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I've seen this trend on youtube and am pretty intrigued by it. But I wonder how many people move into a micro house and decide it's not for them a few years down the road, especially if they decide to increase the size of their family. We also lived in a studio apartment to save up for a house and pay down debt after school. And that's difficult to sustain after a while, even with our limited possessions.
Catlovr8.....there is nothing BAD about large homes per se....and sure, they have been around a long time....mansions are mansions, but the Mc I think describes mansions of sorts for the middle class, as opposed to the "rich"....We had a wealthy section of town in my suburb called "The Lake", with large homes build in the 70's, and they were nothing at all as large as the 90's-2000's McMansions......small bedrooms perhaps 16X12 for the master, where kids bedrooms in Mc's are that big, and the masters in Mc's are not rarely 25x18 ish with a sunken bathtub, the bathroom itself being the size of a smaller bedroom in the 70's large homes......
Now even reasonably well off folks are considering not necessarily their carbon footprint(though sometimes that too), but just the cost of heating and cooling, as even they are getting financially strapped/pinched.....and they follow trends as well, which are definitely leading towards small(though I pray they don't combine a show with tiny PEOPLE and homes, with the whole midget reality show thing..lol)
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 07-25-2014 at 01:00 PM..
It is when you go nuts from living on an island too long, say in the Florida Keys.....
I think living in one of these Tiny Homes might not be too unlike that....BUT, I think it depends on the layout and outdoor space/access....if you have a huge outdoor space and patio, it becomes a different thing.....If you have your totally own space on your own grid in "nature", even more......AND, if you are cheek to jowl butt against someone else, no way. I don't think that would work at all......
Depends all on the space and layout, I think, Kitten....
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 07-25-2014 at 01:01 PM..
Mr. Geek, good deal you are happy with your 810sf though a bit cramped.....who says space "makes" you happy anyway? Does anything at all "make" us happy?.....within reason, we can adapt and love to live with anything...The outdoor access is key. If you have a large space to stretch and play, private OR communal, that is all that matters, isn't it?
And yes, it is totally insane our american fetish with indoor "space"......Bigger is def not necessarily better.....the earth itself is our home and "outside", is it not?.....
Per people getting tired of the homes, I have a good example of why that prob wont happen(being a new thing, only time will tell though)....Trailer court homes......after a spell, they are sold, and a new person/family takes over...some go that way for 30 years, and never leave the slab/skirt......
However, I think small homes are built a little, not a ton, but a little more to last, and can be added onto, like the Levittown homes were that were built in the 50's over time...
I see the american middle/working class struggling for many years to come, sadly, so I think these microhomes will be around for many years and be a huge. huge trend, especially for people that would not be caught dead in conventional trailers..
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 07-25-2014 at 01:17 PM..
I see the american middle/working class struggling for many years to come, sadly, so I think these microhomes will be around for many years and be a huge. huge trend, especially for people that would not be caught dead in conventional trailers..
See, I don't see a whole lot of difference between someone wanting a McMansion for the sake of appearances, and someone spending $150-300+/sf for a tiny house because they wouldn't be caught dead in a trailer or mobile home, especially if they start touting nonsense about their carbon footprint, because someone truly concerned about such things is going to utilize something that already exists, and be perfectly ok with a trailer over constructing and outfitting a new home.
I hope those that buy them are happy with their choice, but for me I can tell I would feel like I was living
in a doll house...cute, but I wouldn't want to have to live in it....Our house is probably too big for some people,
1640 sq ft ranch, on an unfinished 1240 sq ft basement, but I don't consider it big compared to many homes
in this area.
See, I don't see a whole lot of difference between someone wanting a McMansion for the sake of appearances, and someone spending $150-300+/sf for a tiny house because they wouldn't be caught dead in a trailer or mobile home, especially if they start touting nonsense about their carbon footprint, because someone truly concerned about such things is going to utilize something that already exists, and be perfectly ok with a trailer over constructing and outfitting a new home.
This was my thought exactly. I live in a 247 square foot micro apartment/studio. I can't imagine where the other 30 square feet would come from for the one mentioned around 210 sq ft. Perhaps my bathtub. I do have a bathtub.
I can exist in this space. The problem is having company. I have a daughter and best friend who would come spend the night if I had a separate bedroom they could sleep in, or even if I slept in the bedroom and they got the couch. But in here, it would involve moving the kitchen table/island against the stove and putting a mattress on the floor. We could each get to the bathroom, so it could work, but this is what we're talking about.
As far as paying for one of these tiny homes - hello, they're a wooden trailer. And crazy expensive. Definitely cuter than a trailer, and probably better insulated than a travel trailer. But, for close to the same amount of money, you cold get a singlewide that is probably comparable as far as insulation.
They just don't seem worth the money to me. Might be a cute guesthouse :-)
I live in a "micro" home that is about 810 square feet. I have always been attracted to European style, so when my house was on the market, I grabbed it. In this economy, it's all about finding economically ways to live. I work when I want, and have the freedom to travel. If I bought into the concept of bigger is better I would be house poor.....or worse, going through a foreclosure!
My mortgage is less than others' car payments!!!
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