There is at least one if not more shows about tiny houses on TV. And these houses are tiny, some only 200 or so square feet. I am more interested in the people that want them than the houses themselves. Saving money-maybe but most of these tiny houses have pretty nice interiors. Most of the hunters are women and my theory is this is the playhouse they never got as a kid. Much like the sports car is bucking bronco boys wanted.
What do you think? Does a tiny house appeal to you? Do you understand what the charm is?
15 comments:
No, no, a thousand times no. I have far too many "things" to ever be able to cram all my stuff into a space that small. I also notice that most of the houses are built on a fairly large piece of land-- undoubtedly so that when the homeowner comes to their senses and realizes that no one would voluntarily live in a house the size of a cruise ship's cabin , there will be space to build a regular-sized home.
What Deb said. We've always been lucky enough to live in places with plenty of space, even though it is an apartment rather than a house. I'd just feel way too crowded in a place like that, and where would I put the books? There are very tiny studio apartments in Manhattan and I don't get how people live in them either.
Jeff M.
Deb-you always find the pertinent issue. I can barely live in 2000 square feet but we do it in California. Of course, we don't take our books and junk with us.
I think I might get a bit claustrophobic, to be honest. But the cleaning burden would be so much lighter!
I grew up in a large New England farmhouse so I love a large home.
I'm not a fan of tiny houses, but I don't mind small houses. Our house in Southern Maryland was only 864 square feet and the house we hope to buy in Florida is just over 900 square feet. A small house is easy to maintain. A tiny house would not suit my 6' 4" multipound frame.
Kitty, however, is enamored with tiny houses. As a teenager she would spend a week or so each summer on her girlfriend's family boat. And as a child she was impressed when Peter Pan's Lost Boys prepared a house for Wendy; in her imagination a Wendy House would provide the perfect getaway from some of the more difficult parts of her childhood.
So we compromise. As long as she comes with the house, I'm happy; and as long as I come with the house, she's happy
My childhood home had to be under 800 feet. Only my brother got screwed with a bedroom no bigger than a close.
Where would I put all my books???? I need at least 2000 square feet...and a big basement!
We watch the tiny house show on HGTV sometimes, and I think it's very interesting. Most of the people seem to be couples, but there are some singles. What's interesting is that many want the small footprint but the features and luxuries of a regular house - bathtub, nice closet. But that's not the way it works. There are a lot of tiny houses here, it's been popular for years.
The savings are big with mortgage and utilities as well as property taxes. A tiny house can be as big as 600 square feet, and that's enough for storage, bookshelves (but not enough for most of us!), complete kitchen, etc. Sited on a nice slice of land not too far from the usual needs such as grocery store and such, they can make a fine place for short term living, such as a replacement for a cabin by the lake or whatever, and they are portable. Hook up and go when it's needed. So, yes, there is a lot of appeal.
Me, personally? No, I'm too big and have too much stuff for that amount of space, which is why we moved fro 990 sq. ft. to 3,000. Just when most couples are downsizing.
In Britain there are people who live on narrowboats: boats which fit on canals. They are seven feet wide (the size of a canal lock) and anythng up to seventy feet long, though most residential boats are smaller. I lived on a thirty foot boat, of which about twenty five feet of the length was indoors - about 175 square feet- easily - if minimally - enough for a couple of years. It was a very good way to save money for a mortgage deposit. Apart from being inexpensive, I didn't spend much on books and nothing on records. Once I was on land I made up for lost time...Nowadays, though, with computers, ebooks, emusic etc it would be easy to live on a narrowboat and not have to sacrifice much at all, but I've got a taste for paper books etc..
Roger-We lived in Worsley England for a year and saw those canal boats every day. They always seemed magical!
For some reason, I've gotten hooked on watching all those tiny house shows as well as other real estate shows on HGTV recently too. I actually live in a pretty tiny home, and I am not the best advertisement for it as a way of life, but I do admire people who can pare it all down. The books as everyone here has noted are a problem. Plus the clutter.
As a woman who writes for a website I also write for noted about the channel, it's just the same formula over and over and over. Everyone always has three choices. That doesn't really seem like how the real world works. But it is fascinating to watch people make these decisions. Sometimes I find myself saying "Choose that one!" Like last night when this guy had the choice of getting a small farmhouse on an enormous piece of land for 45,000 dollars. But he didn't, and he may even have been right for where he was at that point in his life.
I do wonder why every single house in America now has to be open concept and use subway tiles wherever tiles are used. Watching these shows makes you realize the passing trendiness of things, as people are constantly turning their noses up at some style was all the rage in the 70s, or sometimes even in the 90s.
Don't you just know in a very few years, people will be saying, "Put up some walls. I need privacy and I am sick of granite and stainless steel." Although I just installed it myself.
Exactly. But we're creatures of our times.
I would have to abandon all my hobbies and most of my possessions to live in one of those glorified pup tents. No, thanks.
I secretly want to live alone in a tiny house during those stretches when I'm not living alone in a truck with a canopy. And I'm not even kidding. I'm willing to give up everything but my wife to fulfill this dream.
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