This story is a few years old but one of my readers mentioned it to me this past week so I thought I’d share it with you too. Jim Reid designed and built this tiny 10′ by 10′ house as a proof of concept for homeless housing. I’m not sure what ever happened to the project, but it was sure a good idea.
Jim Reid’s Tiny San Francisco Home
Photo credit Frédéric Neema.
That’s a really great find. I did a few searches and did not find any updates. I was interested in seeing what the result of his efforts were. Anyways, the pictures there are great. He set the computer desk underneath the bed loft to save room.
As a longtime advocate of building smaller homes with fewer resources with an eye to living simply that others may simply live, I was a home designer/builder in CT, and am now a street minister in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. Personally, I think Reid’s idea was wonderful, but then again, I live in 286 square feet and find it quite luxurious. Many of my colleagues who work with people who are without long term shelter thought Reid’s proposal was ridiculous, feeling that forcing people to live in such tiny spaces would be inhumane. I agree with that reasoning…it is terribly unfair that those of us with so much should expect those with fewer resources than we ourselves are willing to live with should have to live with drastically less. We social justice oriented tiny house advocates could serve by questioning the standards so many strive for, based in the notion that our worth is displayed through the amount of space and stuff that we surround ourselves ourselves with.
Your so right.materialistic things we show people all for a image.when life is so short .we shouldn’t be waisting life that way.To many things to see and experiences before were dead.T.V helped us along, way to fast..
Because of a disability, I live in a 3′ x 6′ area called my twin bed. I’m no longer in contact with most possessions. They’re extraneous…
It’s a sweet home, but continues to try to squeeze old interior concepts into a tiny space:
-Rather than a desk, try a clipboard.
-Replace all media with a computer.
-Store items beneath furniture. Vertical storage is claustrophobic.