The Philosophy and Practice of Microhousing

What is a "microhouse"? At its most basic, it is a house only just big enough to accomodate the dweller's needs and allow them to live comfortably. It is a design principle and social movement that incorporates many things, from energy sustainability and environmental concern, to simplicity in living, to planning for a viable housing solution for the many who are without homes and who will soon become so.

Demand for smaller, simpler living spaces has created a thriving industry in pre-fabricated microhouses, although this industry is not necessarily primarily focused on either affordable housing or sustainable design. The focus often seems to be on otherwise fairly wealthy home buyers who can get primo space but don't want to pay for the huge million-dollar houses that go with it. The LoftCube, which seems to have been designed specifically to be plopped onto urban rooftops to (literally) get "one up" on the neighbors and take advantage of the great views, is a perfect example. At an asking price of around $150,000, it is still vastly more affordable than most urban dwellings in the United States, but when you compare it to a regular house price in a more rural area it seems like you're really paying more for less. Other of the more popular pre-fab designs are a mix between urban style on the cheap and true commitment to voluntary simplicity and sustainability. The WeeHouse ranges in price from $65 thousand for a "studio" and $155 thousand for a 4x4, with the ability to add more or less modular units as one pleases in between these extremes in a number of different configurations. The cost also apparently includes appliances and full plans for building the house, which makes it seem a bit more of a bargain, but there's also a pretty rough $5-7 per mile truck transportation cost from the factory. On the less expensive end, the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company offers a 65 square footer for a much more reasonable sounding $36k, and they sell a book of plans for all their houses for $36.95 from which they claim customers have built the smaller ones for as little as $18 thousand themselves.

Pre-fabricated microhouses may address issues of overcrowding in urban areas and energy efficiency, but there's still one sticky point that these homes aren't yet addressing - the fact that more and more Americans can't even hope to afford $100k for a house. True microhousing from a simplicity and affordability perspective is to be found in the ever active DIY scene, amongst which simple dwellings of all sorts of shapes and sizes are being put together for less than $1000. Rev. Bill Kaysing is one such focusing the principles of microhousing on the needs of the homeless and marginalized, with a detailed article on the building of 100 to 120 square foot microhouses at an affordable price. Another group seeking to apply principles of microhousing to shelter the homeless is Georgia's Mad Housers, who help convert homeless camps into more stable dwellings with two varieties of wood frame huts than can be built for only a few hundred dollars in total. They also publish the plans for these constructions on their website freely.

As more and more people find themselves unhoused and in need of stability and protection from the elements, likely we will see a revival of traditional low-cost DIY housing practices such as Yurts, Straw Bale Houses and even the tried and true Teepee.