I bought it... hook line and sinker. The whole philosophy of the Not So Big House. Unfortunately, this is an expensive philosophy for most metropolitan areas. I am planning on moving to the Washington D.C./Annapolis area. I had hopes of building a Not So Big House there. My wife and I make a respectable salary, but we found that almost half a million dollars will barely get you a "McMansion" let alone a NSBH. I contacted one of the Architects listed on the NSBH website to ask what my options were in this price range. The response was that the price per square foot to build a NSBH was averaging about $300/sqft! With lots averaging over $150k, this would barely get me a 1000 square foot home which, even with the finest detailing, is just plain small. Unless there are any better ideas for the Annapolis area, my $450k will barely get me an old McMansion... this is hardly the egalitarian idea it claims to be.

Disillusioned

I have no association with Ms. Susanka or her organization – I’m just an NSB fan. I don’t believe she ever implies that NSB houses are inexpensive. In fact, in the first chapter of the first book she writes about designing a 2300 sq. ft. home for “only slightly less” than a 4000 sq. ft. new construction. Still, $300 per sf seems pretty extreme, but I know nothing about costs in that region. Did you get an estimate from any other architect for new construction of a “regular” home?

- KenF

If I'm reading your message correctly, the architect quoted you $300/sq ft for a NSBH not for a regular house. One of the biggest costs in a NSBH is the trim work. That's what gives the house style. How about building a house, just a house, based on a floor plan similar to a NSBH. Move in and do all the finishing touches yourself as you can afford it.

You are moving into one of the most expensive markets in the country! Scary isn't it?

Rick,

The cost of fine interior work is indeed very expensive. You can also take the essence of the NSBH - which I would encapsulate as "better, not bigger" and apply it in your own way. Every problem doesn't have to be solved with more trim or custom built-ins. I have one "built-in" in my house that's a piece of unfinished furniture that I had a really first rate finished carpenter modify and build in - still not free, but a much better cost than totally custom. I think the architect you talked to was trying to do you a service by making sure you weren't mislead. But, there's a whole other side to it, where you start with carefully design space, no matter now it's trimmed out, and then pick your battles in how you complete the interior. I would recommend that you interview a few more architects before proceding.

Wendy
http://www.artform.biz

The higher costs associated with NSBH's as compared to typically designed and built houses, particularly when viewed in terms of dollars/square foot, is really an issue of custom designed/built vs. mass produced houses. One would hope that as the NSBH concept catches on more mass produced houses will begin to take on key elements inherent in the superior NSBH concept and yield more affordable NSBHs in the longrun. In the meantime, in seems that a strategy alluded to by Kate in her earlier posting which suggests attempting to use present building techniques for parts of the structure and finishing the work oneself inside may be attractive to those with the time and skills.

Hi new to this site. If you don't know it, I would like to call your attention to a site on yahoo,called the small house society. I just bought two of Susan's books and was struck by how high end and expensive the homes appeared to be as well as not so small... Like the man in DC, I have chosen to live in an expensive area of massachusetts, because I have a small son with special needs. As I single parent (even though I am a professional), could not afford the high end houses detailed in some of these books. The small house society, is at the other end, people building home themselves, simple but beautiful to the eye of the creator.

I guess I am advocating for somewhere in the middle. Need a good enough house in an expensive community, but do not have the time or skills to build on my own. My solution is buying a house with good bones and over time investing in green building principals as well as the idea of not so big over time. IE not having to have it all at once.

Finally am really taken by the book Susan cites in one of her intro. pages: A Pattern Language. Few pictures, but excellent prose and no advertising really --- this really invites you to dream the house of your dreams. jeanne

Yes, you can spend plenty of money on a Not-So-Big House, but you don't have to.

One of our current clients asked us for a NSB house in Minnesota. Our design work met their needs in 2,500 sf for three bedrooms and is being built for about $370K, excluding land costs. That works out to about $150 per square foot; not bad in this area for custom design.

We went light on space and wood trim, but heavy on framed views, multiple-use spaces, niches, character, natural light, and energy efficiency.

Construction is due to be complete in February 2006; contact me if you'd like to see photos when completed.

Peter, I would love to see the photos when your house is complete. We're interested in building the 2004v show house in either Colorado or Pennsylvania - for about $150-200/sq ft.

We're just starting the process of deciding where/when and so don't know any builders in either state who do the NSBH. From reading other posts here, it sounds a little daunting.

Vickie

quote:

Originally posted by Peter Schmelzer:
Yes, you can spend plenty of money on a Not-So-Big House, but you don't have to.

One of our current clients asked us for a NSB house in Minnesota. Our design work met their needs in 2,500 sf for three bedrooms and is being built for about $370K, excluding land costs. That works out to about $150 per square foot; not bad in this area for custom design.

We went light on space and wood trim, but heavy on framed views, multiple-use spaces, niches, character, natural light, and energy efficiency.

Construction is due to be complete in February 2006; contact me if you'd like to see photos when completed.

Vickie,
Here is a link to some photos during construction.
We'll post more as they are available.

Peter

Hougen-Eitzman Residence

Rick,
I read your post of 13 May 05 and on first reading of the NSBH books and when I REALLY looked at the photos I thought those house blocks are not small and neither are the houses. By comparison I live in 15 squares (I think that's 1550 sq.feet - we're metric in my country) and yes it's a small house. It's in an expensive area but I don't have the money to demolish and rebuild. I've just posted to the Bulletin Board saying that I'm going to make a few minor changes to make my own house into a NSB house.

In my country also the trimmings/finishing in a house can cost big dollars. But you can use less expensive building materials and put your own finishing touches and you have your own 'home'. And you can make it look just fabulous.

I am taking the concepts in the NSB house books and using them. I would love to build a 3000sq ft house but I just can't. My house has 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1 front room with open fire place and a much larger room that houses the kitchen in one corner and the dining/sitting area in the other. I have a partner, 1 child, 2 rabbits, fish, a pc network, too many chairs and nearly a 1000 books.

By the time I've made my small changes using the CONCEPTS in those books, my house will look like a 3000sqft home.

Rick, take the concepts and work with them. Long views, diagonal views across rooms. Bifold doors; sliding doors can make the difference. Storage of stuff/things where they will be used, etc. I now look at storage differently. Infrequently used books will be stored on the pelmets in some of the rooms. I can't part with them!! I put a chair in front of the tv when it's not in use and I don't have the latest & greatest LCD flat screen tv.

Cheers.
Loz
Melbourne, Australia.

Liz (Australia) or someone, pls tell me what Liz means by stacking her books on pelmets. I could use some ideas for all my books too as I move from a 2700sf house to one barely 1200sf.

Suzanne, "Pelmets" are, I believe, what we Yanks call a "Valance" although if Liz is going to be stacking books upon them I would surmise the Brits extend that definition to include rigid boxes or frames over the windows.

A general question for the group .... My fiance' has issued an ultimatum that she will not be living in my 80 year old Minnesota lakefront cottage until I rectify some, fairly serious, structural deficiencies. I have concluded that "rectify" means tear down and rebuild and we have elected to apply NSBH principals to that reconstruction.

The issue of construction cost debated on this thread is one I'm trying to get a handle on right now. I have come to the conclusion that the higher per foot costs associated with a NSBH house are really a function of the higher percentage of "expensive" space in a smaller house. Kitchens and bathrooms are typically very expensive to build while great empty rooms are cheap. Ergo, a house with a minimum of "cheap" space are going to be more costly on a per/sq.ft. basis simply because the expensive space represents a higher percentage of the total sq.ft. in the house.

With that thought in mind, does anyone have a good source for (or some reasonably accurate estimates of) construction costs by room type? This information would seem to me to be much more useful in estimating a NSBH rather than the typical general cost per foot.

Just my thought from experience-
Instead of thinking s.f. cost per room, which is thinking in the right direction, you may want to consider cost per function. For example: a typical bathroom will cost x amount, depending on where its built. The other issue is separating rough construction cost from finish cost - applied finishes always add to the "bare-bones" cost. One trick is to incorporate the two into one as much as possible. You may want ask a contractor on their schedule of values, where these items are broken down cost wise and you may have a much better idea of true cost. Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by Dave:
With that thought in mind, does anyone have a good source for (or some reasonably accurate estimates of) construction costs by room type? This information would seem to me to be much more useful in estimating a NSBH rather than the typical general cost per foot.

My wife and I are completing home based on a NSBH plan, and doing cost estimation on a per square foot basis doesn't work. You need to have cost estimates around the functions and systems used in the home, i.e. "framing", "appliances", "flooring" , etc.

You should also be prepared to make tradeoffs, i.e. are fancy light fixtures more important to your quality of life than countertops? That way, you can move money around in your budget to get you the most satisfaction.

Once we had a design, and our builder went through it, he then sat down with us and went through choices we could make about the materials and features. (We modified the plan further to make use of stock windows as an example). We also agreed to review the budget at various points to make sure we knew what we were over / under on, and what unknowns remained. As examples of that process, the lot clearing and setup took $3,200 more than projected, but the low voltage wiring came in $1,000 under. We chose to buy less expensive lighting fixtures, but upgraded flooring. All those pluses and minuses meant we have a home coming within 1% of the projected cost at contract signing last June.

Based on that experience, I can't tell you what each room in our home cost, but I can tell you that if you break down a budget into the functional and materials categories, you have a prayer of both getting what you want, and not going broke getting it.

Peter - I would like to see photos of the house in Minnesota referred to below: thanks

email: egis@mindspring.com

quote:

Originally posted by Peter Schmelzer:
Yes, you can spend plenty of money on a Not-So-Big House, but you don't have to.

One of our current clients asked us for a NSB house in Minnesota. Our design work met their needs in 2,500 sf for three bedrooms and is being built for about $370K, excluding land costs. That works out to about $150 per square foot; not bad in this area for custom design.

We went light on space and wood trim, but heavy on framed views, multiple-use spaces, niches, character, natural light, and energy efficiency.

Construction is due to be complete in February 2006; contact me if you'd like to see photos when completed.