75 Square Foot Homes?

I've very interested in small houses (now if I could just convince my wife ). If I were single, I'd be all over a small house like that.

In fact, I was researching small houses recently. One source stated that 200sf per person was sufficient in warm climates and 250sf in cold climates. Storage and built-ins are a must from what I read.

Doug

I love the looks of all of them, but his prices are staggering. I built a 3000sq ft log home with wrap-around porch and upstairs balcony for 25k more than he's asking for a 500sq ft bungalow...

__________________
[]

I see Fate rushing towards its conclusion faster every day...Me

It's those darn California prices. Totally ridiculous. I would like to have a price list for the materials only in some state nearer the center of the country.

__________________
Alice
* * *
"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

We lived in a 10X12 A frame when our first child was born. My six foot self could touch both walls, fingertip to fingertip, when standing. The loft was the size of a pup tent and basically unusable.

It did have it's advantages, I could stoke the woodstove without getting out of bed.

The midwife, however, would not do the birth in the small space, so our resolution was to put up a 14' teepi outside. Plenty of room then, and our apartment dwelling, urban police officer son always loves to say, "What are you complaining about. I was born in a teepi!" With smiles of course.

I was thinking that a house like that might be a good idea for a temporary home while the main one is being built.

My husband and I lived in a 30 foot sailboat and a 34 foot motor home before we had kids. We love small places much better than big houses and we've had both. But with kids, it definitely helps to have some room!

Its not horribly more expensive to build a 20x20=400sq ft one room than a smaller structure. For example its amazing how much material and $ to build an outhouse or small tool shed out of new boughten material despite its small size. Personally in a house, I like larger open rooms rather than chopped up cubicles. And since roof is big expense, a 20x20 with another 20x20 room upstairs gains you lot more space with same roof, not to mention much easier to heat without fans and lot ductwork.

Now if you are working with stone or other materials that can be adapted to cylinder shape, a two room, two story cylinder shaped house would be most space efficient with less material needed than for a sq or rectangular house. Couple years ago I posted link to site showing a cylinder type structure with dome roof made from rebar covered with old billboard fabric to use as hog house in 3rd world countries. Now price of steel has skyrocketed, but thought this (minus the billboard fabric) would be great reinforcement skeleton for a stone building or one could maybe cover with hardware cloth or expanded steel like used for stucco and coat inside and out with surface bonding cement for a lighter structure. One does either need a considerable mass (logs or stone or earth) or good deal of insulation to keep heating/cooling costs down.

__________________
"What would you do with a brain if you had one?" -Dorothy

"Well, then ignore what I have to say and go with what works for you." -Eliot Coleman

ellebeau I tried your website you gave but it didn't work (www.weehomes.com) Any suggestions?

Could live in and would live in are two very different considerations. I could live in that shack IF it had a 5000 sq foot shop next door, I wouldn't bother as I'd just buy a camper van. That said if you want a cheap house buy a used house from the city and move it out. 30k dropped a 1300sqft house on a foundation with another 650 sqft under the house. We already had septic hydro and water mind, but that 30 k got the old house and made it in liveable condition. Took another 5k to put a steel roof and siding on.

__________________
Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup........