Living small and living large

Posted on Wed, 2 Mar 2016 by midcenturyjo

Living small. Tiny house. Buzz words for a fleeting trend vs social movement and way of the future. Wherever you stand on tiny houses there is something we can all agree on. How incredibly stylish and devilishly clever is this compact recreation house near Utrecht in Holland by Roel van Norel and Zecc Architecten? It comes in at 40 m² or about 430 ft². Yes you can shake your head and say it’s great for a holiday but you couldn’t live there forever. Why not? I know I’d love to give it a try.

Photos by Stijnstijl Fotografie & Roel van Norel

Emmanuelle C. says:

I wouldn't mind adding a rocking chair or two in front of the fire place and call it home! What a lovely home it would be.

loulou ste-adele says:

I sure would try to install a hammock, and somehow arrange to make the bedroom more secluded. Otherwise, I like smaller houses more and more.

Axie says:

I love the tiny house movement. I hope it's not just a cute trend- with builders wondering how small can we go? The McMansion era has to go, but I worry people see such tininess and figure it's not for them. There should be more 600 or 800 sq ft homes especially for families.

That said, I still rather have this tiny beauty than a too big house to keep up!

Ruth says:

Love this post. I fantasize about living in a small place like this one. Living small like this takes good design though and the people who call us (residential architect) want this. The trouble is it's hard to find a contractor/builder willing to build this small in the U.S. because there is not a big enough profit margin. A tiny house still requires all the special labor of a big house, so it's hard to attract a builder for such a small project.

Sparky says:

I would live here…as long as I have my equally beautiful painting studio steps away.

Melanie says:

perfect little gem. (You say scorch mark I say patina.)

d of dogland says:

We moved into our tiny house/cabin this past September. It had been just a weekend/vacation cabin. But, we'd wanted to tread a little lighter on this planet. Two people and a couple of dogs don't need a big house. We all end up in a few square feet in the kitchen or on the sofa together anyway. We're trying to be more self sufficient, with solar panels, rain water collection systems and big vegetable garden.
The move has been rough. But, I'm hopeful. The place wasn't finished by the time had to move in. Living in a construction zone is never fun.
I must say downsizing is tough and I'm not terribly materialistic. I've long tried to only bring home things that I thought were treasures and fabulous finds. So, the things I had collected were very special to me. Giving up so much of my art was the toughest.
I'm hoping by the end of this summer I'll be singing the praises of tiny house living.
One good thing is that we've been able to keep as warm as we want this winter without spending a fortune on heating.
The dogs think it's best dog house ever!

Axie says:

I so admire your respect of the earth and natural resources, d of dogland! Good for you, and good luck!
What worries me though is people trying to fit into such tiny quarters and then failing and moving back to giant polluting houses. As I said above, if you could add 100 or 200 sq ft, more people would find the fit better and find success. I would think even 600 sq ft with all the solar and green systems would still be huge improvement to our current wastefulness in housing. Choosing between too much and too little space seems to defeat the purpose!

By the way, I am looking to eventually move into a "tiny home", but I will definitely need room for a studio and some of the things I love.

oh Holland says:

d of dogland — I hope you'll submit pics of your new tiny home and let us know how you adjust. I'm rooting for you to love it! I'm in 854 sq ft with four large dogs who spend most of the time inside and it's more than enough space. I'd actually prefer about 650 sq ft and if I can manage to build, that'll be it.

One thing I see in tiny homes which I'm not crazy about is the loo right off the kitchen/dining area. Can only imagine some awkward little dinner soirees with such and arrangement. I'd make a true master bed-bath for privacy.

Chelsea says:

I could totally live there. I'm curious as to what is upstairs too!

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