Posted on 07/18/2009 7:35:04 PM PDT by Dysart
They had the land and the plan ready for a 3,000-square-foot retirement home.
But sticker shock and a sour economy spurred Lee and Donna McCollough to downsize their dream into a 336-square-foot "country cabin."
"It was mostly an economic move. But it’s serving our lifestyle very well," said Lee McCollough of their home near Schulenburg in South Texas.
Built from vintage salvage materials by Tiny Texas Houses of Luling, McCollough said the "turnkey package" cost $70,000. "It’s great," said the 62-year-old retired electrical technician. "People are impressed with the construction and coziness of it. It’s built like an Igloo ice chest."
Tiny home proponents call it "super downsizing," but that’s just the extreme edge of a growing movement away from suburban castles and into "right-sized" homes that require less energy, upkeep and money, experts say.
"The era of the 'McMansion’ could well be over as home sizes have been trending downward recently, with a significantly higher number of architects reporting demand for smaller homes this year," Kermit Baker, chief economist for the American Institute of Architects, said in a news release.
In a June survey by the National Association of Home Builders, 59 percent of respondents said they are building smaller homes, said Stephen Melman, the group’s director of economic services.
As the economy sank in 2008, new homes started shrinking, Melman said. Census data showed the average new home declined from 2,600 square feet in the second quarter of 2008 to 2,373 square feet in the third quarter, he said.
"This isn’t the worst thing in the world," Melman said. "People are buying the home they need. . . . Energy costs are up and people are interested in cutting costs."
Tiny Texas Houses
Brad Kittel of Tiny Texas Houses is addressing those needs.
(Excerpt) Read more at star-telegram.com ...
Brad Kittel’s Tiny Texas Houses are built in Luling and trucked to home sites. Kittel, who started the company to use materials from his salvage business, has built about 30 of the small dwellings, and six more are in the works. They range in price from $38,000 to $90,000.
Tiny Texas Houses have variations in size and styles of doors, windows, roofs and trims. The houses are made with recycled or vintage building materials. They drew initial interest as artists studios and weekend retreats, but people are now considering them as full-time dwellings.
Obamaville?
I have one of these in my backyard. I call it “the shed.”
Donna McCollough works in her kitchen. She and her husband, Lee, live in a 336-square-foot cabin built by Tiny Texas Houses of Luling. The loft over the kitchen has twin beds for visitors.
Okay. Anybody?
Doesn’t this go along with using paper bags and flourescent lights and electric cars as a morally superior sort of path? And eating wild salmon?
Or perhaps I am just jaded.
That’s not a cabin, it’s a guard house.
Now YOU TOO can have the “New York Apartment Experience” in the rest of America!
sw
ping
Oh, thank you. I belly-laughed at your comment. It’s perfect.
Yeah, well, my dog calls it his side room...he takes the ladies there, courts ‘em and such.
I”m planning on downsizing...from 2700 sq ft to this:
http://details.coolhouseplans.com/details.html?pid=chp-16946&FoundID=89&sid=chp2
But 300-400 sq ft? No thanks. Not with the wife, daughter, and 3 dogs...
I’d live in one and happily.
Of course, it’s just me and the dogs. As long as there’s a nice yard for the boys and a garden plot, we’d get along fine.
Have to replace that ladder with a spiral staircase though, I don’t see the boys learning to climb ladder rungs to get to bed.
Not for everyone, but the minimalist thing does have appeal.
My garage is 800 sq ft with a 600 sq foot second story office. This house would look really stupid next to that.
Even the apartment I had in college was bigger than these idiotic shed houses.
My brothers RV is bigger.
;o)
Oh don't fret, ACORN has a new quick responder team for just this emerging mkt. They'll make sure everything is up to snuff or they seize the house until it's sufficiently brought into compliance.
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