Granny flats, also called in-law suites, or accessory dwelling units, are small,
separate structures positioned just yards away from the main house for easy
access. They were common before the 1950s when extended families lived together,
but grew out of fashion when families moved to the suburbs to escape overcrowding.
With soaring health care costs and community issues regarding insufficient
affordable housing options looming large as the boomers age, granny flats may
be a viable alternative for older adults who want to maintain their independence
and privacy.
Niche businesses that design and build small houses are poised to meet this
demand. But first, they hope to change the prevailing attitude that bigger is
always better.
“In the U.S. population, small [housing] is equal to cheap and poor,”
said Patricia Foreman, co-owner of the Tiny House Company in Buena Vista, VA.
“The notion is that homes ought to reflect the size of their wallets or
their waistlines—I’m not sure which these days.”
Tiny Homes
Foreman and co-owner Andy Lee started building tiny homes in 1995 due to Lee’s
fascination with small dwellings in which every inch of space is used efficiently.
After studying the market, they realized that homeowners can choose between
a mammoth-sized home that is more than they need or can afford, or cheaply made
starter homes. At the low end are the plastic single and double-wide trailers.
Their company produces full-featured, upscale niche homes that are small in
size, but made with high-quality materials. These are homes that people are
proud to live in, Foreman said.
Tiny Homes range from 300 to 1,000 square feet and start at $39,000. The 10
x 14 Tiny Grey Cabin is equipped with a kitchenette with a sink, under counter
refrigerator, microwave, a bathroom with a toilet and shower, and an upper loft
for storage. The pre-built home is ready to connect to sewer, water, and electric
lines. It is mounted on a trailer for easy relocation or can be moved to a permanent
foundation.
The company also sells house plans, which have generated much interest. Foreman
has found that most customers want to customize their plans, so she is negotiating
a working relationship with several architectural companies to offer customized
design and building limited to local residents of Rockbridge County, VA.
Their book, A Tiny Home to Call Your Own, published by Good Earth Publications,
has also met their sales expectations. The website, TinyHomes.Com receives a
whopping 9,000 hits a day and growing.
Mini homes have a variety of uses besides granny flats. These might include
housing for boomerang kids who return to the nest, a bed and breakfast expansion,
rental for income, home office, guest home, hobby shop, housing for separating
couples, a vacation home, or for full-time living.
“We found time and time again that tiny homes are the perfect solution
to a difficult time in life, such as a divorce, or they were looking for a place
they could afford, or they sold their big house now that the kids are gone,”
Foreman said.
Small homes appeal to the socially conscious and those longing for a simpler
life. Foreman and Lee were interested in small homes initially because of their
concern about land use and sprawl. Small homes use less land and materials,
while also being more affordable and low-maintenance. They are more efficient
to heat and cool, so homeowners save money on utilities. Owners of small homes
typically own fewer possessions and consume less.
Tumbleweed Homes
Jay Shafer built his own 100-square foot home, “Tumbleweed,” in
Sebastopol, CA in 1999 and continues living there full-time today. The business
owner and builder chose to live small to avoid maintaining unused or unusable
space.
“I don’t have the time or patience for an oversized house,”
Shafer maintains. “I have other things I would rather do with my life
than work to pay for a mortgage or clean a house.”
He has invested time and money in the design and quality of home construction
materials. His design features, including an open center of the home, abundant
windows, and unobstructed throughways for traffic, create a cozy, rather than
cramped environment.
Shafer’s Tumbleweed Tiny House Company designs and builds small homes
ranging in price from $30,000 to $51,000, and sells house plans nationwide.
Sales were flat in the first five years of his business, but have spiked in
the past two years.
His most popular sellers are the larger of his small homes, including his own
home design, the Tumbleweed, or Eepoo, which features a cathedral ceiling, vented
sleeping loft for two, retractable table and vanity, shower, toilet, six-gallon
water heater, stainless steel counter, refrigerator, and sink. This home is
available as a ready-made house, and as a set of plans.
His customers fall into three categories in equal proportions: 1) those who
want to use the home as a standing addition to their existing home, such as
a granny flat or studio; 2) those who want a second or vacation home located
in the mountains or by the ocean; and 3) those who live in the homes full-time.
Shafer relies mainly on his website for marketing (www.tumbleweedhouses.com),
although he has self-published a book, Small House Book. He is also a founding
member of the Small House Society, “a voice for the small house movement,”
which advocates small home living through a newsletter, website, and online
discussion forum (www.smallhousesociety.org).
Small Home Discrimination
As the novelty of cozy homes generates increasing interest, the reality of
city and county zoning ordinances and codes often strikes a hard blow to small
home sales. Foreman’s Tiny House Company home sales have been so disappointing
that the business owners have decided to scale back on production, limiting
their building to Rockbridge County.
Foreman says she is waiting to see if the avid interest indicated by the number
of hits to her website is just a blip due to curiosity or if this is the beginning
of a grassroots movement toward smaller living.
“The reality is, we get a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for tiny homes—standing
ovations,” she said. “Then [potential customers] check with their
local building codes and ordinances and find that small structures are greatly
discriminated against because they are compared with single-wides, double-wides
and small, tacky, cheap homes.
“It will take a national paradigm shift for these smaller structures to
really take off. The mentality is based on the proverbial three bedrooms, two
baths, and two-car garage on a big lot.”
In many states, cities are relaxing their zoning laws to address the need for
affordable housing. In the future, small home sales may skyrocket as the aging
population demands creative alternative housing solutions, such as granny flats,
where they can live their lives independently with family members just a stone’s
throw away.
Resources
Tiny House Company
www.tinyhomes.com
Tumbleweed Tiny House Company
www.tumbleweedhouses.com
Small House Society
www.smallhousesociety.org
Reprinted with permission from www.second50years.com,
helping businesses market to the mature consumer.
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