Tiny house movement

The tiny house movement (also known as the "small house movement") is a description for the architectural and social movement that advocates living simply in small homes. There is currently no set definition of what constitutes a tiny house; however, a residential structure under 500 square feet (46 m²) is generally accepted to be a tiny home.

In the United States the average size of new single family homes grew from 1,780 square feet (165 m²) in 1978 to 2,479 square feet (230.3 m²) in 2007, and to 2,662 square feet (247.3 m²) in 2013, despite a decrease in the size of the average family. Reasons for this include increased material wealth and prestige.

The small house movement is a return to houses of less than 1,000 square feet (93 m²). Frequently the distinction is made between small (between 400 square feet (37 m²) and 1,000 square feet (93 m²)), and tiny houses (less than 400 square feet (37 m²)), with some as small as 80 square feet (7.4 m²).Sarah Susanka has been credited with starting the recent countermovement toward smaller houses when she published The Not So Big House (1997). Earlier pioneers include Lloyd Kahn, author of Shelter (1973) and Lester Walker, author of Tiny Houses (1987). Henry David Thoreau and the publication of his book Walden is also quoted as early inspiration.

Tiny houses on wheels were popularized by Jay Shafer who designed and lived in a 96 sq ft house and later went on to offer the first plans for tiny houses on wheels, initially founding Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, and then Four Lights Tiny House Company (September 6, 2012). In 2002, he co-founded, along with Greg Johnson, Shay Salomon and Nigel Valdez the Small House Society. Salomon and Valdez subsequently published their guide to the modern Small House Movement, Little House on a Small Planet (2006) and Johnson published his memoir, Put Your Life on a Diet (2008)

In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, Marianne Cusato developed Katrina Cottages, that start at 308 square feet (28.6 m²) as an alternative to FEMA trailers. Though these were created to provide a pleasant solution to a disaster zone, Cusato received wider interest in her design from developers of resorts, for example.

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