Tiny Houses

The Economist has an article this week on tiny houses, a movement in the United States.

The idea is to offer a greener and cheaper alternative to the dread McMansion.

The article specifically mentions to firms selling them:

• Texas Tiny Houses
• Tumbleweed Tiny House

Check out the Small House Society that bills itself as the voice for the Small House Movement.

Then of course there is the McMansion movement.

In 1980, according to the National Association of Home Builders, the median single-family home sold was 1,570 square feet. By 2005 that had expanded to 2,235 square feet. The indications now, though, are that the trend is to scale back. According to the Census Bureau, the median size of home starts dropped to 2,114 square feet in the fourth quarter of 2008, down more than 100 square feet from the first quarter of the year.

Comment: Is this "Appropriate Technology"? It is probably a move toward a more appropriate style of life. And of course one hopes that the technology used in building these tiny houses is appropriate. However, if we believe Le Corbusier -- that "a house is a machine for living in" -- perhaps tiny houses are an appropriate technology for those machines in which we live.