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A message from Jim Greer, Brand Manager

 

Originally called Designer Series Tiny Homes, our luxury brand is simplifying and is now known as Designer Cottages. And by now, you’re probably familiar with the Low Country and Saltbox modular home designs created by leading architect, Jeffrey Dungan. Inspired by nature, these luxury cottages are perfect for those looking for thoughtfully designed space without sacrificing luxury and sophistication.

While the terms “tiny home” and “tiny house” may fade, we are driving forward with creating “Luxuriously crafted space, for a thoughtfully designed life”, just with a new name. You work hard to design the life you dream of. To be with friends and family. To travel. To play. To experience. Space should be no different. Whether the space is used as a primary residence, second home, investment property, accessory dwelling unit (ADU), or described as a tiny home, granny pod, in-law suite, or guest house, rethinking the space in which we live matters. So, before you ask if we’re giving up on “tiny homes” because of complexity or fad, we are not. We’re merely looking ahead to a bigger and brighter future in housing innovation, design, construction, and alternate living in response to increasing demand for housing solutions.

By now, you’ve probably seen too many tiny home pictures to count. You’ve read and watched numerous “How-To” tutorials on building a tiny house. Contacted local building and zoning officials asking where a tiny can be placed. Only to be left with… complexities, confusion, and possibly bigger questions.

Then articles cross your news feed posing those exact questions. Here are a few:

“Is the Tiny House Movement Going to Fail in the Next Few Years?”

“Is the Tiny House Trend on its Way Out?”

“Bigger is better: Why millennials are over the tiny home trend.”

To better understand the solutions, let’s simply answer a few of the questions:

1. Definition – What is a tiny home/tiny house? One of the first established definitions was recently made a part of the 2018 IRC building code. But, the terms tiny home and tiny house have been tossed around so much it’s now largely associated with mass confusion, stigma, and hesitation.
2. Do Building & Zoning codes allow tiny homes? – Building codes are in place for a reason. And so are zoning ordinances. Challenge norms? Absolutely. Help educate those in local positions? Certainly. But again, confusion and misinformation prevail thus slowing progress.
3. Can tiny homes purchases be financed? – Financing already exists. Mortgage products are in place for permanent dwellings like Designer Cottages since they are modular homes built to the IRC code, similar to site built homes. Information and education are key.

So, to be clear about where we’re headed…

No, it’s not a fad. It’s not going away or dying. Market factors like high median home values, large average home sizes, inventory shortages, labor shortages, volatile material costs, and the scars from the last bubble aside, the tiny home movement is growing and the timing is right. The “Tiny Home Movement” is about the psychological movement of rethinking space by living smaller and simpler yet without giving up unique, luxurious finishes. That, is not going away.

As with many change patterns, there’s a point when enough is enough. Something must change. Ideas and outside the box thinking are born. Thus, some of the smallest houses possible came to life in response. Now comes the settling…

For many years, various people have written about the concept of small homes. It’s even been done before. Post-World War II housing growth saw small homes emerge in mass due to inventory shortages from returning veterans and the baby boom. Many of these homes were roughly 700sqft. Is history simply repeating itself?

I hope you will continue to go with us on the journey ahead!

 

All the best,

Jim Greer
Brand Manager

 

 

 

See Designer Cottages Floor Plans