Is Happiness Really Living in a House the size of a Holiday Inn?

[Sid]

Imagine: the smaller your house, the less to clean, insure, heat/cool and pay taxes on. . . .




http://thegreencuttingboard.blogspot.com/Katrina-Cottage.jpghttp://thegreencuttingboard.blogspot.com/Gardenia%20Katrina%20Cottage.gif





Katrina Cottage (greenermagazine.blogspot.com/2006/02/katrina-cottage.html) Cottages might replace FEMA trailers for Katrina victims (www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/14967361.htm?source=rss&channel=thestate_news) The house that Katrina built (www.sptimes.com/2006/01/28/Homes/The_house_that_Katrin.shtml) Inhabitat: Katrina Cottage (www.inhabitat.com/entry_1235.php) Architectural Record News: Katrina Cottage Provides Alternative to FEMA Trailers (archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/060316katrina.asp) Slate: What's a Katrina Cottage? (www.slate.com/id/2138981/)

[Sid]

Need a little more room?



http://www.treehugger.com/files/th_images/katrinacottage2.jpg


The Katrina Cottage is back in the news. When we saw it last, it was a nice alternative to FEMA trailers, an example of "design that makes a difference" according to the architect, Marianne Cusato, but hadn't been put to use. We like the Cottage because they're cheaper and safer than a FEMA trailer, and are also more permanent; additions can be built, turning the cottage into a home.

Herein lies the difficulty, though: under federal law, FEMA cannot spend money on "permanent" housing. Governors of both Mississippi and Louisiana as well as members of the Louisiana Recovery Association are lobbying hard for the Cottage as a better option (and considering residents of South Florida are still occupying FEMA trailers more than 13 years following Hurricane Andrew, they may be right). In the face of this, the Senate is considering an unprecedented step.

Next week, the Senate Appropriations Committee, headed by Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), will consider adding money to President Bush's $19 billion request aimed at helping the Gulf Coast recover from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Mississippi officials hope the panel approves funding to build 20,000 Katrina Cottages.

Architect Cusato has her fingers crossed: she's designed Katrina Cottage II, a larger version that, like the original, is designed with the Creole cottage-look one might find in the Gulf Coast region. Notably, the cottages don't contain any sheetrock, allowing homes to "get wet" (as in, flood) without having to gut the interiors because of dangerous mold; they can simply dry out and keep right on living.




More. . . (www.treehugger.com/files/2006/04/katrina_cottage.php)


Meanwhile, designer Marianne Cusato hasn't given up hope, unveiling Katrina Cottage II (pictured above, plan below) last week at a Wal-Mart Supercenter parking lot in St. Bernard Parish, LA. The second version is larger than the first at 600 sq. ft and includes two small bedrooms, a kitchenette, a full bathroom, and a living room. Like the original, the Cottage design is based on the vernacular architecture of the Gulf Coast region.




More. . . (www.inhabitat.com/entry_1358.php)


http://www.inhabitat.com/images/katrina_cottage_follow_1.jpg

[Jessie]

less to clean, ect...

but everyone is on top of each other! :faint:

theres gotta be something inbetween holiday inn and that! :nod:

[Sid]

less to clean, ect...

but everyone is on top of each other! :faint:

theres gotta be something inbetween holiday inn and that! :nod:


Jessie:


My dentist lives in a 4500 sq. ft. Holiday Inn and the last time I saw him, he was bemoaning that he was paying $700/month in taxes. OUCH!


There are plenty of options with these plans to add more space and livability:


Take the second plan and add the Katrina Cottage off the living/dining side in an 'L' arrangement. . .

. . . put a washer and dryer and more cabinet space where the kitchen would be.



You would then have a 3 bedroom/2 bath plan of roughly 1000 sq. ft. that would provide a lot of livability.

Especially when put on 15 acres with a 2 acre stock pond . . .

[Sid]

Until recently, we, who live in the industrialized societies have felt and believed that ours is a world in progress—confronted by what we term "problems" but overcoming them, one by one. But during, say, the past twenty years, we have seen the problems no longer diminishing but becoming worse—much worse. Getting a decent place to live and bring up our children was simply something that everybody did in the course of one's life, but now this seems possible for only a quite affluent few, even in supposedly prosperous America. As for the rest of the world, the matter of housing is rapidly turning into a disaster.

The Stanford Research Institute has predicted that by the year 2000, there will be 19 million homeless Americans. Why so many in this, the richest of countries? We have plenty of wood, cement, and labor.


Why can't affordable homes be built?


During World War II, housing was constructed in a matter of days. I recall that the barracks that housed our ship's company was erected in one week. While on leave, I saw similar structures for war workers built practically overnight. In one area, the military used church property, where they constructed dormitories that housed hundreds of men. In many parts of the country, the military also established trailer parks filled with small but comfortable homes on wheels.



The World of the Microhouse (http://www.motherearthnews.com/green_home_building/1995_April_May/The_World_of_the_Microhouse)

[Jessie]

Jessie:


My dentist lives in a 4500 sq. ft. Holiday Inn and the last time I saw him, he was bemoaning that he was paying $700/month in taxes. OUCH!


There are plenty of options with these plans to add more space and livability:


Take the second plan and add the Katrina Cottage off the living/dining side in an 'L' arrangement. . .

. . . put a washer and dryer and more cabinet space where the kitchen would be.



You would then have a 3 bedroom/2 bath plan of roughly 1000 sq. ft. that would provide a lot of livability.

Especially when put on 15 acres with a 2 acre stock pond . . .

oh yes, I agree! we are a family of 5 I was thinking of what we have now.
we could use more living room.
too big is too much like too little.

I wish they'd make homes more funtional. like more cupboard and closet space,
our kitchen is so little only 1 person can realy get in there, annoys me no end!
its not like a open kitchen.
I've seen both ends. my parents have a 3 bdrm, all for 2 people. no one is really welcome there.

pretty soon things own one instead of one owning the things. :(


and taxes ouch! its gotten unreal.

[Sid]

. . . pretty soon things own one instead of one owning the things.


Jessie:


Here is a comedy routine by George Carlin called Stuff (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8896213084482448693) [ 5 min 10 sec - Jul 1, 2006]

[Advisory: a little coarse]

. . . that roasts materialism.


The more stuff you have, the more you have to secure, insure, clean, pay taxes on, pay utilities on and worry about.


When you go camping, you understand that stuff is so over-rated.

[kay-gee]

True! so very very true. All the best

[vmoon]

Hey, I'm new here. Actually I love the Katrina Cottages. Personally, I think it would do alot of us good to down size. I may use the second blue prints though. :D Just think of it. Smaller utility bills.:yowza: The Katrina Cottages are cute. They have personality.:nod:

[Sid]

My DD and SIL lived in New Orleans pre-Katrina. I have been there twice after Rita.


There are hundreds of acres of New Orlean's lower 9th ward that should be bulldozed down and filled in to a few feet above sealevel and then rebuilt.

Rebuilding it as it was is a waste.

[vmoon]

My DD and SIL lived in New Orleans pre-Katrina. I have been there twice after Rita.


There are hundreds of acres of New Orlean's lower 9th ward that should be bulldozed down and filled in to a few feet above sealevel and then rebuilt.

Rebuilding it as it was is a waste.

What a shame. I'm so sorry for the folks there.

[Chrystalwuzhere]

The smaller your house is, the shorter the distance you'll have to walk to get to the kitchen. :lol:

That says it all right there.

[Sid]

This video is about 5 minutes:


Positive change begins at home. So when Dee Williams decided to change her life, that's where she started. In fact, she redefined what home meant, right down to what it was, and where it could go.

A film by Mark Hoffman.

dream house (http://www.nau.com/html/thecollective/dreamhouse.html)

[Sid]

A garden of interesting links:


Monolithic Dome Institute (http://www.monolithic.com/)

[kay-gee]

Happiness is living in a log cabin on a remote island in the ocean.
all the best...

[a.baker]

Hmmm that second blue print looks like the place I live now minus the porch and switch a couple of rooms around. But I live in an apartment; at ground level so we have windows but no patio. For me its great! But I guess we were living in 2 bedrooms and a small bathroom for the last 3.5yrs. so an apartment is really upgrading the room or me and my family.

[lighthouse]

actually the size is perfect

[Jessie]

Happiness is living in a log cabin on a remote island in the ocean.
all the best...

ok dude, you are making me so jeolous LOL

sounds wonderful!

Enjoy!

[a.baker]

Yup I agree its really all that is needed and its cozy unless you have oodles of kids...

[kay-gee]

All fun and games till a hurricane comes!
all te best...