Page 20 - The Tiny House Tactical Guide from Green Builder

CHAPTER 02 HOW MUCH SPACE DO WE NEED TO BE HAPPY?

Early adopter. Henry
David Thoreau’s famous
cabin on Walden Pond in
Massachusetts was
about the size of some
tiny homes.

SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

A crisis.” He argues that since the 1940s, American house size has risen,

RECURRING QUESTION (and criticism) of
but relative levels of happiness with housing have remained flat.
right-sized, or tiny house, living is whether
To take his analysis further, Bellet found that”when bigger houses
people can really live comfortably in less than
400 square feet. What metric should be used to
get built closer to smaller houses, house satisfaction is lower among
estimate the threshhold between comfortable
the smaller households.”
This line of research suggests that the perceptions of optimal home
and cramped? An obvious answer is “happiness,”
but, surprisingly, it’s rarely considered directly
when planners and pundits talk about how
much living space a person needs. Still, let’s try. size are least partly rooted in comparison with the Joneses—not
Henry David Thoreau famously lived in a 10 x 15-ft. cabin on WHAT THE NEW
Walden Pond, when he researched his famous book about simplicity.
That’s 150 square feet—about the size of a 20-ft. travel trailer. If BUILDING CODE SAYS
you’ve ever lived in a travel trailer with another person, you know
that it’s possible for two people to live in relative happiness in that ABOUT MINIMUM
much space. And yes, as you’re probably thinking, it depends on
the two people.
It also depends on cultural norms and expectations. HOUSE SIZE
American attitudes toward how much space is enough, for
example, are as fickle as attitudes toward privacy. According to a A few changes in the latest building code
recent Pew study, they’re willing to give up a lot of personal privacy (IRC 2018) make tiny floorplans more flexible.
if the conditions are right, for example—to rewards programs and
frequent flier deals, but loathe to share data for free.
“In extended comments online and through focus groups, people
indicated that their interest and overall comfort level depends on
the company or organization with which they are bargaining and
how trustworthy or safe they perceive the firm to be. It depends on
what happens to their data after they are collected, especially if the
data are made available to third parties. And it also depends on how
long the data are retained.” No limits. Gone is the requirement that homes have one room
Another possible pivot point that influences acceptable housing of at least 120 square feet. Proponents of tiny houses argued
size: keeping up with neighbors. According to some research by successfully that the limit “was not based on scientific analysis
Clément Bellet, for example: “Wealth inequality visible in house sizes or identified safety hazards,” and code officials agreed to
fueled the mortgage boom that culminated in the 2008 financial remove it.

20 THE TINY HOUSE TACTICAL GUIDE