Tiny Cottage -- Big Life!

Growing up in an era of smallish houses, I was stunned about 25 years ago when houses starting becoming status symbols on a grand scale for ordinary folks like me, not just for the wealthy. Behemoths, even! 

Small homes -- capes, ranches, whatevers -- were being torn down at a record pace, and replaced with huge homes that looked a lot like hotels. 

One bathroom in the house? Oh, my, NO! Had to have two, three -- 11! 

A 1,000 s.f. house was no longer big enough, nor was a 2,000 s.f. house, nor a 3,000 s.f. house. Master bedrooms became sanctuaries, like the kind found it high-end hotels. 

Master baths became spas. (Seriously?)

Master closets could hold enough stuff for six families . . . 

It was hard to see when and where it would stop.

Then. THEN. A movement began in the late '90s. A movement toward sanity, toward affordability, toward peace. 

The Tiny House Movement as we know it today was born.

We saw this on TV, notably on HGTV, which began showing small homes a few years later. And the DIY network. OK, not all were truly tiny, but they were smaller than many we were seeing rise in those once quiet neighborhoods of small capes and ranches. 

What is a tiny house? Supposedly a house from 85 s.f. to about 400 s.f. Of course, depending on what anyone's used to, it could be as large as 1,000 s.f. 

But most agree that it's about 500 s.f. or less, a size that is smaller than many master bedrooms these days.

I joined this movement four years ago, without realizing what I was doing. My house is on the larger size for a "tiny house," being 525 s.f. with a full basement. But coming from a 2,200 s.f. house -- with a 1,500 s.f. condo in between -- it sure does feel different!

I bought this little place as a summer home, but quickly realized that my ideas and my budget were out of whack. And I really loved being here, so I sold my nice condo, and moved it. Did a lot of renovating (the cottage, like so many here, was built in the 1930s, and renovated maybe once since then), but in the end it's been totally worth it!

Notice I didn't say it feels small. It doesn't, and there are some good reasons for it. 

• It has cathedral ceilings, which make the cottage voluminous. There's no feeling of being squashed or smothered or cramped.
• It has windows -- lots of windows -- on all four walls.
• It has outside walls, and one that closes off the bathroom, but no other walls. A curtain divides the bedroom from the living room, whch gives me a way to get breezes on hot  summer nights. It is basically one big room, with separate zones for cooking, eating (at an island), watching TV, or looking out at the water while trying to read a book. 
• It is light and bright inside, with a rear screened-in porch facing south and west. It's       like having a deck with no bugs, and there's sunlight from noon on.
• It sits up on a hill, so there's a view to a large bay (I'm in the Cape Cod area of southeast Massachusetts, USA), which sparkles, roils, boils, gets glassy -- it's always changing, but since I'm so often looking out at it, I again feel like this house is huge.
  
  

No, it's not a tiny house. It's not just 200 s.f. But for most of my friends and family, it's something very, very different. I keep getting asked -- in many oblique -- if I'm happy living here. I don't know why my answer of "YES!" over the last two years isn't good enough for them. 

But you know, that doesn't matter. It's more than good enough for me (and my two small dogs). We are one happy bunch.

How about you? What's your experience with a small / tiny house? How small do you think is too small, at least for you?