Tiny Cottage

[Mrserenity]

Hi sometime before the Summer i'm trying to move from an apartment to a house.  My mom has some extra land beside her home and I was thinking that maybe I could have a home built on the land.  I would like to have the most economical home built if possible.  So, I was thinking of a cottage.  Something that would be ok for one adult and a young child.  So, would it be best to have a cottage with one bedroom and a small eat in kitchen, bath, and a loft built above the living room?  Or would it be best to have one bedroom, etc. and a smal kid's room all built on one level?  Also, I was thinking that I could add a door way on the side of the living, just in case in the future If I wanted to build an addition the doorway would already be there.  Also, how much would something like this cost?  I'm not looking for a huge amount of square footage.  Thanks.

[glenn-k]

John has several plans that might fit your needs.  Look at some of the photos of other peoples projects  then look at some of the floor plans and try to figure out how it may work for you.  Find a well recommended and trusted builder to  give you an estimate of cost.  Some will try to rip you off so be careful if you don't build it yourself, or know enough about it to keep from being taken advantage of.  If you go for bids check out  references on the person you choose to build for you.

[Amanda_931]

To give yourself an idea of what "tiny" means, you might look at some travel trailers.  Walk through, sit for a while, imagine living in them. Six inches of counter space in the kitchen has gotten to me!

Also, check to see if your county enforces codes.  Seems like 700-750 square feet is about the minimum.  You could put two small "rooms for a bed and a closet and maybe a shelf for books" in there, still have a decent kitchen, bathroom, and living room.

[jraabe]

If you haven't already done so read the story of "Heather's House" about 4/5 of the way down the Owner Builder Gallery http://www.countryplans.com/gallery.html. It will give you an idea of what can be done by a single girl on family property.