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Entries from March 1, 2007 - April 1, 2007
Hobbitats for humans
What is a Hobbitattm? A Hobbitattm is to a typical home...
- ...what a Mac is to a PC
- ...what a Honda Prius is to a Hummer
- ...what a hug is to a handshake
- ...what bamboo fiber is to polyester
- ...what a double-shot of wheatgrass is to deep fried pork skins
To get an idea of where I'm going with this read "What Hobbits can teach us about low-impact living" by my fellow EcoBroker, Aaron Doyle. What we can learn from the story of Hobbits is truly profound. I remember that Eureka! moment I had when, watching the closing scene of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I realized who the Lord of the Rings actually was. As the camera lingered on the circular yellow door Samwise Gamgee had just closed on his fantastic little Hobbit home -- it hit me.
Sam was Lord of the Rings.
A humble, child-sized, gardener-Hobbit was the true hero. One we took little notice of in the beginning of the story. Dwell on the particulars of the narrative and you'll realize that, without Sam, the seductive power of the ring and it's ability to corrupt men's souls would have never been overcome. The Bible says that the "meek shall inherit the earth" and so they did Middle Earth. What a powerful parable for us as we transition into an eco-economy and low-impact lifestyles.
One lesson we learned from the Hobbits is that bigger is not necessarily better; that less is more. People who were small in stature but big in character could save the day.
So it can be with housing.
There is growing evidence of pent-up demand for smaller homes with an emphasis on quality construction, ecological features, and unique design. Just Google "katrina cottage" to get an idea of the growth industry that small homes have become. Who would have guessed that a cute 300 square foot home would have captured the imagination of the world as it has? Apparently there's this sizeable population of people who want to transition from the typical footprint to a more Hobbit-like lifestyle.
New home buyers are ready to bypass the cookie-cutter McMansions on large acreage for cozier cottages with little or no yard to maintain. The home pictured above is a great example. I just closed on this property with a young married couple. This is a 1,000 square foot, 1 bedroom home with two square feet of back yard and a spectacular enclosed deck that is more like an outdoor room. The home is an excellent example of adaptive re-use of a historic grocery store. The residence features very thick brick walls, exposed on the interior. The owners benefit from the thermal mass in greater energy efficiency. The home is embedded in downtown Hampton, Georgia and is in easy walking distance to parks, schools, the library, and restaurants. In short, this is a home that is "small" on square footage, but big on style, sustainability, and stewardship. The buyers felt there was no comparison to this home and the droves of poorly built, vinyl clad starter homes that litter the landscape of the clear-cut tracts and carved up cotton fields of surrounding suburbia.
And there are more like-minded folks out there. That's why I am excited to be working on development of a village of high character, high quality, energy efficient cottages I call Hobbitatstm in homage to our humble heroes of Middle Earth and the homes they live in.
More on that in my next post...
Burke Sisco
One of the Cherry Street loft condos adjacent to the one mentioned and pictured above has just become available for sale. This condo represents the creative re-purposing of an historic mercantile building into 1000 sq. ft. of home oozing uniqueness and character. Special features include exposed brick interiors, stained concrete floors, contemporary lighting, granite countertops, spiral ductwork and private decks that function like an outdoor room. All this in a small town setting within easy walking distance to restaurants, parks, and schools. Step inside and you're immediately transported to the world of hip urban lofts more typical of intown Atlanta -- but without the exorbitant sales price.
View a few interior photos here.
Burke Sisco
We closed on 16 Cherry St. this week. The owner is estatic, as she can now walk to her job as a school teacher, saving thousands in gas every year.
In addition to Adaptive Reuse, 16 Cherry Street features rain water reclamation, a foundation from re-claimed "urbanite" (recycled chunks of concrete), and 50% energy savings due to the thermal mass properties of the brick/concrete structure. The home was financed with a loan from myEnergyLoan.
Only one left...
4 Comments
Printmy home is smaller than your home...
A couple weeks back I previewed a fabulous property tricked out with green features. After the tour of the 1.6 million dollar, 7,000 square foot home, the owner informed me that she wasn't living in the house and wanted to sell because it was too big.
She had moved to a 900 square foot home.
Many people are starting to realize that one of the most practical ways to emphasize the logical of ecological living is to simply reduce the actual footprint of their home. We're entering an era where braggin' rights are being claimed over the smallness of one's home. In a swelling backlash to the McMansion, more people are adopting the smaller home lifestyle in the belief that less is more.
Just as the cars on U.S. highways are frequently single-occupancy, a growing percentage of home sales go to single owners, and yet it can be hard for a Buyer to find a quality built not-so-big house -- especially if one wants to move into the 1000 square foot or less territory. Zoning restrictions frequently restrict smaller homes and builders tend to emphasize more square footage over less.
But the times they are a-changin'.
One municipality in the metro Atlanta area is introducing zoning allowing for Cottage Housing Developments (CHD). The homes in this neighborhood will be tiny in comparison to the typical Atlanta product and the neighborhood design unconventional with cottages clustered in groups of four to twelve homes around common green space. The maximum square footage on these cottages will be 1,000 sq. ft.! These homes will emphasize cozy charm and quality construction over soul-less, bland, suburban "homes" that emphasize square footage and acreage over style, sustainability, and stewardship.
In future journal entries I will be telling you about a couple of exciting themes in smaller homes that I am working on. These homes will be a triumph of style and substance due to state-of-the-art green building features. Here's a quick sneak peak:
- Hobbitatstm are small homes that will be bursting with character and whimsy thanks to the unique skills of a talented finisher known as "The Cottage Innovator". They will feature a signature aesthetic that has already resulted in rave reviews and rapid home sales.
- Cargo Containers used to ship goods from China are being transformed into ingenuous living spaces throughout the world. I'm working with a group who will bring some of the first of these masterpieces of adaptive reuse to the Atlanta market.
More to come, so stay tuned...
Burke Sisco
Current market conditions have buyers and builders thinking smaller according to this article by Kelly Evans of The Wall Street Journal.
