A few miles from the South Carolina border, a tiny house stands in the forest outside the 380-person town of Martin, Georgia. The 200-square-foot structure, made out of recycled wood as old as the Civil War, has a living room, kitchenette, bathroom, and a lofted bedroom.
“The program is simple and leaves no space without purpose,” says William Carpenter, president-elect of the American Institute of Architects’ local chapter and a Kennesaw State University architecture professor. It’s also inexpensive, costing only $5,000 to build the house that’s now used for artist retreats.
The emerging popularity of tiny homes, a standalone structure that’s less than 400 square feet, has helped cities across the nation address shortages of affordable housing (Washington, D.C.) and homelessness (Portland, Oregon). Yet the trend hasn’t caught on throughout much of the South, including Atlanta, where the construction of tiny homes is currently illegal.
Aside from academic experiments, like the 135-square-foot “SCADpads” built last year in a Midtown parking deck, developers aren’t allowed to build tiny homes inside the Atlanta city limits. Why not? The city’s code prohibits the construction of single-family homes smaller than 750 square feet. Some local governments have created restrictions on the minimum size of “dwellings” prior to the burgeoning tiny house movement. Looking elsewhere in the metro area, Gwinnett and Dekalb counties require single-family homes to be at least 1,000 square feet.
Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall is hoping to change that. Hall represents eastside neighborhoods such as Old Fourth Ward and Inman Park, and says the area has “non-conforming lots” ideal for tiny houses and micro-unit apartments. He envisions a wide variety of different types of people such as college graduates, young professionals, homeless people, and empty nesters occupying the affordable homes. Continue reading →