Free Republic

The City of New York is getting behind the tiny-house movement big time. In an effort to create more affordable housing, a few lucky borough homeowners will be granted hundreds of thousands of dollars to construct accessory dwelling units (ADU) on their properties. Last Tuesday, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) announced the launch of its new “Plus One ADU” pilot program, which will fund the creation of additional living space for growing and multi-generational families.

Tiny-house communities are popping up across the country, but one family in Kentucky has created a village of their own. Keli and Ryan Brinks live in a tiny house in Kentucky. Their 18-year-old daughter, Lennox, and their 16-year-old son, Brodey, also live in their own tiny houses next door. Together, their six tiny homes create a unique living situation with the goal of sustainable living. Here's how the Brinks family makes their tiny village work. Since tiny houses produce less waste, require less heating, and can be more environmentally friendly, the family knew it was the right fit. "Initially, my...

For over a decade, architecture students at Rural Studio, Auburn University's design-build program in a tiny town in West Alabama, have worked on a nearly impossible problem. How do you design a home that someone living below the poverty line can afford, but that anyone would want—while also providing a living wage for the local construction team that builds it? In January, after years of building prototypes, the team finished their first pilot project in the real world. Partnering with a commercial developer outside Atlanta, in a tiny community called Serenbe, they built two one-bedroom houses, with materials that cost...

<p>A San Antonio, Texas couple had build a 'tiny house' to commit themselves to 'green living' but the entire home ended up being stolen.</p> <p>Casey Friday says, "It was depressing, devastating, made me angry and shocked all at the same time."</p>

Having trouble qualifying for a home loan? Then consider what this inventive family of three did and buy yourself a Mississippi-style "shotgun shack." Sick of working two jobs apiece to pay the mortgage on their 2,000-square-foot home, Debra and her husband Gary decided to give it all up and start over – by purchasing a 320-square-foot shack for $15,000 cash. The video below, first submitted to the blog faircompanies.com on an open call for videos of tiny homes, shows the couple and their teenage son living mortgage-free in their surprisingly spacious abode. The home includes a walk-in closet, conventional-sized appliances...