Steve Mensing, Editor
♦ In recent months I became aware of a growing cottage industry in the United States based on the “tiny house movement”. For those folks yet unaware of the tiny house movement it’s a relatively new movement to construct affordable homes, cheaper to maintain and ecologically sound. Tiny houses are generally compact homes containing less than a 1,000 square feet. They are meant for folks who aspire to simple living and spending less money on furniture and appliances often required to fill much larger digs. Sometimes tiny houses possess wheels for mobility like a mobile home. Some weeks ago I saw one such mobile tiny house being towed down the street here in Madison, Wisconsin. Later I learned Madison ranks as one of the epicenters of the tiny house movement in the U.S.A.
During Hurricane Katrina, “Katrina Cottages”, about 300 square feet each, sprouted up in devastated areas of New Orleans as an alternative to FEMA trailers. Katrina Cottages sparked much interest in the idea of smaller dwellings. The large majority of tiny houses fall closer to the 1,000 square foot range.
Tiny houses are most frequently bought by couples wishing to live simply, but these smaller homes sometimes function as a vacation cottage, a home office, a private lair away from the main house, housing for the elderly or a guest house. Tiny houses run between $20,000 to $50,000 (not including land). Soon tiny house kits, for an able bodied do-it-yourselfer, will appear on the market. Building from a kit will lead to appreciable savings. These smaller houses can be quite attractive and can replicate standard dwellings on a smaller scale. As yet I haven’t noticed a 1,000 square foot replica of a plantation house or Hearst Castle, but never say never.
The only tangible downside to building “elf villages” are local zoning ordinances. In a city with rigid zoning codes, such as Salisbury, N.C., I suspect parking a tiny house in the historic district might meet with some resistance for now, but you never can tell what the future might bring. People are moving out. Perhaps some of the larger historic homes will be subdivided into budget-minded apartments.
I know downtown is smacking its puffy lips at the idea of building apartments and one developer even floated the idea of constructing low cost apartments in the Empire, why not an “Elf Village” of tiny houses at 329 S. Main? Such a village might attract curiosity seekers to Salisbury. More warm bodies–maybe shop locals searching for a simpler life, might find 329 S. Main a perfect setting. Of course they would be advised to paint their humble abodes with gang tag and graffiti repellant paint.
Surely Rowan County would be more open to the latest wave in smaller dwellings? Wonder what the county’s building and zoning code department might say?
In poverty struck Salisbury, perhaps a group of entrapaneurs might see the enormous upside of a cooperative tiny house construction industry and the creation of “Tom Thumb” housing kits.
