This article on tiny houses showed up on the Yahoo home page today, thought it might be of interest.
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/1493487.html (http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/1493487.html)
Let's see, unless I read the article wrong, this guy paid $70,000 for a 336 sq ft cabin. That's only $208 per sq ft. It must have all the niceties of the McMansion's (granite countertops, etc).
yeah, the guy has priced himself right out there into stupid. A shame too, as the place is just 6 miles up I-10 from my place in the country. I saw him on "this old house" a few years ago - when they did the Austin "green" remodel project, with Norm Abrams going into Luling to meet the guy and talk about doorknobs and the like, I called the place a few weeks after that - only to find out a 200 square foot build -on a trailer nonetheless- was starting at 60k. Yeah - good luck with that...
Quote from: muldoon on July 24, 2009, 10:06:53 PM
yeah, the guy has priced himself right out there into stupid. A shame too, as the place is just 6 miles up I-10 from my place in the country. I saw him on "this old house" a few years ago - when they did the Austin "green" remodel project, with Norm Abrams going into Luling to meet the guy and talk about doorknobs and the like, I called the place a few weeks after that - only to find out a 200 square foot build -on a trailer nonetheless- was starting at 60k. Yeah - good luck with that...
I haven't even broke the $1500 threshold on mine yet, though I still need to get roofing and drywall.
I checked out the gallery of photos of completed houses on the Tiny Texas Houses website. They are definately trying for a certain architectural look, so that might explain some of the extreme cost. For instance, it looked to me like most all the houses have old rusted tin roofing in place, contributing to that "old farm house" look. Additionally, it looks like they are all factory built and then trucked in and craned into place. I'm sure all that factory, trucking and craning overhead adds significantly to the cost.
And lastly, I don't know about you guys, but building a new house and trying to look like an old, worn out, about ready to fall down house just doesn't appeal to me. I'll take what you guys are building any day over this stuff (and at 1/10 the cost too).
Yea, I've seen that builder before and the operative phrase is "tiny niche." :)
I guess he should be commended for using salvaged materials. I'm doing the same thing, but my cabin will be larger than that couple's 336 sf. and mine won't break the bank. :D
If you look carefully at the picture of the McCullough house, and notice that it's 336 square feet (14 x 24) - they've built John's Builder's Cottage. :)