We have a friend in her late 20s who was planning on living in her VAN this winter. Outfitting it to the hilt - solar panels, etc. I haven’t talked to her since the brutal cold snap. I need to see how it’s going!
400 sft and zero parking is a one bedroom downtown Seattle.
I really don’t get why tiny houses are “hip”, but camping trailers are not, and single-wide trailers are trashy.
Some people live in RVs year 'round. I encounter people like that when I go camping. They seem to be happy with their choice.
I like having my space, so it would never be an option for me, but if it were, some friends who tried the Tiny Life for a few years would have stopped me in my tracks when they spoke of how the whole house stinks when someone takes their turn in the bathroom. YUCK. That’s a huge no for me. You are in such a small space, trying to cook some breakfast, when someone has their “constitutional.” On the good side, I’d probably lose some weight due to the total revulsion.
Our friends were featured on TV when they built their Tiny Home. They were very devoted to it, even when they became pregnant with twins. 6 months after the babies came, they had had enough. They are now in a 2 bedroom apartment and say it has made such a difference in their sleep and quality of life. Plus, no more constant diaper smell.
3-400 sq ft. I’ve lived in a house boat and a sail boat. Didn’t miss a big house. Some of the models I am looking at has a full sized kitchen and bath, a 6-burer stove, dishwasher laundry machine, a tub even jacuzzi. On a piece of land with a fabulous view?!
Tiny house and kids don’t mix. I wouldn’t do it if I had kids still at home. I wouldn’t want it in a city, either. I would do it on a gorgeous piece of private land and I would have huge windows.
Huge windows in a tiny house? Oxymoron. 
Agree if one or more folks in the house have frequent bathroom trips, stairs to a bathroom is an accident waiting to happen, tiny house or any other accommodation.
Ha! Actually, that’s the only way to do tiny houses. Big houses don’t need big windows.
I lived in a Ford Econoline van outfitted as a camper for 9 months shared with someone I was friendly with, but not close friends with. It was quite an adventure. We did take breaks to visit friends, and friends of relatives and relatives of friends! It was okay to do for one year in your 20s, could never do it again.
My nephew and his wife live in a schoolbus. It’s insulated, it’s got a shower, a kitchenette, a composting toilet in a room of its own. It can be moved, but I think they’ve just changed locations once. They are house hunting now.
I had friends who lived in bungalow courts in Pasadena CA. I don’t know how big the house was, but it didn’t require ladders to get to a bedroom.
The bathroom would bug me.
These tiny homes often have composting toilets, which they describe as being like litter boxes. I have two litter boxes for my cats that I clean every day, and I cannot imagine cleaning one for humans.
Wow I live in a bubble. I didn’t think people honestly still thought trailers were trashy. I mean I know it’s a meme but didn’t think it was anything more.
FWIW, trailer parks were the best place to trick or treat as a kid. The houses were super close together so you could hit way more than in a traditional sub.
The Detroit link addresses utilities.
There are some very pricey mobile home parks in Malibu.
A tiny house for me, no. I like to have all the family over for meals, I like having guest rooms, I like a full sized shower and I like having room to move around.
I could totally live in a tiny home, but would prefer a nice RV. We visited the tiny house exhibit a couple of years ago. They were quite nice. They aren’t for nesters. They are for those who don’t spend much time at home except to sleep mostly. The folks who owned them were very outdoorsy and spent most of their time out and about.
I think tiny jokes are indeed better for folks who mostly use it as a place to crash (much like many of us use a hotel room). If the weather is temperate, less weatherproofing issues and easier to be outdoors more.
It always amuses me on Tiny House episodes when people look at different tiny homes then end up buying an RV, which the show still insists on calling a Tiny House. If you plan to move it around then, yes, an RV is the right choice. Guess people still want the sense of “home” ownership in their purchase.
Here’s a novel idea. Keep your big house but spend an occasional weekend in a walk-in closet outfitted with a composting toilet. Best of both worlds.
If I was single and lived alone, I could do a tiny house…but not living with DH or kids. I do want to downsize considerably when the kids are gone, but would still like a space for them to come home to (whether it’s a game room, loft, or spare bedroom. I do have fantasies about having less “stuff” and being able to clean the entire house in less than an hour.