We Need Simpler Homes.

What kind of house do you really need to live comfortably? No one, and I mean absolutely no one, needs a McMansion-sized house for an average-sized family. Sadly, that’s what is being built quite often by developers of tract housing in suburban neighborhoods. The average house size in 1950 was 983 square feet and today it is 2,349 square feet. My apartment is 746 square feet and is way more than enough for just me. That is an enormous jump in square footage while the actual family size is dropping. Why in the world do people feel they need such huge homes? It just means higher mortgage payments, more maintenance, more cleaning, more empty space to fill up with stuff, and more space between family members. Everyone could have their own wing in a 2,349 square foot house!

However, with a minimalism movement starting to infiltrate the masses, oil prices on an ever-higher trajectory, and the economic nosedive we have taken as of late, this could be changing – and what a relief that would be. I would like nothing more than to see people downsize into homes that actually fit them and not an entire football team. A house really only needs a few things to be fully functional – a small bedroom for each person to sleep in, a bathroom (maybe 2 at most), and a common living/dining/kitchen open space where the family can interact and hang out together. So with that in mind, I went looking for simple, minimalistic homes that could work for almost every family who doesn’t have a reality show called “Jon & Kate Plus 8″… and these are some of the cool ones I found.

claytonihome

Clayton i-house

breezehouse
Breezehouse

drophouse
Drop House

meoutsidehelio
Earthship

weehouse
weeHouse

lv
LV Series

showhouse
ShowHouse

yurt
Yurts

What do you guys think? See a few you could imagine yourself in? Have a favorite simple house I didn’t mention? I love minimalism in my life and also what I surround myself with, so houses like these are right up my alley!

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