Trend is Toward Smaller Homes

At the Villages of Woodsong, a traditional neighborhood development in Shallotte, North Carolina, buyers are enthusiastic about houses of under 1,000 square feet.

"It's just so much more efficient," 27-year-old Will Milligan says of his 857-square-foot cottage. "It costs between $60 and $90 a month in utilities." Milligan, a new homeowner in the Villages of Woodsong, a development being built by Buddy Milliken in southeastern North Carolina, is a testament to the rising popularity of small houses, says the Wilmington StarNews in an August 4 article available here.

A recent report from the National Association of Home Builders found that floor plans of new homes in the US averaged 2,480 square feet in 2009, down from 2,520 in 2008. Not surprisingly, the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and garages also fell. In Woodsong, the average hovers around 1,500 square feet. A house now under construction will be 958 square feet. Rooms must serve multiple functions, says Milliken. “Every nook and cranny possible is used for storage.” Compensating for the smaller interiors are high-quality details and spacious porches and decks. 

“In the '30s and '40s, homes were about 900 square feet or so,” Milliken says. “And they were similar in size and shape to what we're doing here. ... We're going back to that trend.”