Downsizing to a House the Size of a Shed

By Alex in Home & Garden, Money & Finance on Oct 22, 2008 at 1:00 pm

With the real estate market went bust, Bill and Sharon Kastrinos decided to downsize their home … into a size of a small shed!

Now, they live in a place so small, he and his wife use a ladder to climb into their bed every night. The downstairs has a sitting area, tiny kitchen and bathroom in a space that’s 98 square feet. The upstairs loft has a bed in 56 square feet of space. They keep extra clothes in their car.

"It’s a very simple lifestyle," he says. "The downside of it is it takes a readjustment. You can’t have 100 pairs of shoes in the closet or 50 outfits."

The upside?

The house cost them $15,000, and the utilities are a mere $15 a month. The couple now live on property owned by their daughter in California wine country, where the average home in 2007 cost $725,000. If they want to leave, the home has wheels and can be pulled behind their vehicle and plugged into any RV park in the nation.

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  1. Patrick Nice
    Oct 22nd, 2008 at 1:22 pm

    Wow. $15,000 is still quite a bit for something that small.

  2. Miss Cellania
    Oct 22nd, 2008 at 1:26 pm

    I know where they can get a bigger RV for less.

  3. AndyIII
    Oct 22nd, 2008 at 1:33 pm

    I thought the same thing…15 grand for a shed on wheels?! And the guy’s in construction?! Maybe I know why he couldn’t make it in that business.

    “Ok ma’am, I’ve got your estimate for your new dog house…we’re looking at about $6300 before permits.”

  4. neatoperson
    Oct 22nd, 2008 at 2:30 pm

    living on their daughter’s land in a $15k shed on a lawn mower trailer? idiots. and how are the utilties only $15 a month? is that the price their daughter charges them or something?

    they sound like freeloading hippies.

    on second thought, at least they aren’t holding up the check out line at wal-mart trying to get their welfare approved living in a $200k house without jobs.

  5. redphone
    Oct 22nd, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    Bizarrely dumb. The first thought that is clearly going through all our minds is the fact that they could have bought an awesome motor home for 15k.

  6. DOJ
    Oct 22nd, 2008 at 4:52 pm

    but would a motor home have a little porch?

  7. andiscandis
    Oct 22nd, 2008 at 6:34 pm

    I like it. But yeah, $15K is steep for a shed.

  8. ted
    Oct 22nd, 2008 at 7:52 pm

    That’s a pricy shed. The articles says they’re actually making and selling them – I guess there IS one born every minute.

  9. Ali S.
    Oct 22nd, 2008 at 9:27 pm

    Yup, like some of you folks pointed out…an RV sure would’ve been cheaper and much more comfortable.

  10. Christophe
    Oct 22nd, 2008 at 9:49 pm

    Does the $15000 include dung removal from the horse van?…

  11. su.wei
    Oct 22nd, 2008 at 10:21 pm

    ohhk…sounds like how most people here in fairbanks live. i lived in an even smaller cabin. no water. no bathroom. lol. its not that bad…

  12. DeLuxe
    Oct 23rd, 2008 at 3:49 am

    Isn’t this called a caravan? The fore-runner of the camper or motor home?
    In Europe, people who can’t even afford a proper(!) trailer live in it.
    This is not smart, it’s sad…

  13. Gerry
    Oct 23rd, 2008 at 8:32 am

    Dear Bill and Sharon:

    It’s got wheels. You have therefore stupidly paid twice as much as you should have for a TRAVEL TRAILER.

    Throw some car parts and empty Budweiser cases in front of it and join in with the rest of my family….

  14. stokessd
    Oct 24th, 2008 at 6:53 am

    I’d argue that the quality of the interior (and possibly exterior too) is better than a small RV. The house in the picture is from here I think:

    http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

    Sheldon

  15. D-san
    Oct 24th, 2008 at 10:35 am

    That doesn’t seem very prudent to me. $15,000? Just goes to show you that some people will latch on to anything if it’s new and different.

  16. BERTRAM
    Nov 27th, 2008 at 2:47 am

    15000K is a lot but everything is a lot now unless you scrounge for your items. Besides a lot of older motorhomes in that price range or less requires a lot of work. And people that buys motorhomes for $50,000.00 and up are more crazy as far as I’m concerned.


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