Editorial: High time for tiny houses in the suburbs
Is the European live-small lifestyle finally starting to rub off on us? Or is the prospect of selling one's house when relocating too much to bear? Whatever the reasons, tiny houses are everywhere these days. There are conferences, clubs and competing television series dedicated to them. They're everywhere.
Everywhere but here, it seems.
Tiny houses are defined, roughly, as residences between 100 and 400 square feet, where every cubic inch serves a purpose - or two.
They're built on wheels, so you can take them with you. They're not precisely trailers and not recreational vehicles, either. They fall into a broad gray area in terms of local zoning laws.
Staff Writer Jamie Sotonoff wrote for Tuesday's paper about a South Elgin builder of tiny houses who is inundated with orders for them - even though he cannot sell them locally. Titan Home Builders, which will be featured on FYI's "Tiny House Nation" next month, can't keep up with demand. So owner Bob Clarizio is looking to quintuple production.
The trend for tiny houses began a few years ago, wrote Sotonoff, the result of a desire to live a freer lifestyle with less debt and a smaller carbon footprint. A basic model runs about $40,000 - and while delivery is free, you'll need a big pickup truck to tow it to the beach.
Clarizio's customers are millennials who can't take on more debt and retirees looking to downsize.
What a great solution to the cycle of renting for young people and providing greater freedom to those who'd like to retire but might not be able to with shrunken 401(k)s.
How are tiny houses any different from a guest cottage, a coach house, a pool house or any other auxiliary building allowed by some zoning laws? Imagine your aging mother would love to live close to you but still wants her independence. Answer: A tiny house on your property, modified, of course, so she wouldn't have to climb stairs to get to a bedroom loft. Or, consider your college graduate who isn't sure what to do with his life just yet and can't seem to live without your laundry and cooking services?
McHenry County planners have heard a number of questions regarding tiny houses. So they're considering whether to make allowances for them in a new comprehensive plan.
In the quest to provide more affordable housing in the affluent suburbs, and to keep older people in their homes longer, it would behoove municipal planners to give some thought to providing allowances for tiny houses.