Yeah, that second one is really cool. My wife really liked it; we went to the designer's site and watched one of the videos. You buy plans to build yourself, and you can build it as a trailer to tow it around.
Very cool!
One of the things I liked about his comment was how he did not want to have and maintain a bunch of unused and unusable space. We were out looking at houses today (we do this occasionally, just to see what's out there) and again were struck by the American phenomenon of living in so much SPACE. It is truly amazing.
What does a couple or small family do with 3000 sq ft? We have one fellow here town (though he's very famous, I won't mention his name) that has a 25,000 sq ft house. Just wow.
I thought of Ulthar when I saw this article ... Some interesting ideas, and cool little houses!
I guess compared to a couple of those, we are luxuriating! If you consider the enclosed cabin, we have approximately 20 x 8, but actually a bit less (due to the shape of the hull). And, a lot of that is taken up by 'furniture' like the settees, the galley, the head, etc. Being a family of four, that works out to something under 40 sq ft per person, on average.
I had some experience living in a smallish space when I was younger - I spent a non-contiguous year (3-4 months at a time) living in a 19 ft travel trailer.
I strongly encourage folks to consider living like this. There are challenges, but as that guy said on his website, this lack of extra nothing is an invitation to FREEDOM.
When folks ask us "how can you live in such a small space," we now answer: "We sleep in such a small space; we live in the whole world." We are out doing stuff every day (movies, library, hiking, playing at the park, canoing, aquarium, swimming, whatever) - there is little attraction to just sitting at "home."
Don't mean to sound preachy - really, I don't. I'm just trying to say that living smaller and "more simply" (**) is a VERY rewarding lifestyle (though in all candor, it has its trying moments, too; we spent a few days last week SERIOUSLY looking for an apartment until the impulse passed); so I say, give it a try, for a few months, a year, whatever.
We made the agreement before doing this that we would revisit this periodically and be very open and honest with each other if it was not working for us. My wife came into it thinking we would not last two weeks, but she wanted to make it a year. After the first week, she said, "only 51 more to go." It has now been about 1 year and 8 months, and a few months ago, she said she had no desire to look for a house.
** "More Simply" is a bit of a misnomer. In some ways, this is hard work. For example, we don't have a fridge, so we have to obtain and haul ice for our passive ice box and/or cooler(s). Rain or shine, hot or cold. This is a CHORE that we would not have if we just added one modern convenience item. But there is spiritual gain in not having it. A friend of mine is much better at explaining that aspect than I am.
Suffice it to say that "more simply" is a matter of philosophy and perspective and does not necessarily reflect "physically easier."