Re: Affordable co-housing? Small Units | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Sharon Villines (sharonsharonvillines.com) | |
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2002 06:54:01 -0600 (MDT) |
on 10/9/2002 7:12 AM, Maggi Rohde at maggi [at] intranet.org wrote: > Ann, I'd love to see your floor plan for the 650sfqt. Is it online > somewhere, or could I obtain a scan of the plan? We are in the > beginning stages of planning for similar sized units and I'm trying > to collect lots of *functional* examples of small cohousing floor > plans. Small spaces will be in great demand. One advantage of small units is that later, when circumstances change, they can be combined into larger units if this is necessary to keep a growing family in the community. Or they can remain small to serve as a gateway into cohousing for a larger family. I have an 850 sq foot unit that I left all the walls out of and it seems spacious when people walk in. It was designed as a two bedroom. I had lived in 550 square feet for years in Manhattan (where _two_ people and sometimes a baby do live in 450 square feet). Because I am an artist, I years ago started getting rid of spaces that I didn't use so I could have a studio at home. I have nothing in my apartment "for show". I started with my studio in a corner of the living room but as the children grew up the studio expanded. I moved several times, each time getting rid of furniture, so along the line somewhere I stopped buying "living room" and "dining room" furniture at all. In Manhattan only the very wealthy or those who inherited rent controlled apartments entertain at home. Everyone else meets for dinner or at a lecture or for coffee or for a run in the park. Living in a community with a commonhouse where one can spread out when guests come or they are working on a special project is perfect for small units. In fact, with small units people will use the commonhouse more. One problem will be that if you use a developer or contractor who is inexperienced with cohousing they will want to put less nice stuff in the smaller units and better quality stuff in the large units "where people expect it" was the phrase used by one contractor. What makes a small unit wonderful is quality and economy of space. One contractor said "you don't put utility closets in one bedrooms, only three bedrooms or more." Daft! A small unit needs the utility closet even more. Or "you don't need self cleaning ovens or two door refrigerators in small units -- people are happy with what they get." If you build small units they will sell. But you will be going against the grain so you have to "fight" for them. Sharon -- Sharon Villines Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC http://www.takomavillage.org _______________________________________________ Cohousing-L mailing list Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org Unsubscribe and other info: http://www.communityforum.net/mailman/listinfo/cohousing-l
- RE: Affordable co-housing?, (continued)
- RE: Affordable co-housing? Casey Morrigan, October 4 2002
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Re: Affordable co-housing? Maggi Rohde, October 7 2002
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Re: Affordable co-housing? Ann Zabaldo, October 9 2002
- Re: Affordable co-housing? Maggi Rohde, October 9 2002
- Re: Affordable co-housing? Small Units Sharon Villines, October 9 2002
- Re: Affordable co-housing? Small Units Sharon Villines, October 9 2002
- Re: Affordable co-housing? Small Units Elizabeth Stevenson, October 9 2002
- Re: Affordable co-housing? Small Units Maggi Rohde, October 9 2002
- Re: Affordable co-housing? Small Units Sharon Villines, October 9 2002
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Re: Affordable co-housing? Ann Zabaldo, October 9 2002
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