First published July 16, 2013.
Could two adults happily live in 140 square feet, about the size of a parking space and a half? Chris and Malissa Tack decided to find out. The couple, both 29 when they were filmed in 2013, designed and built their own house on a trailer bed and parked it in Snohomish, Washington, north-east of Seattle. Before moving in, Chris reportedly made seven trips to Goodwill to give away most of what he owned. Their verdict: the little house is more than enough space for the two of them.
Who made the video
The short film above, titled "Tiny Living," was published by Science Friday, the long-running US public radio science programme, on June 28, 2013. It follows the Tacks through their home and the reasons behind it, and it was widely shared that summer, including by Upworthy, as interest in the tiny-house movement grew.
Beyond the square footage, what stands out in the video is how intentional every decision is. Storage is built into the structure, furniture serves more than one purpose and the couple talks less about sacrifice than about freedom: fewer things to look after, lower costs and the option of moving the whole house if their plans change.
How small is 140 square feet?
For comparison, the International Residential Code, the model building code used across much of the United States, defines a tiny house in its Appendix Q as a dwelling of 400 square feet or less, not counting lofts. Many tiny houses fall between 100 and 400 square feet. Houses built on wheels are usually even smaller, often around 8 by 20 feet, because they have to stay within road-towing limits. At 140 square feet, the Tack home sits at the compact end of an already compact movement.
Height is limited too. In the US a mobile tiny home generally needs to stay under about 13.5 feet so it can pass under bridges, which is why sleeping lofts in these houses are often only three to five feet tall. That is why so many tiny-house owners talk about climbing, not walking, into bed.
Where the tiny-house idea came from
Writers often trace the spirit of the movement back to Henry David Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond. The modern version took shape in the late 1990s. Architect Sarah Susanka's 1997 book The Not So Big House argued for smaller, better-designed homes, and designer Jay Shafer built a 110-square-foot house in Iowa between 1997 and 1999. Shafer went on to found the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, which popularised houses on trailers, and in 2002 he co-founded the Small House Society. By the time the Tacks built their home, there were plans, workshops and builders across North America.
What tiny living really costs
Tiny houses are cheaper to build than conventional homes, but not as cheap as the headlines suggest. Around 2012, most cost roughly $20,000 to $50,000 to build. Per square foot they can actually be more expensive than a large house, because kitchens, bathrooms and custom joinery are packed into a small shell. And a tiny house still needs somewhere to stand: buying or renting land, or a legal spot to park, is often the biggest cost.
- Savings: lower heating and cooling bills, less furniture and fewer possessions to maintain.
- Hidden costs: land or parking fees, utility hook-ups, a towing vehicle and insurance.
- Resale: a house on wheels may lose value more like a vehicle than gain it like a house.
Zoning: the rule most people forget
The biggest obstacle is usually legal rather than practical. Many towns set a minimum floor area for permanent homes on foundations, and some local rules forbid living full time in a vehicle parked on private land. In the US, the RV Industry Association classes tiny houses on wheels as recreational vehicles that are not designed for permanent residence, and some RV parks refuse them unless they are certified to RV standards. Even places that welcome tiny homes may set conditions: Spur, Texas, which called itself the first tiny-house-friendly town in 2014, later clarified that homes must sit on a foundation.
If you are tempted, check three things before building: what your local zoning code says about minimum size and occupancy, where you can legally park or place the house, and how you will connect water, power and sewage. Some cities now allow small homes as accessory dwelling units in back gardens, which can be an easier route.
Lessons for any home
You do not have to move into a trailer to borrow the Tacks' best idea. Their house works because each object earns its place. Try the same exercise on a single cluttered room: list what you actually use there each week, give away a carload of the rest, and see how much calmer the space feels. Small living is less about the size of the floor than about choosing deliberately what fills it.
Sources: Science Friday: Tiny Living (video, 2013); Wikipedia: Tiny-house movement; Carolyn Silveira, Upworthy.
COMMENTS