Posted: 10/9/2008 6:33:55 AM EDT
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My firm subscribes to a magazine called ENR (Engineering News Record) since we have a lot of construction clients. In the September 22, 2008 issue they have an article which describes an exhibit at the New York Museum of Modern art. The MoMA envited 5 firms to build varying types of houses. There was a house made of celophane and steel, a house that unfolds, a house that ships in a shipping container, a house thats put together with rubber mallets and held together with friction, and this Micro Compact House. The Micro Compact House or MCH intrigued me the most since its available right now to purchase for $78,000. It is an 8 by 8 foot cube with 75 square feet of space. Every surface is duel purpose. The bed is also a table, when the front door the entry way becomes a shower, etc. The house has a kitchen and a toilet. To be completely off the grid with lights, A/C, and electricity the unit only needs 86 square feet of PV panels and a wood burning pellet stove. microcompacthome.com/   |
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Hey guys, don't kill the messenger. He is only said it was interesting and shared it with us. He didn't try to say this is what we should all be living in. While I don't want to live in a 75 sq. ft. house, smaller houses might be the wave of the future if energy costs continue to rise. Thanks Dace. It is a very interesting concept. David |
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I like these the best: Prefab modular homes Wee House Homepage Skip the Flash Intro |
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That little house is bullshit..... The concept however, does hold some value. I spent a fair bit of my youth living in an island cottage. It pretty much fit the description of a micro-home. The living room/dining room/kitchen was a single 12 x 12 room that contained a small table, rocking chair, occasional chair, stove, fridge, woodstove and kitchen counter. The bedroom was a 12x14 bunk room. There are a couple keys to living small: Don't try to cram a ton of stuff in there. Be organized. Ensure every space serves several purposes. Spend a lot fo tiem outdoors. I'll admit I'm a little more agreeable towards living in a smaller home than most others. If I was single again I'm fully convinced that I could quite happily exist in a 16x16 shell. It worked for thoreau. One thing you do find quickly: House cleaning takes about ten minutes. There simply is less to do. You have hours more for other tasks.... Frozenny |
We put wheels on them and call them campers out here.  The wheels are a nice feature. Some places put hulls under them and call them house boats - again another nice feature. If I lived on a large lake or big enough river the house boat would be near ideal. Float that thing out from the shore line several hundred yards and go fishing. I do like that sort of thinking for underground bunkers. I've spent hours day dreaming about building my own underground bunker. |
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I actually saw the tumbleweed concept a few weeks back. The idea is possibly intriguing as a BOL but not as a primary residence (or for the price..). I can't believe the $$$$$n hippies who actually believe they should live with a 'small environmental footprint' so they'll move into one of those things permanently. WTF..... It's called standard of living........ Give me the biggest damn house I can afford. I'm american and I have loads of crap. I'm damn proud that I work my ass off and don't live in some third world shithole. Yeah, I don't NEED it but cmon, my wife'd kill me if we moved into any smaller of a house. I don't want to free willingly downgrade myself to some somalian bungalo. |
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I am interested how this can be marketed in the US. Most of the states have adopted the International residential Code. That code states at least one habitable room in a home (a habitable room is not a kitchen or bathroom) needs to be at least 120'sq. With a minimum dimension of 7'. An efficiency dwelling unit, which by the pics this would fall under is required to have a 220'sq room for its habitable space requirements. Bathrooms and kitchen areas are also required to be able to be closed off from one another. As far as I know there are NO code exemptions for those requirements. |
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Sure. I bought 8 acres a tad over a year ago. Sloping property, all hardwoods, artesian well. Its super nice property. The cabin started as a 5X6 well slab.  I am building a house on the site as well, but doing it as money comes in so I can avoid a mortgage, and BS going along with that. SO.... when I was pouring my basement slab, I calculated that it needed 23 yards of concrete. I ordered 24 (3 trucks full) to be on the safe side, and formed the cabin slab up to try and not waste a whole yard of concrete. It was sort of a contingency plan. Its 10X10 the walls are 8 foot and the Loft area at the tallest spot is 4 feet tall. I've got a 10X4 sleeping loft in there now. This is down the hill from my homesite. This is about half way down to my creek.  This is my homesite.  Here is the start of the pouring of my home slab.  I built the cabin for a few reasons. #1 so I would have a place to stay while I worked on my house on my weekends #2 so I would have a BOL #3 so I have a place to prep #4 so I have a place to stay if the economy crashes. I will take more pictures of the cabin (inside, and out) soon if you guys want. |
| Ive seen Ford Econoline vans that looked more comfortable and were well within the right price range. My Dad's had two couches that converted to a fullsize bed when you took the table apart; had a mini fridge, propane stove and a sink. Ill post pics if I can find some, gonna have to shoot him an email. |