How big does "big" have to be?

Everything seems to be getting bigger all the time. Years ago, people would not have thought twice about living in a small house.

Today everything has to be huge so we can buy more junk and store it in our larger houses.

Because of the ever expanding appetite of Americans and greed, we have come to the point where almost no one can afford a house. Most of us are slaves to our mortgages. What can we do to try and turn things around?

I am playing with some ideas to bring the size of, at least starter homes down to affordable size. My idea is that maybe we could put 2 or maybe 3 "tiny homes" on a regular size lot.

We could re-think "owning" land and maybe create small pockets of tiny houses with community multi-purpose pavilions that could accommodate the need for big spaces when you have parties or times when you want to actually-wait for it-talk to your neighbors.

I was thinking if you created tiny houses that could start about 500 square feet as a single story and then add an optional second floor of about 350 square feet, you could provide first time buyers or move down "old-timers" an affordable alternative. The small "pocket" neighborhoods could have a partial ownership of the entertainment pavilions.

The sketches shown here represent one floor plan that starts at 576 square feet as a single story house with 1 bedroom, a great room, kitchen and 1 bathroom and then has the ability to add a second floor that would add another 350 square feet with another bath and one large bedroom that could be a master suite or big enough to be shared by 2 or more children.

Because the footage would be so small, in theory you could allow for the house to have more detail.

Just some ideas.................