OT: Tiny house/minimalist living

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by 54ny77

In NYC that'll only set you back 500k.

iirc it was like $1800/mon in rent, so...roughly the same as a $500K mortgage...and that was 6 years ago...same place is probably $3K/mon now given Seattle real-estate...but I'm guessing $750-800K is more realistic for NYC...on the low end...

[sparky33]

Our home is half-habitable while that other half is under construction. The experience tells me that we are happier in a whole ordinary-sized house where we aren't living on top of each other and where the kids can cover their own bathroom with as much toothpaste as they like (why? how?).

Practicality is sobering, but living mindfully and happily is more than a count of possessions and square footage. It is definitely cool to see how people make marginal adjustments toward that end. The extremes are mostly just entertaining and not so relevant.

[Clean39T]

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/4456349

Highly recommend that place, and the island in general. The people renting it out are great - we've been there twice, for like 4-5 days each time. And the island has almost no amenities, so it's perfect for enforcing relaxation and unplugging...all while being a couple hours from Seattle and not having the expense or craziness of a trip to the proper San Juan's...

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/4456349

Highly recommend that place, and the island in general. The people renting it out are great - we've been there twice, for like 4-5 days each time. And the island has almost no amenities, so it's perfect for enforcing relaxation and unplugging...all while being a couple hours from Seattle and not having the expense or craziness of a trip to the proper San Juan's...

That's gorgeous.

[fuzzalow]

Has any exponent of minimalist living actually been on record as doing it and having lived that way for an extended period of time? Meaning some period of time that qualifies as something more than a fad that had its time and is then that they moved onto something else? I don't view architect George Suyama's home as minimalist living based on the openness and square footage alone.

I have no issues with living minimalist and it is probably more moral than the crazy, wasteful and indulgent lives many might perceive as "normal" in growing up and living life in a wealthy country with a culture of consumerism. Mrs. fuzz watches the cable TV show "House Hunters", heck I watch with her so I am just as much a TV boob and voyeur as anybody else. Young couples see houses @ 3,500/square feet and gripe that they want more! What the heck!? Granted, some of these homes are in places where acreage is no object so the thinking is they "Either go big or no home!". Yikes, mid to late 20s, no kids and they feel like a 4,000SF home is an entitlement. Yeah it's just a TV show but it is vulgar in many ways.

Originally Posted by Clean39T

We've lived in 500 sqft condos, and it wasn't the space that was the problem, it was the being 20 stories up with no trees outside and only one wall of windows. That same size would feel entirely different in the woods - as we've learned on a number of vacations.

Dunno but for me 500SF is really tight. I am not sure that is comfortable for two people long term but everybody has their own tolerance. In NYC that type of living might be something like this: $599K 468sqft studio Upper East Side Over $1,200 a square foot and IMO would be unpleasant to live in fulltime even in one of the great cities of the world. We rented a 750SF apartment while looking to buy and it was tough after a while, it felt like the walls were always closing in on us.

In many ways I believe one can live minimalist and perhaps not also be tiny house. The tiny house part of it is not the chosen intellectual part as minimalism, as a lifestyle choice, is. The tiny house embodies physicality in a spacial modality. As such, I would never conflate the two and embark on such a life choice as though those two different elements were inextricably synchronized.

[Tony T]

Smallest House in the World
Boston, MA, United States
This house is very small, but super convenient. It's on wheels and one reasonably fit person can roll it anywhere. It also fits in a regular-sized van. Staying in the smallest house in the world is a unique experience and not for regular people.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12735111

[fuzzalow]

^ That's not a house, that's a trailer.

Speaking of TV shows before, there's also the show Tiny House which, to me, is a scam because all those projects are on wheels too. Which means that as soon as you roll it off the curb onto the street, it magically depreciated by 20%, if not more. It's a trailer.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by fuzzalow

^ That's not a house, that's a trailer.

Speaking of TV shows before, there's also the show Tiny House which, to me, is a scam because all those projects are on wheels too. Which means that as soon as you roll it off the curb onto the street, it magically depreciated by 20%, if not more. It's a trailer.

I agree. If it's on wheels and has no plumbing, it's a trailer. At best.

To be called a house it needs to have plumbing and a foundation. The electrical issue can possibly be solved via solar or other means, but plumbing has to exist and if it's a trailer on wheels, it's not a house.

I'm OK with a very small footprint and minimalistic amenities but some things are just part of being a house and looking like one with shingles and siding isn't enough.

[eBAUMANN]

Originally Posted by saab2000

I agree. If it's on wheels and has no plumbing, it's a trailer. At best.

To be called a house it needs to have plumbing and a foundation. The electrical issue can possibly be solved via solar or other means, but plumbing has to exist and if it's a trailer on wheels, it's not a house.

I'm OK with a very small footprint and minimalistic amenities but some things are just part of being a house and looking like one with shingles and siding isn't enough.

house - a building for human habitation, especially one that is lived in by a family or small group of people.

building - a structure with a roof and walls, such as a house, school, store, or factory.

pretty sure this qualifies structures built on trailers, by definition, as "houses."



FWIW - im in the process of turning a van in a ~60 sq ft "house" that i hope to live in for a year or 2.
it will have plumbing and a gas (propane) system, in addition to being fully powered by a couple solar panels on the roof.
hoping it will help me downsize my STUFF for good.

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by Tony T

Smallest House in the World
Boston, MA, United States
This house is very small, but super convenient. It's on wheels and one reasonably fit person can roll it anywhere. It also fits in a regular-sized van. Staying in the smallest house in the world is a unique experience and not for regular people.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12735111

ready to be rolled into the river while you sleep.

[fuzzalow]

Originally Posted by eBAUMANN

house - a building for human habitation, especially one that is lived in by a family or small group of people.

building - a structure with a roof and walls, such as a house, school, store, or factory.

pretty sure this qualifies structures built on trailers, by definition, as "houses."



FWIW - im in the process of turning a van in a ~60 sq ft "house" that i hope to live in for a year or 2.
it will have plumbing and a gas (propane) system, in addition to being fully powered by a couple solar panels on the roof.
hoping it will help me downsize my STUFF for good.

The definition of "house" comes not from Webster's Dictionary but by statute and tax law of local municipality.

Payment of Real Estate Taxes means you've got a house. Whatever fee and license plate you gotta put on some wheeled contrivance in order to move/tow it around means it is a trailer.

[downtube]

Originally Posted by William

It's not a tiny house though it is only 18' wide it seems much larger. I like the somewhat minimalist approach and the use of space and light in this home.
William

That would be my dream home, I love everything about it. Thanks for sharing. chuck

[benb]

Here in New England "Tiny House" usually seems to mean "Trailer".

They usually don't meet code to be a house, you throw them on wheels and you've got a loophole.

I would be curious who has lived in them for 20 years. Most of the stuff I've watched/read (and yes I actually read a few books by some of these guys) seemed to indicate they were barely 30.

We have 2200sq feet + 800sq ft of finished basement + an "oversized" 2 car garage. A lot of the time the living space in in the house proper seems like overkill (I'm married and have one son), but when I want to go play my guitar I wouldn't want to give up that basement space and I would never want to give up my nice workshop area in the garage where I can work on my bikes without worrying about getting grime in the house.

My wife someone how got the disease (she works in real estate) where her dream house is 2X as big as what we have now. I gotta remind her every few weeks that getting into a new house probably means 10 years more work or something. We're on track to have no mortgage when our son hits freshman year of college. Moving to her "dream house" probably means an extra $500k of debt to pay off + interest.

Next time we watch TV I'll have to suggest another minimalism/tiny house program.

[54ny77]

I suppose if you get a tiny house, that means you need to ditch your gazillion piece tool kit and buy one small multitool?

[saab2000]

If I were going to downsize and be mobile, this is what I would do. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

Airstream is probably the original tiny house.

This is definitely a retirement consideration of mine for the future.