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Small is the new big. From predictions that Baby Boomers won't be able to keep up with the upkeep on their McMansions as they age to rumors that Tiger Woods is tearing down his Jupiter Island castle and rebuilding smaller, average home square footage may be actually decreasing soon. Oprah Winfry has declared that "this is the year to declutter your life," (1) and with all those empty closets, people may soon realize that they do not need all those closets after all.

Small is trendy. There are so many new books out there about small homes, a reader barely knows where to star. Try Sarah Susanka's The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live (2001), which is a great introduction to the topic. Pick up other books that appeal to your senses: many are visual feasts, chock full of pictures illustrating drool-worthy downsized homes, decadent in their simplicity. There's even a n organization for fans of the small home: the Small House Society, whose stated mission is "to support the research, development, and use of smaller living spaces that foster sustainable living for individuals, families, and communities worldwide." (2)

Why is everyone ditching their large homes for small ones? It almost seems counter-intuitive. If you'll excuse the clich, being big didn't save the dinosaur. And speaking of dinosaurs, fossil fuels may be the greatest reason that the demand for smaller homes may have increased so much recently. Smaller homes cost less energy to run. But not just electrical energy: since they are so much easier to clean, people spend less time and energy cleaning their homes, and more time enjoying them. According to Fine Homebuilding's website: "What goes up must come down, and even as the average size of American homes continues to soar, there's interest in smartly designed and built homes that do more with less. Be it rising costs, energy-consumption restrictions, environmental laws, or matters of taste, homeowners are rethinking their space needs." (3)

Arrol Gellner, writing in the L A Times (4), compares today's large homes with those of the Victorian era, and concludes that the modern mansions will soon be traded in for modern bungalows, as history tends to repeat itself. But what will become of our "White Elephants"? Sean Groom and Charles Miller, writing in Fine Homebuilding, describe the McMansion as the tear-down of tomorrow. (5) Whatever happens, don't wait for your neighbors to move out and leave their towering mansions behind: be a trend-setter and enjoy everything that a new house has to offer today.

(1) http://www.oprah.com/tows/past shows/200702/tows_past_2007020 7.jhtml
(2) for the Small House Society's official website, see: http://www.resourcesforlife.co m/groups/smallhousesociety/
(3) Quote from: https://www.taunton.com/store/ pages/027005.asp
(4) Arrol Gellner, "What was supersized may one day be downsized," see: http://www.latimes.com/classif ied/realestate/news/la-re-gell ner31dec31,0,6849399.story?col l=la-class-realestate-news
(5) Sean Groom and Charles Miller, Fine Homebuilding #179, "The 25 Most Important Houses in America," pp. 58-68

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