As others say, depends on zoning. Most areas haev minimums (and maximums) to ensure the land values. Nothing says “dump” like th trailer parked in the empty lot next door being used as a house.
IIRC there was a news item many years ago about some eco-freak in Boston who tried to liev in a house without sewer or water. The local autorities said you could not do that, due to health concerns.
People seem to be confusing garden shed or outbuilding here with inhabitable structure. For human habitation of a structure you most likely need sewer connection and running water; then all the other bylaws - hot and cold water, proper electrical, drainage, sump pump and insulation and fire code rules (no exposed styrofoam insulation) etc. etc. etc. (slum buildings are frequently closed/condemned for failing to meet these codes).
There’s a very narrow house in Amsterdam, that shows up on weird house programs, which IIRC, is only 6 feet wide.
My county has gotten fussier in recent years and there’s a minimum house size for new single family home construction but it depends on which area of the county. It ranges from 1000 to 2000 sq ft. So YMMV even within a jurisdiction.
Figure out a way to LIVE in a teeny house before you build one. The idea is amazing… the claustrophobia, esp. in the winter, not so great. Maybe situate it NOT in a lonely valley, but near a coffee joint you can get away to.
But nothing beats sitting at the table, opening the fridge for the milk, the cupboard for the Cocoa Puffs, and then rinsing your dishes…
This is an old thread but I thought I would add to it for anyone such as myself finding this great site recently. I lived in both Boston and later NYC and Japan long ago. Having come from the West coast I was surprised at “studio” living when I was in Boston (brother was an architect). Large older houses were converted into apt complexes (with stunning original wood work so on). People become very creative and many were beautiful (students) and eventually would move on and out to the suburbs or larger apt highrises.
In NYC (ditto for any city really) one has to understand the location, original use and architectural style of when it was made and for whom. Later as areas were “homogenized” and “gentrified” (poor pushed out unless like the Spanish in then Hell’s Kitchen got wise, bought their own buildings (when I came it was when Mayor Koch was selling buildings for one buck in certain areas) and found out about the 4% rebuilding loans only to sell later when the area was improved drastically and became Clinton.
The older Lower East side apts were much of the old immigrant tenant buildings - horrible conditions with one back window (no real building housing health codes then) (rail road apt) for emptying one’s toilet waste (buckets). Bathtubs in kitchens, as well as many brownstones in Greenwich village.
Later this area as well was redone and upgraded and costing more - as space and location for turnover became rare). Bloomberg area when even outside rich were encouraged to come in and buy as well many highrise projects which had been put on hold for as long as a decade now being completed
The same for the old Iron structures (where I was told never to cross Avenue A or get killed) which became later (pushing out artists and photographers who needed huge spaces) SoHo. Ditto the meat market - now luxury area.
What was/is truly amazing is how many creative people transformed these places into amazing spaces. I remember seeing (in a bathroom so small one could hardly do more then well - “business”) they had wall papered the walls with News paper - so one could “read”.
And later while in Japan which made the small places in NYC look huge - I was amazed at how ingenious they are at making it all fit - and later adopted it to my one bedroom. There, one could lift a floor “tile” and storage abounded. Tiny appliances and all made for their market. Things double/triple duty and all was beautiful, efficient and calming. The Japanese had paper houses before the War and have learned to “save” face - ie pretend one does not hear anyone in the next room.
So back in NY, I build all things in - used the 11 foot ceilings to stack storage in any dead space I could find (even the little hall between bath and bedroom). I stored thousands of books this way and clothing was rotated in equally tall closets (but small).
Being an artists - I made a platform for my figure of a Bhudda to sit on one end (it was a shape that fit the apt which was not square) tapered at one end and a tad wider at the other. When guest came I would pull out bedding and use the platform as a guest area.
I made hinged top doors on the platform to store my wood and other supplies in back (not often used so in back) and had storage on wheels to pull out and back for more immediate tools up front. This was because we had only two very small closets.
In NYC one could “dumpster dive” and find almost all one needed. A construction guy even cut a strong metal piece so I could shore up the long side of the front piece (underneath).
I made tall columns along side and in the middle of two windows and storage was in all of these (and so angled that when one walked in - one could not see the books). (well that was my design the super I paid to do the actual building - thought I had made a math area and “straightened” it out)
I did away with the traditional table as it took up much space for no real reason - one uses trays which can be store away if on legs or just trays and some can be found and are very beautiful. The kitchen was tiny and I again used the ideas from Japan (and restaurant below us) to garner ideas. Tons of storage due to high ceilings and more beautiful objects in open grid storage, and ugly pots pans in stove (no one uses stoves really) and rest behind re done traditional cupboards. I painted murals on all, made a “paper lantern” over ugly lightening (found rusted iron grating and pasted Japanese paper over them and hung them up in curved shapes) and found an old Iron rail road “thing” to hang cooking utensils on. I cook healthy and simply so used one steel pan for soups, water and one black cast iron for all else.
Special occasions eat out or un stuff stove and use.
In all the space looked clean and bare but held much more then when it had traditional furniture - which was not made for these small spaces anyway.
So it can be done - living tiney and elegantly but one has to MHO look to those such as Japanese culture to see how to use all things in double or more fashion.
Building and zoning codes vary, but a general rule of thumb is the further away you move from urban areas, the more lenient the codes are. Some ares even have no building codes.
True. In Alaska, if you live outside the city limits, there are no building codes. You can throw up any kind of shotgun shack that suits you, and shit in a honey bucket. The blue tarp is a standard roofing material.
I knew one guy with a nice little cabin, with an outhouse that had only two walls at right angles to each other, just enough to break the wind, which afforded an unobstructed view of pristine wilderness while you pinch a loaf. The seat was styrofoam so it wasn’t too uncomfortable at 10 below.
I was watching a documentary about tiny houses, they mention that minimum size for a permanent home is about 600 Sq ft. I have no idea where that was or if it is a city, County, state, etc standard. Since local government depends on property tax I’m sure they play a big role in discouraging $15000 400 square foot homes. To get around this issue people built homes on trailer beds and claimed they were not permanent domiciled.