This recent article about builders who think new construction should include smaller homes brought joy to my heart. It has been so long since I’ve seen a small house being built. But it no longer makes sense to only build McMansions. Young people can’t afford them.

Having lived in a large home for many years, I learned that while it’s nice to have lots of space, cleaning it takes too much time,  and paying for it takes even longer. And even after we paid off the mortgage, we still had an enormous property tax bill to deal with every year.

Since we moved to a small, well-designed small ranch (1000 square feet), I’ve come to truly enjoy the freedom that comes with not having so much house to deal with. I hate to think of how much time I spent decorating that big house we had. Now that we do everything on a smaller scale, I love having so much more free time. I can see where that would really benefit busy young singles, couples and families.

I  hope that article is a sign of things to come. I can’t wait to see a new subdivision filled with lots of small, energy-efficient, well-designed little homes. If I didn’t love my little house so much, I’d be tempted to move to a brand new one.