Well it seems that everywhere people are talking about downsizing their homes. The nightly news reported that within the past year the average U.S. homeowner has been opting for between 200-500 less square footage in their homes which is a first since home sizes have been rising since the 1950s. People do not want to spend on or maintain a huge manse of a home anymore and the McMansion developments are having great difficulty finding buyers.
Google lists thousands of entries under the words "downsizing your home" and there are countless books on the subject as well. As I looked further into this subject I found a company called Tumbleweed Tiny House Company that designs and builds both "small" and "tiny" homes. They explain that the tiny houses are on wheels and as such are considered travel trailers which do not require a building permit. The "small" houses are a minimum of 120 square feet of living area, are not on wheels and are designed to meet International Building Codes.
This is an intriguing idea to pare down one's possessions to a bare minimum and move into a small home where one lives fully with only the necessities. I think I could handle this but only to a point--the person who lives in a house the size of my bedroom and has every section allocated to its particular function is hard to fathom. I really do not want to mix my bathroom and kitchen duties within the same 5 feet! (Although I still laugh at the Seinfeld episode where Cramer decides to save water by scrubbing his vegetables at his feet while he showered.)
Here is their site with photos:
http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses/