Affordable 'tiny houses' offer innovative, compact living solutions for as little as $16,000

Saturday, September 17, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: green homes, affordable, health news

(NaturalNews) The old adage "less is more" just might have some profound truth in it after all, at least according to Jay Shafer of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. Since 1997, Shafer has comfortably lived in a tiny 89 square foot home made of high quality, environmentally friendly materials -- and his company offers this model and more than 20 other tiny home designs, plans, and self-build kits to customers, including a 65 square foot home that can be built for as little as $16,000.

Tumbleweed's array of box bungalows, cottages, and "houses to go" cover the entire gamut of shapes, styles, and square footage -- square footage under 900 square feet, that is -- but the one thing they all have in common is they are smaller than average American houses, are hand-built, are made of very high quality materials, and, best of all, they are fully functional with modern amenities.

The idea behind Shafer's home design concept is to eliminate square footage waste, which in most homes results in high utility costs, added debt, and a whole lot of extra, unneeded space to clean. By scaling things down a bit -- or a whole lot, depending on the size of a person's home -- Shafer believes people can live life more simply, and even more comfortably.

"I've found that, like anything else that's superfluous, extra space merely gets in the way of my contentment, for it requires maintenance and heating and ultimately demands that I exchange a portion of my life for the money to pay for these luxuries," Shafer is quoted as saying in a recent Daily Mail article.

"I wanted a place that would maintain my serene lifestyle, not a place that I would spend the rest of my life maintaining. Everything's within arm's reach and nothing's in the way -- not even space itself."

All portable Tumbleweed homes, which can be towed and transported, are finished with hardwood floors, pine walls, built in cabinetry, and stainless steel counters. Tumbleweed "green" homes are fully insulated and come with double pane windows. Even the doors on all Tumbleweed homes are hand made individually to ensure that each one has a classic, timeless look.

To learn more about Tumbleweed's unique living concepts, visit:
http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com

Sources for this story include:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2032...