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Would any of you want to move into a smaller house? How about one of these?

Perfect fit?

I'd get one for my backyard... :lol: I've seen some genuine houses here in Richmond tucked away that look like these. I like the styles and I think that should come back.

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I wouldn't mind moving back to a smaller house, say about 1600sq. ft. That's the size of house I grew up in and feel most comfortable in. And I'm actually thinking about getting a travel trailer when I move out rather than a house or an apartment...I'd love the change of scenery.

That, though, is overdoing it a little :lol:

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While I could never live in the one's that were less than 100sf, I have seen in some historical sites houses or foundations for homes that couldn't be much larger than 500-750 sf. If we weren't so "encumbered" with all our stuff now, I think most people could live in smaller dwellings. maybe between 1000-2000 sf.

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While I could never live in the one's that were less than 100sf, I have seen in some historical sites houses or foundations for homes that couldn't be much larger than 500-750 sf. If we weren't so "encumbered" with all our stuff now, I think most people could live in smaller dwellings. maybe between 1000-2000 sf.

A 500-750 sq ft house is not that uncommon, there are plenty of houses that are that size in my old neighborhood and throughout the older neighborhoods of my city.

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I thought those were children's playhouses at first. I could see myself in something like that, but it has to be for like a country retreat or something. Something for you and the woman to go to for the weekend to get away from the city. A place to unwind, eat, and have nonstop sex until monday.

My aunt and uncle in Hungary have a country home that's literally about the size of those. The bedroom is in the livingroom and the bathroom is just off the kitchen. They go there once in a while when they've had enough of Budapest.

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My storage shed is bigger than that. As a matter of fact, my living room is bigger than that; and my house is only about 1,400-1,500 sq. ft.

Doesn't look much different than a 'Katrina Cottage' to me.

Not a chance I'd ever live in anything that small, even if I were single. Even my old apartment, at 750 sq. ft., really sucked because it was so small. And now I find myself already wanting to move into a larger house after living in this one less than 1 year.

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750 sq ft too small for a single person? Do you have an elephant living with you or want to park a car inside your apartment?

I'm surprised to see people in here saying 1500-2000 SF houses are "smaller." I've never lived in a place that big! I currently live in a 435 SF studio. Soon I'll be sharing a sprawling 1000 SF 2-BR w/ a friend. I don't know what we'll do with the huge living room and bedrooms we're going to have!

The little houses are cute. If I could afford a piece of ground to put one on I'd think about it. They'd make good lake cottages for weekend getaways.

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I'm surprised to see people in here saying 1500-2000 SF houses are "smaller." I've never lived in a place that big! I currently live in a 435 SF studio. Soon I'll be sharing a sprawling 1000 SF 2-BR w/ a friend. I don't know what we'll do with the huge living room and bedrooms we're going to have!

Yeah, I just moved to a 1800 sq ft house and it seems huge, even with four people, not that I'm complaining though. I grew up in a house that started out at 750 sq ft for 3 people and we added on to make it 1200 sq ft when my sister was born, it had plenty of room. I actually had one of the bigger houses out of anyone that I knew, most people I knew, both family and friends, lived in houses less than 1000 sq ft, some with 5 or 6 people.

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750 sq ft too small for a single person? Do you have an elephant living with you or want to park a car inside your apartment?

I'm surprised to see people in here saying 1500-2000 SF houses are "smaller." I've never lived in a place that big! I currently live in a 435 SF studio. Soon I'll be sharing a sprawling 1000 SF 2-BR w/ a friend. I don't know what we'll do with the huge living room and bedrooms we're going to have!

The little houses are cute. If I could afford a piece of ground to put one on I'd think about it. They'd make good lake cottages for weekend getaways.

I realize now that my post wasn't very clear. When I lived in that apartment. it was myself, my wife, and my dog. And yes, 750 square feet was tiny. It was too cramped. 1,400-1,500 is too cramped for us as well. I enjoy having space, man. I grew up in a very tiny house, sharing one bathroom with my entire family and sleeping in a cruddy 9x9 bedroom every night. I like having space to move around, and the more rooms the better.

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The 16x16 and 16x20 look very livable for being only 512 and 640 sqft a peice. Of cource I would want to see an actual model before I would comit to living in constrained space, but they could work as cotage, or home for a couple/single person who doesn't mind small spaces.

I can compare my experience with a little abandoned farmhouse about a mile from my house. At about 22x24 per floor and a total of about 1100 sqft on two floors with 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, kitchen and two other rooms for living, it's a little larger than those homes but similarly, it is very livable for a small home. Rooms that may seem tiny on paper actually allow quite a bit of space if furished properly.

I would have to say that I am opposite of SBC; I prefer smaller houses (although 6x7 might be overdoing it). I think that separate family and formal dining and living areas are a waste unless you are someone that entertains alot and I am always playing with the idea of how small rooms can be made (with the use of built-in furnishings, etc.) and still be livable.

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The 16x16 and 16x20 look very livable for being only 512 and 640 sqft a peice. Of cource I would want to see an actual model before I would comit to living in constrained space, but they could work as cotage, or home for a couple/single person who doesn't mind small spaces.

I can compare my experience with a little abandoned farmhouse about a mile from my house. At about 22x24 per floor and a total of about 1100 sqft on two floors with 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, kitchen and two other rooms for living, it's a little larger than those homes but similarly, it is very livable for a small home. Rooms that may seem tiny on paper actually allow quite a bit of space if furished properly.

I would have to say that I am opposite of SBC; I prefer smaller houses (although 6x7 might be overdoing it). I think that separate family and formal dining and living areas are a waste unless you are someone that entertains alot and I am always playing with the idea of how small rooms can be made (with the use of built-in furnishings, etc.) and still be livable.

Now you've got my attention. What kind of built-in furnishings? Like built-in cabinets, entertainment centers, etc, or more?

You have to be careful with making rooms smaller, because a good portion of the American population (myself included) is somewhat claustrophobic. Even a small room (not a closet) can make claustrophobic people uncomfortable. And I'm saying this from experience, seeing as how I'm typing this while sitting in one corner of a 10x10 room in which I feel uncomfortable due to its small size.

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Sure you can live in smaller, but I also find I get very fustrated by not having the room to work on things available. I could do with a smaller house if I had a big work garage or something.

I want a larger garage. Living in a typical suburban home with a front-entry garage, mine is only 20x20. I wish I even had a decent-sized cubby off to the side like the guy across the street! I could at least fit a workbench in that area. In a perfect world, though, I'd like a 24x40 garage so that I have plenty of room for 2 large vehicles (incase I get a truck or SUV) and still have plenty of room let over as a workspace.

We have an office and my wife has her crafts room (the 2 spare bedrooms serve these purposes well,) but I really want a space to work on, and build, things in.

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You have to be careful with making rooms smaller, because a good portion of the American population (myself included) is somewhat claustrophobic. Even a small room (not a closet) can make claustrophobic people uncomfortable. And I'm saying this from experience, seeing as how I'm typing this while sitting in one corner of a 10x10 room in which I feel uncomfortable due to its small size.

I certainly agree with that. Which is why when space is constricted, it is best to make everything, aside from bedrooms and bathrooms, as open as possible. Big windows also help. As for built-ins, well designed cabinets can be more efficent that closets and definitely more efficent than several dressers. If you can find ways to stow away or find other uses for things that you need but rarely use, even better.

Honestly, most people, probably not even myself, wouldn't build such a tiny house if there's no reason (i.e. plenty of land and enough money to build something larger.) But in a city or someplace with constricted land or extreme home prices, compact living quarters may be a sensible option.

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The house I'm in now is 1,300 sq ft, the one before that was 3,400 sq ft and even though the other house was more than 2.5 times larger, I'm totally content with it. There are no wasted rooms that no one hardly uses like a formal dining room that's eaten in twice a year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's also much easier to keep clean. Seriously if I were to live in something that size again or bigger I would consider hiring a maid.

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I think dining rooms get a bad rap. Sure you only use them a couple times a year as a dining room - but ever try to deal with not having a large enough room for the familly Christmas/Thanksgiving/Easter? An extra room is a small price to pay for family unity. Also, I find a lot of people actually use the dining room as the work room - the place for homework, school projects, laying out puzzles, etc. That is where I think space is important - the ability to have a big work table to do things on. What I hate is when they build these huge master bathrooms that are larger than some bedrooms, and then make the children's rooms tiny. It's less overall size as space prioritization.

i used my mother's dining room for school projects... but we only used it as a dining room 2 or 3 times a year.

when i buy my first house, i don't care if it has a separate dining room... i won't be hosting any holidays that i know of... unless the woman has other plans, and i'm sure she does.

i live in a 450 sq ft apartment right now (maybe even more like 420). my fiancee is living with me. it's tight at times, but very bearable. the kitchen lacks counter space, which is my biggest complaint, but the apartment has a good sized bedroom and a small office type room for my 3 computers and her computer. so it's not a bad apartment and certainly not cramped. of course she's only here until the end of september and then it's just me until next june when she graduates and we move to a bigger apartment.

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I think dining rooms get a bad rap. Sure you only use them a couple times a year as a dining room - but ever try to deal with not having a large enough room for the familly Christmas/Thanksgiving/Easter? An extra room is a small price to pay for family unity. Also, I find a lot of people actually use the dining room as the work room - the place for homework, school projects, laying out puzzles, etc. That is where I think space is important - the ability to have a big work table to do things on. What I hate is when they build these huge master bathrooms that are larger than some bedrooms, and then make the children's rooms tiny. It's less overall size as space prioritization.

I agree, my dining room get a workout every weekend. I love to cook and host dinner parties and I have friends over almost every Fri. or Sat nite for a dinner party. I also cook Sunday dinner for the local family members and invite them. My dining room and breakfast nook tables are always filled to capacity for my dinners!

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Dining rooms shouldn't get a bad rap. If you need them and want them then indulge yourself. Even though the house I'm in now is 2.5 times smaller than the previous one the living space is pretty much the same. There's a den for daily entertainment like the old one, a kitchen and breakfast nook like the old one. The only real difference is there's no formal living and dining room and study/library that no one ventures in. Except for the sun room in the previous house which someone might be in once in a while there's really no difference in where 90% of the time is spent, except the rooms were larger.

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I actually don't even like the concept of rooms with walls. I'd love to have a whole wareshouse converted to a residence. I might put some walls around the bathroom, and that's about it. Think about it - it gives an airy feeling, and is the ultimate in versatility and flow. If I built a house right now, it would have an absolute minimum of walls.

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