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A Top Ten Cottage Community Rises From the Wreckage
Laura Bush pronounced it a community "that will be an example for the rest of the world." Now Cottage Living Magazine has chosen the developing Cottage Square in Ocean Springs, Mississippi as one of its top 10 cottage projects. The list, published in the July/August issue of the Birmingham-based magazine, includes neighborhoods that are small, walkable and connected to an urban or retail area. Their choice of Cottage Square is especially interesting since the project is still a work in progress with only 2 homes completed and 3 under construction. When the project is finished it will have 19 buildings, showcasing a mixture of commercial, residential and civic buildings.
The cornerstone of the community is the Katrina Cottage which I've blogged about in previous posts. Lowes has started offering the Katrina Cottages as "packaged material" based on award-winning floorplans and ready for construction. Interestingly, the square footage of these kits range from 600 - 900 square feet. I'm sure Lowes has done their market research so their offerings further validates the pent-up demand for small houses.
Bruce Tolar, an Ocean Springs architect, decided to build a village of them. I spoke to Mr. Tolar today and he told me that he has been inundated with calls from all over the country. The attention this little community is getting provides further anecdotal evidence that we are on the right track with plans for a village of small cottages.
Mr. Tolar isn't just stopping with green community design. He has partnered with GreenSteel Homes to provide his cottage plans as a system built home finished with all the electrical, plumbing, and custom interior finishes. As their name suggests, these homes are framed with steel instead of lumber and are environmentally friendly in a number of ways. System built is by far the greenest way to build, reducing the time and energy inputs required from months to days. Because they are built in a controlled environment, waste material is virtually eliminated with the end result being a tighter, better built home.
Many people have fantasized about building a neighborhood of the small cottages, but most municipalities don't have zoning to allow it. We're fortunate to have a municipality in the Atlanta area who has recently approved zoning that will allow for cottage housing development. I hope to partner with professionals like Bruce Tolar and GreenSteel Homes to deliver Atlanta it's first Cottage Square.
Burke Sisco
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