Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: very small/ compact housing

[Tony Adrian (nursingdata]

For folks interested in LittleHouses of all types please consider reviewing 
the many posts in the Yahoo LittleHouses group.

For instance - it is a common misconception that cathedral ceilings would 
decrease energy efficiency in a cold climate by trapping heat. We shared 
that belief before we consulted an energy efficient architect.

Low impact living, energy efficiency, and frugality are the most common 
themes in the LittleHouses group. There are many free designs available for 
perusal.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LittleHouses/messages


Here are links to our house:

http://tinyurl.com/6vvjw

http://tinyurl.com/dxy6s

Tony

> My family of four is about to move into our 1200+- sq.ft. townhouse (plus
> full unfinished basement) at Common Pastures in Charlotte, VT. One of the 
> last
> design changes made was to get rid of a cathedral ceiling living room, to 
> add a
> floor and add space on the second floor. I feel this is one of the best
> decisions we've made. In a small house, catherdal ceilings seem to be an 
> unnecessary
> luxury, and I can just imagine all of heat that would have been trapped up
> there in the winter.
>
> Two other things that, in my opinion, make small houses more livable
>
> 1) lots of windows
>
> 2) vaulted ceilings on second floor.
>
> Space/storage is always an issue is small homes. For us (we are coming from
> an even smaller house) it has been a great incentive to reduce our 
> consumption.
>
> Kelly Devine
> Common Pastures
> aka Champlain Valley Cohousing
> Charlotte, Vermont
> http://www.champlainvalleycohousing.org
> 802-425-5030
> hyghroad [at] aol.com