Design Notes: Tiny houses

Mon, 11/17/2014 - 8:15am

What is a tiny house and why is there such an interest in them at the moment? Is it a new phenomenon or have they always been with us? Are they a way of saving money, avoiding codes, encouraging freedom, promoting non-materialistic lifestyles and getting the homeless population off the streets?

It could be argued that we have a big house habit in America. Today's new homes are 1,000 square feet larger than in 1973, and the living space per person has doubled over the last 40 years. House sizes continue to increase as family size decreases. Bigger has always been seen as better in the American dream.

But what does bigger really mean? Bigger may mean that we have to spend more time working to pay for the large house, which we then have no time to enjoy. Perhaps the idea of tiny houses is resonating now because people are feeling materially satiated and willing to consider the freedom of owning fewer possessions and living in a smaller space. Having less is a way of increasing the value of what you have. While our culture encourages us to consume more to feel better about ourselves, tiny houses provide a way to break the cycle. After all, time is a nonrenewable resource, that we cannot get back. By going smaller, we are re-prioritizing time, giving us the freedom to make innovative career choices or follow our dreams.

So WHAT is a tiny house? When does tiny expand to small? Thoreau's cabin in the woods was 150-square-feet and built in the middle of the 19th century. It was a retreat for two years while he wrote Walden, a book that was hugely influential in creating the mystique of a simpler downscaled life. His cabin contained only a bed, a desk and two chairs and a fireplace.

For many people tiny houses are still places to escape to temporarily. A honeymoon cottage, vacation getaway or writers retreat works well for a while, but you can only fit so many people into 150 square feet. Dinner parties are out of the question. However, while these tiny houses are places to regain our sanity from overly complicated lives in middle class America, for the vast majority of the world an identical structure would represent a dream home. Their retreat is from the elements and those who would harm them. For the 10 million displaced people seeking shelter from the cold of a Syrian winter, 150-square-feet of shelter may well mean the difference between life and death. Ikea's new flat pack refugee shelter is 188 square feet and will fit a family of five. This is double the space a family would have in a standard refugee tent.

Tiny houses have been built in response to disasters for more than 100 years. In San Francisco, 140-square-foot makeshift homes were built for the more than 20,000 refugees after the 1906 earthquake. Some of these are still in use; repurposed as permanent homes, rental cottages, garages or shops. They were mobile and rugged enough to be relocated from the refugee camps when the inhabitants moved back into the city, thus ensuring their longevity.

Mobility is a key characteristic of the tiny house movement. Ordinances often forbid building homes below a certain size. By ensuring the structure can be moved on wheels or skids, restrictive ordinances are often avoided and allow people to construct with a smaller carbon footprint. For instance, Texas does not allow composting toilets, which many of these shelters use, so making them mobile or temporary enables people to live without being hooked up into plumbing systems and allows them to take their asset with them when they move.

Who lives in a tiny house? Younger people who are saving rent and older people who are downsizing are clear demographics. Mayors in American cities have been investigating tiny houses as a solution to urban homelessness. Tiny houses are part of the warp and weft of Camden, their diminutive scale adding to the richness of our village fabric. Often tucked unassumingly behind homes, they allow for a diversity of lifestyles that helps to keep our community creative.

So if you are considering taking the plunge and inhabiting your very own tiny house, allow us to make a few suggestions. First of all you need to get rid of everything but the dog (more than one great Dane lives in a tiny house). Careful placement of windows to give long distance views prevents claustrophobia. Creating a sense of mystery by allowing the house to gradually reveal itself is another tactic that disguises tininess. A very small plan can be made to feel much more spacious by carefully considering ceiling height. Embrace multipurpose and intimately scaled spaces.

What is the perfect size of a tiny house? There isn't one. Rather, it is a house in which all the space is used well. While we are not suggesting that we shoehorn ourselves into 150-square-feet of living space, many of us, it seems, are intrigued with the idea that smaller spaces could enable us to live bigger lives.


Chris Wohler came to Camden 20 years ago after living in New York for 24 years. She has a Bachelor of Arts in history from Cornell University and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University. She has taught at Ball State University, Parsons School of Design and Columbia University. Her design practice, Breathing Space, encompasses everything from architectural design to retail merchandising.

She likes blackbirds, crosswords, babies, Miles Davis, avocados, quantum physics, Robert Frank, chartreuse, Puccini, roses, graphite drawings, the collaborative process, Great Danes, Patti Smith, gardening, J.S. Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello, architectural plans, movies, Philip Pullman, cooking with friends, everything by Beethoven, New York City and her two sons who currently live there. Reach her at breathingspace2@gmail.com.

Rosie Curtis lives in Camden and teaches architecture at UMA.

Originally from England, she has been designing and building in Midcoast Maine for the last 20 years, although she indulges in a spot of work for a British engineering firm now and then. She holds two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree in architecture and has been interested in the built environment her whole life. She believes that design is fundamentally about things working well and looking good. Her two kids are fed up of hearing her pontificate about all things design related and hope this column will provide a channel for her endless wonderings. Reach her at rosie@fairpoint.net.

More Design Notes:

Design Notes: An introduction

The Welcome Mat: The story of front and back

Moments of Delight 1: Boynton–McKay Food Co.

Is It Food Or Is It Art? Rockland's Main Street

The domestication of the garage

The utility of Maine style: From barrel staves to clapboards

The bliss of the bedroom: In praise of nests

Does big box have to be bad box? We say 'No!'