Sometimes you just see something and you can’t get it out of your mind. It just sticks there, moving back and forth like a ping pong ball as you try to decide if this is something you like or something you think is just nuts.
This is something that has been rolling around in my mind for a while now, this new fad of micro houses that has begun to see the light at real estate trade shows, construction and architectural conventions, and many of the real estate programs that have started to surface on cable TV.
A micro house is a small dwelling that is designed to be affordable and make the most of limited space. Really, they are a little larger than a luxury child’s playhouse (an interpretation I must share with Wikipedia when I have a moment), which has a little more than the square footage of a bedroom, or if you’re lucky, a living room with miniature everything inside for the minimalists among us.
There can be a bathroom with a shower—which is so small that an overweight person might have to consider going on a diet just to be able to fit through the door to use the facilities or even take a shower.
A kitchen? Well, that is open to interpretation since the most luxurious of these units have a pint size “kitchenette” with a small bar-size sink in a 36-inch cabinet with a two-burner stove on the counter beside it, and another 36-inch upper cabinet above it. But nonetheless, they seem to have packed everything necessary inside these small kitchens and the deco is beautiful!
The bedroom? Oh yeah this is real living! Up you go to a loft bedroom the size of a queen size mattress, with a few shelves built into the walls. Better not need to roll over in your sleep or you might find yourself black and blue come morning. Space is so limited that after you go up the ladder, you literally crawl across the mattress because there is no floor space. In fact, when you change the sheets, you need to take them off and put on new ones while you crawl around that mattress since there is nowhere else for you to go. Forget about standing up. The ceiling space is at a premium and this sleep loft is considered the attic, with sloping ceilings and just enough head room for you to crawl and maybe sit up in bed when you decide you want to lay in bed and read a book.
The funniest thing I noticed about most of these loft bedrooms is that some don’t have a bathroom on those upper levels, so whoever is in bed must climb down the steps (or in some cases down a ladder) to use the facilities on the main level.
Where did the idea for these tiny homes come from, you ask? Probably they are an extension of a child’s playhouse or even one of those ranch shacks that they use out west on ranches when the cowboys work too far away from the ranch and need those little shacks as shelter from the elements during the night. But on the other hand, they are becoming more and more sophisticated as the years go by with creative décor that makes them so attractive and desirable.
Could be they even decided to take the idea from the old summer bungalows that have been around since the beginning of time, although even the smallest bungalow I can remember was probably about double the size of these micro homes.
Either way, if the tight fit does not bother you too much, you can get a real deal on these places, and they are small enough so you can probably fit them into someone’s driveway or backyard. Just the thought makes me giggle: Do you think a creative new way to raise yeshiva tuition might be to rent space in your driveway or backyard for someone to park one of these micro houses? Have we come to this? And what will the municipalities charge for taxes? Better yet, maybe the municipalities will rent them space to park these little dwellings, like you see down south or out west like they do with trailer parks.
I realize I’m getting caried away here, but then again—you never know!
Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) with over 20 years of experience offering residential, commercial and management real estate services. You are invited to visit her website at www.avcrealty.com. She can be reached at 516-569-5007. Readers are encouraged to send any questions or comments by email to anessa@avcrealty.com.
