Small House Movement

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Build around Existing Trees, Here is a 'Birdhouse' Design by North Arrow Studio


Think small, affordable, green... with nature all around

Birdhouse is an 885 SF two-story ADU with an abundance of natural light. The "L" shape orientation of the residence is squeezed between three protected trees, highlighting the 21" protected Pecan tree in the center of the property. The façade of this ADU features corrugated metal, corrugated polycarbonate and many round windows. Most notably, a 5' operable window in the attic let's you look out at the leaves and sky.


Small, Tiny, Affordable

Dwelling Units, Housing, They're Here, Now


ADU's Time Is Now

Alternative Living Is Going Smaller, Smarter
Innovative and Effective Housing Options
ADUs give residents a choice of aging in place in their community
New realities call for new choices for citizens of all income levels


An accessory dwelling unit (ADU), also known as a backyard house, guest house, or casita, is a small home that can be built on the same lot alongside another, larger single-family home, or as a part of a community development. They are self-sufficient dwellings and contain a kitchen, a living area, bathroom facilities, and a bedroom.

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ADUs go by many different names throughout the U.S., including accessory apartments, secondary suites, and granny flats. ADUs can be converted portions of existing homes (i.e., internal ADUs), additions to new or existing homes (i.e., attached ADUs), or new stand-alone accessory structures or converted portions of existing stand-alone accessory structures (i.e., detached ADUs).

Internal, attached, and detached ADUs all have the potential to increase housing affordability (both for homeowners and tenants), create a wider range of housing options within the community, enable seniors to stay near family as they age, and facilitate better use of the existing housing fabric in established neighborhoods. Consequently, many cities and counties have signaled support for ADUs in their plans and adopted zoning regulations that permit ADUs in low-density residential areas.

As of 2022, hundreds of cities and counties in at least 35 states and the District of Columbia, and at least nine states, including California, have changed or adopted laws that make it easier and more attractive for homeowners to build ADUs.


ADU Resources:


FannieMae - What is required for accessory dwelling units?

An ADU is typically an additional living area independent of the primary dwelling


Case Study / Tampa, Florida


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Case Study California ADU Legislation / Codes

California Dept of Housing nd Community Development - Online Portal


Casita Coalition * https://www.hcd.ca.gov/policy-research/accessorydwellingunits/docs/CC%20ADU%20Finance%20Guide%20for%20Homeowners%20v5%203.18.21_ADA.pdf


Expand Housing Options for People of All Ages (AARP)


Keywords / Key Phrases

accessory dwelling unit floor plans​
prefab accessory dwelling units​
modular accessory dwelling unit​



In the US: Are Tiny Homes a Solution to the Housing Crisis?


At the International Builders’ Show, exhibitors offered mini prefab houses, kitchens ‘like Swiss Army knives’ and other strategies for dealing with a constrained market.

At the 2023 NAHB show/exhibition, 70,000 home building professionals were in attendance


“Living Small” — exploring the choices some people are making to live as simply, sustainably or compactly as possible, for ethical or aesthetic reasons, or both — we visited the association’s annual trade fair, the International Builders’ Show, to see how builders, manufacturers and architects are responding to this struggle.

Who doesn’t love a little house? Visitors swarmed an outdoor area of the show where several factory-built examples had been erected. The most eye-catching was Casita, a 375-square-foot house that could be hauled to its site by a Tesla and unfolded like a flat-packed box. Manufactured by Boxabl, a Nevada-based company, Casita comes with plumbing, electricity and appliances, and costs $60,000. According to David Thompson, the company’s social media manager, 160,000 names are on the waiting list, and Elon Musk uses one as a guesthouse at his ranch in Boca Chica, Texas.


Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)

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Boxabl.com - 'The Casita'


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Small Home, Tiny Home

Myriad Housing Choices, Options, Solutions

Amazon: Tiny homes are having a serious moment... Whether you want an instant guest room behind your 'normal' house, a home office that's separate from your living quarters or you need to seriously downsize, tiny homes are where it's at. There are even a bunch of reality shows dedicated to the phenomenon see the International Home Builders Show where small homes, 'accessory' options and flexible units are producing growing sales and news of accelerating 'tiny homes' business.


Examples of Amazon Retail Sheds/Kits and more --



Tackling the Homeless Crisis in the U.S.

Big Cities Look to Develop 'Micro-Unit', Small-Sized Apartments
Los Angeles and California Face a Constellation of Of Affordable Housing Obstacles


“We want the best possible housing for everybody, but let’s stop making the perfect the enemy of the good, or the good enough...

How do we create more micro units or shared units? What about dormitory-style units, where maybe you don’t have your own kitchen but you have a place to eat in the building?” Galperin has also argued that more of the money should be spent on shelter beds and interim housing. “These aren’t perfect approaches, but with so many people dying every day, there has to be a sense of urgency.”



From Australia



Step On Up

Rob's Orlando, US, Home / Welcome Video


Tiny Portland Home

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Tiny Asian Home

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What would you like to see?

David Mason / Canada: A simple high-ceilinged rectangular design with nice, durable materials that could be "dropped" anywhere and pass most regulations, with good insulation, where one half is a studio style space with big windows and a simple modern kitchen/bathroom and a place for a wood or pellet stove, and the other half is storage that has a large garage door. Price, $20k or so...

Here are a number of model small houses with types of aesthetics that work:


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How About a Small Houseboat Design?


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How About a 'You Build It' Design?


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Studiolada uses all wood materials to create this affordable open-source home

Studiolada says almost anyone can build this small home


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A Tiny "Temple Home" on Wheels?

By MandalaEcoHomes.com / YouTube Vid


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A Japanese Small Home?


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Build Your Own Woodland Home / $11K


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A "Koda" Small Home?


http://inhabitat.com/koda-is-a-tiny-solar-powered-house-that-can-move-with-its-owners/koda-by-kodasema-13/


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WATCH: Tiny House with Incredible Interior Design Built in 40 Days

Tiny Eco-Houses Have Never Been Easier to Build


Alt Living News

Tiny Houses & Sustainability @Google+


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Arched Cabins / Texas/New Mexico then the World

Tiny house movement comes to Fresno, California

Looking for a place that's right to call home


 

Small Houses -- Tiny Homes


Country Living


Getaways


Tiny Houses / Tiny Homes / Tiny Trailers / Tiny Times

HGTV looks at alt living, an 'Airstream me' trailer home in Santa Barbara, California -- https://youtu.be/TJ70hAYZFmE


"Well Thought out" - https://youtu.be/3tKUavs9uN8


Going to Orlando, Florida - https://youtu.be/72MKU8MbQxE



Plans for #TinyHomes #SmallHomes


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Micro Communities


Micro Apartments in 'repurposed shopping malls'


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Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter

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The Big Tiny: A Built-It-Myself Memoir (Hardcover) - April 22, 2014 by Dee Williams (Author)

Video - https://youtu.be/KSGvBJEoNv8

Dee Williams’s life changed in an instant, with a near-death experience in the aisle of her local grocery store. Diagnosed with a heart condition at age forty-one, she was all too suddenly reminded that life is short, time is precious, and she wanted to be spending hers with the people and things she truly loved. That included the beautiful sprawling house in the Pacific Northwest she had painstakingly restored—but, increasingly, it did not include the mortgage payments, constant repairs, and general time-suck of home ownership. A new sense of clarity began to take hold: Just what was all this stuff for? Multiple extra rooms, a kitchen stocked with rarely used appliances, were things that couldn’t compare with the financial freedom and the ultimate luxury—time—that would come with downsizing.


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House the Homeless, Change a Life




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Build an Orphanage in Kenya



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From Kenya to Norway



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Ecocapsule home



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-- Small Homes / Small Houses

-- Tiny Homes / Tiny Houses

-- Micro-homesteading / Micro-shelters

-- Airstream Visions / Mobile Life

-- Find a Beautiful Landsite

-- Surround Yourself with Nature


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