http://homelinkmag.com/homelink_summer2012_builder_perspectives_downsizing.html
HomeLink Summer 2012
Sustainable Building. Sustainable Living.
BY: Megan Moore-Kemp
Photos by Eric Stubbs Photography
Big Home
Little Space
“Mom, our house is BIG. But you always say it’s small.”
Mason Kemp, age 3
“You can make enough money to not need things, or you can just not need things.”
Gilad Elbaz, inventor and investor
Returning to my childhood home as an adult, I was astounded by how much smaller the space was than I remembered. After asking around, I’ve come to find this is a fairly common experience. While the bedrooms were tiny and the kitchen lacked windows, my memories were large and bright: plenty of room for dancing to Crystal Gayle, chasing the cats, and playing Pop Goes the Weasel in my laundry basket. I didn’t have any concept of what it lacked, because it had everything I needed: my parents, my Strawberry Shortcake comforter and space to do my dancing.
Two years ago, I was pregnant with Mason’s little brother Fergus, living on thirty-five acres in a 1700 square-foot home seventeen miles out of town. After much soul searching, my husband and I decided this life was neither realistic nor sustainable for us. We had lots of space, garden potatoes and home-canned goods, but we were driving to the tune of seventy miles per day, and I was lonely during my long days at home with our son.
Buying a typical three-bedroom/two-bath home in Steamboat was beyond our means. So, we started brainstorming. Rent? We are always averse to this. Move away? Just for a house? That seemed dramatic.
We had a couple of things on our side. Seven years ago, with my mother, we bought an investment property in town with a very dilapidated 1940s rental house on it. We couldn’t move into the home, because we couldn’t afford to live long-term without the rental. Could we build something next to the rental house? We do, after-all, own and operate a sustainability focused construction company—hello sweat equity! Our biggest hurdles were going to be the very little capital with which we had to build something and the zoning restrictions of the lot.
We decided to build the smallest, most sustainable dwelling we could afford right next to the existing rental house. Scott designed a 629 square-foot apartment above a garage custom made for us. We had about $100/square foot to work with, including the garage. Even this tight budget was a stretch for us. We met our budget by doing as much work as we could ourselves, re-using as many materials from prior projects as possible, and thinking hard about what we could postpone until a later date.
During design, it was a challenge not to dwell on what we were giving up—the second bathroom, an office, a mudroom. We worked to focus on what the little house would bring us: the opportunity to build an efficient, healthy home, the chance to (drastically) downsize our things, more walking and biking, and finally, the ability to spend more time together doing the things we love to do because we are not working to maintain a larger home than we need.
All of our interior and exterior design elements were chosen to work with the materials we had available. Using wood from an 1880s barn we deconstructed, our friend Mitch Porter built the cabinets. Our claw-foot tub was taken from a home we remodeled in Oak Creek. The interior trim is all salvaged or saved wood from prior projects. Until we have money and time for something fancier, our deck railing is re-used dimensional framing lumber. The exterior wainscoating is corrugated roofing from the old barn. Most of the wood siding is regionally harvested beetle killed pine.
More money was budgeted proportionally for a few key things: energy efficiency and noise control. We purchased the most energy-efficient insulation, windows, appliances and gas fireplace we could afford. Our insulation is a combination of spray-foam and blown in fiberglass. Big effort was put towards air sealing, with high attention paid to detailing during construction—including two blower door tests and a fresh-air ventilation system. This has definitely paid off. Our heat is only on for four months a year, with natural gas bills totaling just $200 for the season. We control noise with cork flooring, triple pane windows, sound control panels on the garage ceiling and insulation in the interior walls. This has also been worth it. Scott can work in the garage, trucks can move through the distributor warehouse across the street, music can play, and mommy can still sleep in!
To accommodate for the future, and manage our budget, we worked for flexibility in our design. Right now we have a storage space which can be converted to a sleeping loft once the boys are bigger and can manage a ladder. At some point, we will build more specific furniture and storage. The garage could become the hang-out zone once the boys want to be farther than five feet away from us.
Our actions are definitely unique to new parents in our country. The average family home today is 2,343 square feet. Parents work hard to maintain the family home. Instead of adding square footage along with a growing family, we chose to take it away. Our goal is to emphasize experience over income and social standards. Basically, we want to spend more time outside than inside. The house is an experiment for us: how efficient can we be with our money, time and energy?
When I am feeling philosophical, I also view our choice as an experiment in social engineering. Our boys will know how to share a bathroom. We are learning how to carve out our own little meaningful personal spaces. Everyone is involved in carting laundry to and from the washing machine in the garage. We are disciplined in choosing what we purchase for the house, and putting our stuff away.
The space works for us right now. Surprisingly, better than I expected. There was a phase of downsizing that entailed obsessively thinking about what stuff we keep, and what we get rid of, and what is the perfect stuff for this size house, and just a lot of thinking about stuff, which is, thankfully, over. The boys have very specific, space conscious toys. (The child-height mirror on the wall being my current favorite—so great for dancing!) We have an office area, a coat and shoe zone and cozy sleeping spaces. Our kitchen is the best. A few weeks worth of groceries costs more than our annual heating bill. We don’t lack for sunshine and fresh air. Mason and Fergus think our house is BIG. I’d say we’ve settled in—without having to settle a bit.
