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[Peaches McPhee]

I always wonder why they just don't buy themselves a camper or trailer.

[software]

I feel sorry for the kids.

I'm sure they have no choice.

Many elderly folks in my area have been living in "tiny homes" for years.

When my grandmother could no longer live by herself, her son (my uncle) built her a tiny house in his backyard.    He lived on 2 lots anyway.

This was back in the 1960s.  I thought it was a great idea, I loved the little house.

Open concept kitchen, dining, LR, plus 2 BR & a bathroom, all on one floor.   I don't know the square footage but I'd guess maybe 400-500..

I've seen many families do this.

A camper or trailer here in tornado alley would not be safe.

[Kachina624]

I love to look at those tiny house programs as some of them are so cute.  Live in One?  I don't think so, I love my stuff.  They'd make a nice vacation cabin.  If you like them, just hang in there a few years and lots of them will be for sale...cheap.  it's just a fad.

[Ms X]

250 sq ft isn't even big enough for one person unless there's a big outdoor deck (with mosquito netting and a roof) that functions as part of the home and it's warm all year.  That way, you could really live outside a lot of the time.  Barring that, you need at least 400-500 sq ft for one or maybe two people.  For two people, I'd say 600-800 is minimum.

I don't like the sleeping lofts either.  It's not a room and you can't even stand up in it.  Then getting up and down on those flimsy ladders is a nightmare.

People say you'd get more space for less money in a trailer, so I don't know why anyone would buy them at this point.  They are cute, but some are too small for even one person.

[RedTop]

There was a time during my daughters childhood that the backseat of the family car was not large enough to accommodate both of them at the same time without an argument and/or physical altercation.   If we had been presented with a tiny house option during that time frame, I would opted to have bamboo shoved under my fingernails before I would have put my girls together in the loft bed---or even tried to have our family of 4 live together in such a small space.   Even now, we would never be able to do it, period.   We all require a lot more personal space than is available in a tiny house.

I feel sure the novelty wears off eventually, and not every family lives in the tiny house full time.   My guess is that the working couples who are gone all day are probably doing okay with the downsizing.   The couples who come to mind as the most likely to be successful with tiny house living, are the traveling nurses, and the couple who owned an orchard, but built a larger tiny house with a full size bedroom and bath.   It would be interesting to see a show that updates these families with their tiny house living, as I doubt everyone was successful with downsizing to that degree.    

[Desertdi]

I am 4 foot somethin'............and my pals keep suggesting I should get one of those "tiny" homes.    So far..........I have held my temper....................but if ONE more person suggests it, they are going to have a very sore knee.

[151949]

Maybe young people moving out of a dorm room with very minimal possessions - otherwise I just don't understand the draw to them.

[Kachina624]

@Desertdi  Are you having rain today, Di?  We are having that rarity, a cloudy, overcast day.  It's a rare treat.  Had a brief thunderstorm late yesterday afternoon.  So far, nothing today.

[ccassaday]

I would love for them to revisit these families in a year, I bet they are not still living in the tiny house.

[Tigriss]

I lived in a 5th wheel camper growing up traveling to where dad was working.  There were four of us in a 1978 camper.  We took it with us when we went to college.  My sister did 3 years in it, I did 2 years in it.  We now have it at the lake for when we go fishing.  It didn't have the nice slide outs like they do now.  Other friends have campers there and we have turned one of the storage/car shelter things into a "tiny house".  We insulated it with spray foam, dry wall, added a bathroom and have a great room with kitchen/bed/living all in one.  It is a fishing camp, but we take the kids and go to the nearby parks, Providence Canyon and Callaway Gardens.

Tiny homes are just cute/snazzied up version of heavy travel trailers.  THey don't have the technology that travel trailers have to make it efficient and really livable.  Many of us have known this for some time, but all those city dweller drove this market.  The prices of the tiny homes are outragous for what they are, they are super heavy, and are just modern versions of park model travel trailers....watch Lucille Ball in The Long, Long Trailer.  Even those are way better than the tiny homes.  I can't imagine the fuel usage when towing the things.  The aerodynamics sucks!   I'd rather have built a 1940s post war cottage that many people raised families of 4 and more in.  

As for the kids having to share a space, I shared a room and bed with my sister till we were 9 and 11.  My mother shared a room and bed with her sister till she was married and then shared a room and bed with my dad (they now have separate rooms).  Her brothers did the same thing along with both sets of her grandparents and parents.  Grandpa was in the Army.  The 6 of them lived in a park model travel trailer.  The girls had the three-quarter bed in the "bedroom", the boys had the bunk beds, and ma/dad slept on the hide-away in the living room.  My dad shared a room with 4 brothers and the girls, 3 of them, shared a room.  When we get married, we share rooms and beds these days.  Why is it so important that kids have their "own" rooms.  In most of the rest of the world, siblings share rooms, even 3 or 4 in a 10x10 space.  Only in America do we feel that we must have our own bedrooms of large size for our privacy.

I like the idea of down sizing from the McMansion and not collecting so much stuff, but the tiny homes are not the way to go due to sheer cost.

BUT...if that is what you want, the do it.  It isn't for everyone, and you have the freedom to do that.  People in NYC live in smaller spaces and pay through the nose for that!  Who are we to judge.