More On Small Houses

In the article Living Small featured on Culture11, the best thing that has happened to conservatism since Rod Dreher (read his post: Against Reverse Food Snobbery from today), Lori Erickson makes the case for how living in a small home has created a holistic environment for her family full of sharing, closeness, and thrift, as she writes:

Looking back on 18 years of living small, I see that our snug house has prevented us from easily avoiding one another by retreating into our own spaces. We’ve been able to eavesdrop on our kids as they played with friends and look over their shoulders as they did homework on the dining room table. It’s been good for our health too, forcing all of us, especially our sons, to spend more time out-of-doors. There simply isn’t room to get too rowdy inside, so often they have headed outside to a neighborhood park that’s conveniently located just across the street.I hope we’ve given our sons the message that wealth doesn’t come from our material possessions, but instead from the diversity of experiences we have and the richness of our community.

Buy one today!

Tiny Houses as Nouveau Americana

The tiny houses featured in the New York Times article “The Next Little Thing?” are perfect for the agrarian lifestyle, even in the midst of suburbia.  I want to buy some sweet chunk of real estate in Northern New Jersey and plop down a 750 sq. ft. weeHouse on it and stock it with IKEA goodies.

A pre-fab weeHouse

Why take up land that you can garden with a house that will cost you an arm and a leg to heat during the winter?

A must see is the accompanying audio slideshow.  The ability for these houses to capture the American “essence” and love of land seen in Berry, Thoreau, and Emerson, as well as Westerns, is truly inspiring.

I’m going to be living the dream, man!