I’m going to say custom carpentry and appliances, and custom architecture. Imagine if all your furniture was built-in and your stovetop was one of 3 designs in the world that fits a 22" space. Not to mention heating & cooling. And the person who designed it all was one of 10 people in the country who design small houses.
Luxury! Until I was absorbed by the Corporation, I lived in a rolled up newspaper in a ditch.
My grandfather grew up in a house smaller than any of the apartments I’ve lived in. The house is actually similar in size to my living room. His parents, grandparents, him, and his four siblings in a 2 bedroom house. That house was only 788 square feet, and two bedrooms. 400 square feet for one person is doable, but small by modern standards. I could never do it.
The expensive part of building a house isn’t really the square footage. It’s things like hvac, water supply, electrical work, appliances, cabinets. Some of these things are going to be more expensive for tiny houses because you won’t be able to use off the shelf stuff (or source it from places like craigslist.) You could double the square footage of these houses for very little or no additional money if you were smart about the layout.
This seems to be the assumption behind most (all?) tiny houses: that you’ll only ever be inside to sleep and use the bathroom. Actually spending time inside the house is pretty obviously not something the designers thought much about. I suppose this might work for the urban socialite type, but anyone trying to live on any kind of budget would probably start to get cabin fever pretty quickly.
I could understand making something work if it were due to tight finances (not saying that was the case for your mother). These people, however were well off and could easily afford something larger. They had just completely a months long road trip of the US. They were dismayed when they returned home and everyone retreated to their own spaces. They did it for more togetherness. After 3 months in a minivan with 5 other people, I would go off to my own space too.
Plus, I’m sure a lot of their living in CA was done outside, in NY maybe not so much.
Oh, yeah - mom’s family was 12 people in three rooms due to poverty, nothing more or less. If they could have afforded more room they would have been happy to have more room.
My early family with 6 people 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom was also due to tight finances.
Likewise, my first apartment being 10x12.
Right now, the spouse and I are poor but we managed to negotiate an 1100 square foot space for a price we can afford. More room doesn’t fix poverty, but I find having a bit more space less stressful. As I said, we could manage with less, but I’m glad we don’t have to.
The expense per square foot is not mystery. These are totally custom creations, and there is very little square footage to absorb all the fixed costs. There is a lot more planning that has to go into them, because you can’t just throw away ANY space, and most of the space needs to be multi-functional. It is much easier to just wall in a dead space and keep that closet from being an awkward L shape, or to leave it to the HVAC installer how the hot air is going to get to the second floor (a real example from my sister’s house). Also the area/volume ratio is huge, so you need good insulation and top shelf fenestration.
Every contractor needs to build in some payback just for the expense of showing up to do the work, and the less work there is when they get there, the more they need to charge. They can maybe put on a 15 square roof in a day, but showing up to put down 2 squares means they can’t take any other jobs that day…so you pays.
I am talking about Deep Cycle Batteries. My home is off grid solar powered and I watch my batteries closely because they are so darn expensive to replace. As my installer advised, if the batteries discharge below 75%, I see to it that they are charged back up. I have a propane back up generator that automatically comes on and recharges the batteries. My installer said that the batteries could be discharged down to 50%, but I would be shortening their life.
From Wiki:
“A deep-cycle battery is designed to discharge between 45% and 75% of its capacity, depending on the manufacturer and the construction of the battery. Although these batteries can be cycled down to 20% charge, the best lifespan vs cost method is to keep the average cycle at about 45% discharge.[1] There is a direct correlation between the depth of discharge of the battery, and the number of charge and discharge cycles it can perform.[2]”
In other words, the deeper you cycle down these batteries, the shorter their life span will be.
You also have to keep of basements in mind and if you are talking real space, or listed space. Since basements are not standard part of the listed measurement. Many of the houses in my neighborhood are a basic 40*25, for 800 sq feet listed. But they all have a full basement which is not included. It’s not uncommon for a bathroom, + three bedroom plus laundry room in the basement, and two more bedrooms + kitchen(small) + bathroom + living room(small).
It’s not luxurious by any means, storage space is pretty much the garage, but 6 people in that 800 feet is far better than 6 people in an actual 800 sq feet.
My house is 1100 and fits 4 people comfortably. I could spend most of my days and never see the rest of my family. I mostly sit at my desk in a corner. big houses are mostly for “stuff” and I hate stuff and clutter.
I just read a previous thread here about the cost of replacement windows for the avg house basically being as much as a house. Plus when you figure the avg cost of a roof and all the other things that have to be replaced multiple times during a lifetime, I could see the benefits of living in a space that would probably require much of the same maintenance but on a much smaller scale. I doubt you would need a $15k roof or $20k windows or whatever on a “tiny” house, and it would probably be easier to DIY.
One thing I’ve noticed is that when you see a story about a tiny house, they usually go on and on about how much money they saved by making it so small… and then they casually mention that it’s sitting in someone else’s driveway or back yard, so they don’t even own the land it sits on. But if they had to pay rent… last time I checked, lot rent in a mobile home park was running $300-$500 per month just for a space big enough for a 14x50 single wide. And, in the town where I live, I’ve never seen an empty lot sell for less than $50,000 inside the city limits. Usually, it’s more like $90,000 just for 1/6 of an acre. So, yeah, you could build a tiny house for less money than a big one, but good luck finding a cheap piece of land that isn’t waaaay out in the wilderness.
FWIW, I lived in an RV trailer for two years, back when I was young and single, and living in a warm climate. It was roughly 150 square feet, and felt just right for one person. But it would have been crowded for two. And I was paying $160/month for the lot rent (in 1992 dollars). I bought the RV for $3,500 and sold it six years later for $2,000.
I don’t get it—what’s the difference between a Tiny House and a typical mobile home/trailer/camper?
I’m sorry to say this, but I get a vibe that the main difference is that Tiny House People think they are different. ("it’s not a mobile home --that’s for people who get labelled ‘trailer trash’ ").
And what’s the difference between a Tiny House and a typical studio apartment/bachelor pad/student residence hall?
Again, I get a vibe that Tiny House People think they are different: "I’m a grownup now, because this is called a ‘house’ ".
So , when spelled with capital letters, the Tiny House may be an interesting phenomenon sociologically…
But physically, it seems to me that tiny houses have always existed.
Just with a different name.
What am I misunderstanding?
Design and craftsmanship. Mobile homes are made of literally tape and paper. They aren’t made to be beautiful or to last. Tiny houses tend to be exquisitely designed, with thought into making every inch count for the most. They also tend to be made of quality materials that are both attractive and durable.
There are cheap small houses. And there are small living spaces in multi-unit buildings. But until now there weren’t really options for people who want to live in a quality detached home that is small.
I can see the lure of a tiny house built on a trailer. It would be nice to have the money to hook it up to a nice size truck and travel the US. Just my 2 small doggies and me. Stopping for a week or two wherever I fancy. Touring the Southern US in the Winter and the Northern US in the Summer. I guess it’s nothing you couldn’t do with a travel trailer also though.
It sure sounds wonderful.
You can get used travel trailers cheap. The tiny houses aren’t really going to be great to haul around the country because they’re built of regular materials and thus really heavy.
Tiny-houses vs. travel trailers: TH is designed for long term residency. The biggest factor here will be humidity control. When people attempt to live long term in TT, excess humidity is often a problem, causing structural degradation and mold problems. TH is built to be durable and comfortable. TT is built to be light, cheap and to fit within DOT specifications for dimensions.
TH vs Mobile Home: MHs are usually built as cheaply as possible. There are some “priemiere” brands/models that are not quite as cheap as possible. People buy these because they can’t afford a “real” house, so low cost is the main selling point. If you build it cheaper, you can sell more floor area for the same price, and make more profit. A TH is intended to be less expensive than a bigger house, but that is not so much the point. The point is to live small and comfortably, even luxuriously. There is, in general, a real focus on quality.
Tiny Houses on wheels: These are usually intended to be moved seldom/never. The wheels are often a tactic to circumvent local codes that favor traditionally sized houses. If it has wheels, you can call it a travel trailer or mobile home, and a whole different set of rules apply vs. if were on a foundation. But yes, some people do build them with the intention of moving them from time to time.
A four season fifth wheel with slide outs can be quite comfy. Oil boom towns have scores of long term 5th wheel residents. Some of them I’ve spoken with are very satisfied. Nobody with just a three season version are very pleased.
Totally different market, tho, IMHO. Ymmv