Home configurations: let’s get SMALL, Part 2
[Continued from yesterday’s Part 1.]
Affordable housing blogging is not pretty
Yesterday we saw there’s a micro-trend to create micro-homes, as small as a single room, which is the most fundamental unit of housing.
And, uh, a cop pulls me over. And he makes me get out, he looks at me and he says, “Heyyy … are you small”?
I said, “No-o-o! I’m not! I’m tall, I’m tall!”
Small housing is cheap, and the same Law of Economic Gravity that drives rural self-builds to be single rooms also drives economically rational slums down to the most minimal structure:
A house made from barrels hammered flat
Prefabricated and pre-built models can require little or no site preparation.
Neither do self-builds, nor slums.
Hardly the slapped-together hunting camp that belonged to your uncle, these buildings even offer instant curb appeal. They are often equipped with airplane-size bathrooms and tiny kitchenettes.
Once we add plumbing to a home, the price takes a quantum step upward. Plumbing adds costs.
Since the Romans first installed in-floor piping, it’s been costly
Styles include romantic, rustic and designer modern. Jeanette Andersen, an agent at Sotheby’s International Realty/Santa Monica, said that in theory this could contribute to an increase in sales of undeveloped land. “When the design is appealing,” she said, “buyers are more willing to buy one and spend the money they saved on land.”
Taken to its extreme (as in Isaac Asimov’s disturbing novel The Naked Sun), we have the ultimate in sprawl.
This is the case for two retirees, Gail Conti and her husband, Tom, of Rockledge, Fla. Attracted to a charming porch, pastel hues and compact size, they hope to buy a 308-square-foot Katrina Cottage, originally designed for hurricane relief by Cusato Cottages, when Lowe’s stores begin selling them this year. “To me, they’re reminiscent of the bungalows I used to see in the 1940s,” Ms. Conti said.
With a 3,000-square-foot primary residence on the
Several of my friends have had similar dreams. Wait until the Conti’s find out what land costs — by the time they’re done paying for well-located ground, they will realize the only way to recoup that investment is to build a home commensurate with the demographic demand.
“It would allow us to visit for stretches of time without intruding and without incurring great cost,” Ms. Conti said.
Why not an extended-stay hotel? Compared with renting the space only when needed, buying land to build a minimal structure is almost certainly bad economics.
In general, count on spending anywhere from $35 a square foot for a very basic structure to more than $200 a square foot for designer models built with specialized or luxury materials.
This is about what larger houses cost per square foot.
Manufacturers’ prices do not always include delivery fees, and there can be other costs, including site preparation, foundation work and installation of electric, water and sewer services.
Now the price is rising:
House + Site Infrastructure + Land
It keeps adding up
It’s looking less and less cheap.
“You have to go into this with open eyes,” said Jay Shafer, owner of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. “Zoning laws, land covenants, building permits, restrictions and codes vary within states and across the country, and these impact what has to be done at the site, and how.”
Where is it economic? In really isolated places, where land is cheap and site infrastructure requirements are minimal.
For $90,000 in 2004, Scott McGlasson, 40, owner of Woodsport, a custom furniture design studio in
It’s the size of a modern one-bedroom apartment. Why wouldn’t it be comfortable and attractive?
“But people confuse prefab with inexpensive,” Mr. McGlasson said. “On a middle-class budget, this was doable, but not easy.” They bought the land — a small lot on
Including carrying charges, the total cost is likely $180,000, or over $250 a square foot.
To make the most efficient use of the space, Mr. McGlasson designed and built much of the furniture, some with birch from the surrounding forest. He also added a free-standing sauna and a deck for outdoor living.
Presumably not counted in the foregoing costs.
“But when friends come, we’re pretty packed in,” he said. The trade-off is that when the time comes to leave, they just sweep it out and go. “We’re here to swim, fish, hike and cook,” Mr. McGlasson said. “If we wanted all the conveniences of home, we’d be there.”
The problem with very small spaces is that they are, well, confining:
He said, “Well, I’m gonna have to measure you.”
They have this little test they give you - they give you a balloon … and if you can get inside of it, they know —
You’re small.
My God, I’ve got … happy feet!
Back to Mr. Adams:
From a set of design options, Mr. Adams selected operable windows on four sides and sliding glass doors. “You won’t find any quilts or knickknacks here,” Mr. Adams said. There’s no kitchen or bathroom, either. He plans to put in a well, he says, then order a second cabana to use as a bath house. Cooking will continue to be outdoors.
Incremental housing, as it is known, starts with that embryo house, the single room, and then adds to it as the homeowner is able to afford the time and materials.
Self-built rural house,
In the end, universal constants reflect universal principles; things persist only if they work. Physicists call this the anthropic principle:
Some physicists have explored the notion that if the (dimensionless) fundamental physical constants had sufficiently different values, our universe would be so radically different that intelligent life would probably not have emerged, and that our universe therefore seems to be fine-tuned for intelligent life. The weak anthropic principle simply states that it is only because these fundamental constants acquired their respective values that there was sufficient order and richness in elemental diversity for life to have formed, which subsequently evolved the necessary intelligence toward observing that these constants have taken on the values they have.
One such universal constant is the embryo house: 120 square feet or more.
