With all the talk here about monster houses a teardowns, this story from the New York Times caught my eye.
After they had settled on a neighborhood in the northern part of the city, they bought a decrepit 1950s house on a deep lot for $190,000 and tore it down….
Their neighbors were concerned about what might rise in place of the old home: a McMansion, multiple townhouses or some other hideous anomaly among the area’s modest bungalows. No one imagined that the couple would …
Just a note that one of my Facebook friends posted this on their page as well earlier so I wonder if it’s beginning to go viral.
I loved this quote: “We can certainly afford a bigger place with a higher price tag,” Ms. Copenagle said. “We just don’t want it.”
Great story! There’s not too many houses in Newton in that league … but here’s one that’s only 250 sq ft.
I distinctly remember that house.
Also, there used to be one about as small right near where Brandeis Rd. and Greenwood St. meet.
This is so refreshing, and amazing. Their house is even smaller than the Solar Decathlon houses, which I believe are limited to 800 sq.ft.
I think there is something of a cottage movement among people who want to live smaller, too.
Funny correction to the story!
Correction: January 23, 2014
An earlier version of this article misstated the plantings on the building’s green roof. They were native flora, not native fauna.
I could happily live by myself in a place that small. No way I could live with someone else in only 1 room with no private spaces.
I highly recommend the “Not So Big House” book series by Sarah Susanka. She presents attractive, creative designs for houses that are well suited to the the surrounding environment.
We are not a very green city / culture at all. We pretend to be by separating our trash from our recyclables, ( assuages our guilt perhaps, in driving our gas guzzlers ) If we were green, we would legislate against the mega mansion. We would reduce radically the current zoning FAR ( floor area to land ratio ) and we would better maintain and keep the resources invested in our current housing stock, instead of allowing, so easily, the throwing away by demolition, of so many perfectly livable homes.
Look Around !