Live large in a small house
Favorites, House, Simple Living March 27th, 2007I will be moving soon. Into a smaller house. You should see the expressions some people get on their face when I say this out loud. Some think I am crazy, others assume that they have misheard me and re-edit my statement in their own mind so that it conforms to their own world-view. These same people will no doubt lecture me about the trend towards smaller homes when it finally becomes commonplace in a couple of years.
Small is the new big. From predictions that Baby Boomers won’t be able to keep up with the upkeep on their McMansions as they age to rumors that Tiger Woods is tearing down his Jupiter Island castle and rebuilding smaller, average home square footage may be actually decreasing soon. Oprah Winfry has declared that “this is the year to declutter your life,” and with all those empty closets, people may soon realize that they do not need all those closets after all.
Small is trendy. There are so many new books out there about small homes, a reader barely knows where to start. Try Sarah Susanka’s The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live
Why is everyone ditching their large homes for small ones? It almost seems counter-intuitive. If you’ll excuse the cliché, being big didn’t save the dinosaur. And speaking of dinosaurs, fossil fuels may be the greatest reason that the demand for smaller homes may have increased so much recently. Smaller homes cost less energy to run. But not just electrical energy: since they are so much easier to clean, people spend less time and energy cleaning their homes, and more time enjoying them. According to Fine Homebuilding’s website: “What goes up must come down, and even as the average size of American homes continues to soar, there’s interest in smartly designed and built homes that do more with less. Be it rising costs, energy-consumption restrictions, environmental laws, or matters of taste, homeowners are rethinking their space needs.”
Arrol Gellner, writing in the L A Times, compares today’s large homes with those of the Victorian era, and concludes that the modern mansions will soon be traded in for modern bungalows, as history tends to repeat itself. But what will become of our “White Elephants”? Sean Groom and Charles Miller, writing in Fine Homebuilding, describe the McMansion as the tear-down of tomorrow. (Sean Groom and Charles Miller, Fine Homebuilding #179, “The 25 Most Important Houses in America,” pp. 58-68.) Whatever happens, don’t wait for your neighbors to move out and leave their towering mansions behind: be a trend-setter and enjoy everything that a new house has to offer today.
The only problem right now is finding a well-built home with all the extras in a smaller house. “Luxury” and “small” don’t seem to go together in builder’s vocabularies just yet. But just wait and see.
(Also see Simplify Your Home.)
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:03 pm
[...] frugal home At I Can’t Remember, Vicki has a thoughtful piece on living large in a small home. “The only problem right now is finding a well-built home with all the extras in a smaller [...]
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:14 am
This might explain why I’ve been getting so many hits on my “small houses” blog post from a few years ago!
I think it’s easier to find a well-built small home than a well-built large home. Most small homes tend to be older, which means dimensional lumber, copper pipes, and construction that’s stood the test of time. New houses are often built on slabs by contractors who cut corners to save money.
If you buy a smaller, older house then you can take the money you save to add the “extras” to it. We just bought a house that was a good deal less than we could’ve afforded and we’re going to fix it up the way we like.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:23 am
[...] Can’t Remember has a great article about living large in a small house. I wish more people thought like this. The average house size in America keeps climbing while [...]
May 24th, 2007 at 11:23 am
The other thing in choosing a small home is that everything you own becomes purposeful. You begin to not buy knowing there might not be room for the “more” you are thinking of putting in the shopping cart.
AND- since we are older parents- we are dedicated to making sure our kids do the same. We don’t want to go thru the expense of upsizing with the kids only to downsize when the nest empties. Think of the cost savings in avoiding two moves!
May 31st, 2007 at 8:51 am
I love this idea. Personally, I think a small house is a great way to live… although I like the luxury of a large closet. But I’m willing to compromise… small bedroom in exchange for bigger closet.
July 4th, 2007 at 6:18 am
Type your comment here.
I am 59 and my wife and I have lived in a 1349 sq. ft. house for 30 years. It has one bathroom and 3 bedrooms and has been paid off for years. It has more than enough room for a comfy, thrifty lifestyle. Why live any other way?
February 20th, 2008 at 9:30 am
[...] I Can’t Remember has a great post about moving to a smaller house. [...]