely have their own personality.
Is this a solution for poor/ strapped retirees? Young couples and singles cut off from the first time home buyer network?
I can easily envision entire "parks" full of these, not unlike trailer courts, but that lean more toward a real home subdivision with parks, shopping, and recreation.....
Here are some of the amenities..
Live" provides a home environment that includes the following essential components for living:
• Kitchen: propane stove, hood fan, electric fridge, sink and faucet
• Bathroom: flush toilet, sink, faucet, hand shower, mirror, exhaust fan
• Hot Water: propane hot water on demand
• Heat: propane forced air
And they are new, unlike so much decayed homes in our cities and older suburbs...small with low/no maintainance.....
These would also appeal to young, green conscious adults who want their own place, but want to leave small carbon footprints(and are strapped for cash as well)....
Anyone have any opinions on this? Yes, they are very small, but this is all many want/need, especially at that price point of 28K....I can see a landowner charging lot rent of perhaps 300$ a month, or situations where land is owned outright and taxed individually...I would imagine the taxes would be far lower than conventional housing as well......
What do YOU think?
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 07-25-2014 at 11:55 AM..
If one is so inclined to, I would imagine the entire small structure could easily run completely on Solar/Power Generators, depending on appliances.....someone leaning towards buying such a thing would surely have a cut-back lifestyle as well, so I definitely can see running this entire structure, at least most of the time, ala Solar....Perhaps the entire complex, or each "block", could share a substation, just like we do with transformers per electrical standard grids....
Just a thought....
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 07-25-2014 at 11:56 AM..
I like the idea and have seen people doing this for years and years. It's a little too small for me but I appreciate the concept. I like a small home but a bit more reasonably sized. There is a balance for each person.
Currently our house is just under 2500ft2 and is definitely more than we need. If we build something at some point it will probably be around 2000ft2.
We could go smaller but there are a few rooms that it doesnt make sense to cut corners on imo. For starters, we utilize a home gym. We don't have to pay for 2 separate gym memberships monthly/yearly and don't have to pay for gas to drive to and from a gym. That is worth the extra 11x11 room in our current house and I would do something similar if we built. (If we built I would throw a PTAC unit in the garage and make an extra deep garage and utilize that). The other room is a guest room. We have family or friends multiple stay with us multiple times a year. because of this we would always want a guest bedroom even if it is small - basically one small guest suite.
I do think too many people buy houses with rooms and space that they never use or utilize 1x per year besides storing stuff the never touch.
Very popular. Great in climates where people can live out of doors. Force people to dispose of their material possessions...aka crap. Unlikely to kill the McMansion business, but a nice/smart alternative to all of this conspicuous consumption which dominates in America.
I have heard of them, but I think they are more of a 'trend' than McMansions. Think about it: McMansions have been around since the dawn of time. It's just that in ancient history it was reserved for the very wealthy. But if lower class people could have afforded it, they would have done it. Versaille. Castles. I'm sure history buffs can go on, and on, but I even recently looked at a very large mansion-like house from the 20s.
On the most recent episode of Tiny House Nation, a couple moved into a 210 sq. ft tiny house.
I know that I would go completely stir crazy even living by myself in a space that small.
I once lived in an apartment that I later measured to find that it was just under 400 sq. feet. It had a separate living room and bedroom, so not a studio, and a large patio on the front. After living there several years, the small space started to get to me.
I also lived in a small studio one time, and being in the same room all the time really got to me, even though that place had a separate kitchen and entry way.
The 210' tiny house was just one large open space (although it had lots of windows). I predict that couple will get sick of it within a couple of years. They said they decided to do it so they can pay off their student loans and afford to travel. The Tiny House cost them $30K.
I feel somewhat cramped living in my 810 sq foot house with a wife and toddler. I do like the house though and have no desire for a McMansion. It's crazy that the average house size in the USA has gone from well under 1000 in the 1950s to around 2500 now. UK average house is 900sq feet. Maybe we are turning a corner?
LOL! I am trying to picture my family (ranging in height from 5'11" through 6'8") in a microhome! Not to mention hosting study groups, holiday gatherings and the like...
Kitten Sparkles - Awesome news that there is a TV show orientated towards this. Thanks for the link..watched a few clips.
Seems like some use these as Vacation homes and cabin retreats, which are even more ideal. Per full-time usage, I suppose it depends on your lifestyle. I don't think they HAVE to be 100-200sf. necessarily....I can see some 500-800sf for small families which, with creative layouts, can be quite fine(and affordable for so many struggling to buy a home)....over 800st, I think you get out of the concept of a micro-home, as that is about the size of the starter homes of the 1950's....One thing of no doubt....the trend of getting smaller is a avalanche now that will only get more pronounced and spread everywhere...
Jamiecta - I don't think these are for everyone at all....your home gym is important to you...not only do you save money, but it is far easier to use and you are more inclined to use it(at anytime, I might add, so it is essentially a 24 hour gym..)....interesting to multi-use the garage space....rarely do you hear that mentioned....and with the size of garages, a shame to just use that for cars...I grew up in a relatively poor ethnic suburb of Chicago where many used their attached ranch home garages to watch TV, mostly baseball, in the summer...of course, they were used for parties as well per makeshift tables and such(and still are)....I think working people by necessity were green for decades without knowing it.
Guest bedrooms are important if you are social, but a futon in a heated/air conditioned garage would prob work as well. Per not using rooms, my God, McMansions would be the poster child for that. I laugh when I pass them. Again, they are more dated than Disco Balls now..
Ted Bear - Correct per climate/environment...I do not see this in Wisconsin/Minnesota/Dakotas et. al, except for vacation homes, per the cold......though there must be some way to make a cold proof version of sorts.....agreed, though, that this is tailor, or should I say trailer made for warm states like Texas and Florida(I think the desert states might be a little too hot, though boy do they have the sun for solar, don't they?.....Agreed totally that most "stuff" in any size home is mostly redundant, call it portable crap.....what do we really need? If Mexicans can live down there quite fine on less than 10K a year, including housing, we can certainly survive quite happily up the happiness curve for sure!
Isaac Asimov Quote
"Maybe happiness is this:
not feeling like
you should be elsewhere,
doing something else,
being someone else.
~Isaac Asimov
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 07-25-2014 at 12:59 PM..
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