Austin Real Estate Scene

I’ve lived in a 1100 sqft. home in Tarrytown for the last 15 years. For 10 years it was a 982 sqft house until we remade the garage into an office. I frankly don’t know what I’d do with a huge house. There was an article in Sunday’s Statesman about how small homes are making a comeback in the Austin area. In Central Austin there were a lot of houses built in 20′s, 30′s or 40′s that were just small in comparison to the kind of homes they are building today. But many of them have lots period details like leaded, etched or stained glass in the windows. Custom ironwork might decorate the fences or doors. Carved wooden mantels or doorways enhance living rooms. Bay windows, spacious front porches and gingerbread trim also are often found in older homes.

Plus with a smaller home there is less to take care of and the price ranges are much more affordable. The trend toward wanting to live downtown has increased the appeal of small, older houses. A lot of people would rather live in a small house then a condo because they can have a yard. Many of the small houses were built one at a time for a client, and not mass-produced like most of the big builders do today.

The public spaces like the dining and living room are generally good size. But the bedrooms are small because they aren’t rooms people gather in. They’re is usually only one bathroom too which are small. They way I look at it is you don’t need a lot of room to sleep or bathe.

Another good thing is living in a smaller space forces you to downsize your possessions. We don’t nearly as much stuff as we think. It allows you to live simply and have less to worry about. And as baby boomers age, the demand for smaller houses, with less yard and less home to keep up, will increase.

Find this article at:
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/statesmanhomes/04/01/1livesmall.html