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Originally Posted by chiroptera
Looks like a trailer/mobile home...and that price doesn't include the land, just the home. Companies like Tumbleweed Homes have been offering similarly-priced stick-built homes for a while:
Tumbleweed Tiny House Company |
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Originally Posted by NYChistorygal
I want the Enesti!!!!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wanneroo
Who wants to live in 300 square feet? Buildings like that in the USA would end up as crack houses in 5 years.
America is a large country with only 2% of it's land mass classified as "urban". We've got tons of space, so why not use it. Everyone here in rural PA has houses on 2-5 acres and there is still tons of empty land and forest, in fact almost all of it empty farmland and forest.
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So a small, efficient home cannot be built rurally? Rural homes are, by definition, as big as an aircraft hangar?
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Originally Posted by freemkt
<waving arms frantically> I do, I do! (line stolen from a gum commercial)
I am SO TIRED of renting rooms in noisy houses occupied by partiers, thieves, homebodies with no job and no life outside the home (since they never go out, all their friends come over to party down!)
300 square feet of my own space would beat the heck out of what I have now...a 150 sq ft room in a small crowded house where EVERY ROOM is right next to/above/below the NOISY LIVING ROOM.
I don't have a car or a license, and need to live close to public transportation, so 98 percent of the land mass is of no dwelling use to me.
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I do too. Right now I live in about 350 sq ft. That's more than enough for me. But it's mot a permanent situation.
Problem is, there is a huge "official" bias against smaller traditional homes, and there isn't as much profit for designers/builders building small homes. This is changing slowly. Lawsuits are starting to change zoning restrictions against reasonable homes and a few architects/builders are starting to see the light--there is a market for reasonable homes. Tumbleweed Houses was mentioned earlier on the thread. Here is an architect that designs some small homes and plans "pocket neighborhoods":
Ross Chapin Architects Check out some of his cottages, like the "Backyard Cottage." There are a few more as well, who are rebelling against the unavailability of anything except huge barn-sized homes.
The best place to find a small/tiny home right now is probably looking at older homes. 400 to 600 square feet was, at one time, not out of the ordinary at all. If you can find one in good shape and in a decent area, you'll find that most of them were built better than homes are nowadays.
I've been planning a move for a long time to bare land that I bought in North Dakota and building a small home (my house plan is around 280 sq ft). However, I recently found a small home around my area that is about 390 sq ft (there is an addition that makes it about 700 sq ft, but that could easily be torn down, taking it back to the original configuration). It needs a bit or work, but could be a very cute little cottage. It is in a decent area and is on a quarter acre of land. Grocery store is within a couple of blocks. Gas on the next corner. My main job is within about a mile and a half. I can get it for around 60K, thanks to the "real estate bust." A few years ago you couldn't touch even bare land in that area for twice that. It's oh-so-tempting. I keep reminding myself that I'd rather live in North Dakota. But I must admit, I do really like this little home.
It's too bad we've turned to a "super-size" society. Those little homes have so much character and they bring back fond memories of my childhood when many homes were still built small. The "size boom" came mainly about the time when I was a teen. So I still have clear memories of those cute little homes they used to build. Many of my extended family lived in them.
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