DOUGLAS — Tiny houses could soon become part of the Douglas landscape. At its regular meeting on June 12, city council members voted unanimously on first reading of an ordinance, to amend the city’s building code to allow for the popular little structures. The provision for tiny houses, which includes the requirements and specifications a city and builders should adhere to, comes from the 2021 International Residential Code.
The latter includes several points on tiny homes that detail everything from square footage, to lofts and ladders. Tiny homes have taken off in the United States and in other countries because they’re touted as spaces that allow people to live well, but simply and economically. Master carpenter Keith Settlemeyer of Huachuca City is one of the greatest proponents of the little residences with a business he created called Tiny House Future.
There is even a tiny house movement and one individual linked to espousing the philosophy of living small. Based on published reports, the tiny-house movement is an architectural and social movement promoting the reduction and simplification of living spaces. The name synonymous with the philosophy and starting the movement is Jay Shafer.
In 1997, Shafer began to build a small house (90 square feet) on wheels. Two years later, he completed writing “The Small House Book”, where he talks about his decision to make his home so tiny. There are also tiny house quotes: * “The smaller the house, the larger the life.
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