Houses are Getting Smaller and Smaller (Think: 65 Square Feet)

The small house movement is a social effort that has been slowly but steadily gaining momentum in the last few years. The combination of the economic crisis and people's increasing desire to go green has lead many people to wonder: Could I live with less? Do I really need a house this big? The trend has been covered in many publications, including The New York Times, Time and The Financial Times (and it seems to be a requirement that each article mention Thoreau's tiny quarters).

However, this fringe movement suddenly seems mainstream.

The Katrina Cottages, which began as architect Marianne Cusato's solution to housing people in the Gulf after Hurricane Katrina, turned out to be popular with everyday folks who wanted a great-looking-but affordable home. Today, anyone can buy plans for the 19 different cottages at Lowe's for $700. Builders of seriously tiny homes like Tumbleweed Tiny House Company (aka Jay Shafer) also report an increase in sales in recent years.

ShelterPop's current small house obsession (above) is the Pattern Book House, the latest product of Rural Studios's $20K House project, a program of Auburn University's architecture school that challenges students to design a home that can be built for $20,000. Featured on the back page of this month's issue of Dwell magazine, the project is a shining example of small house design.

Check out our slide show of tiny homes.