Live Well in Less than 1,000 Square Feet: Living in Small Homes

Live Well in Less than 1,000 Square Feet: Living in Small Homes:

Meet your needs, emphasize quality and delight, and discover how less stuff leads to true wealth. Three very different houses show how.
By Carol Venolia
November/December 2010

This 450-square-foot British Columbia cabin is so comfortable its owners decided to make it their full-time home rather than a vacation retreat.
Photo By Stuart Bish

"During the past 60 years, the size of American homes has exploded, but the trend is now moving in the opposite direction, proving once more that bigger isn’t always better. In 1950 the average American home size was 983 square feet; by 2009 the average home was 2,343 square feet—even as family size shrank. Finally, it appears people are rethinking housing size. In 2010, average home size is down 9 percent, and many communities—such as California’s Marin County and Georgia’s DeKalbe County—have enacted laws limiting new home size." READ MORE