Tiny Homes, Tiny Living

Tiny Homes, Tiny Living: Case Studies in Community Planning and Development from North Carolina aims to promote the development, planning, and design of tiny home communities through eight rigorous case studies of communities in North Carolina. Tiny Living is a new lifestyle that promotes affordability, sustainability, and social connection. However, reference books on the market mainly focus on the style and furnishings. It lacks land-use regulations, site planning guidelines, and design prototypes for interior space planning.

In addition to case studies, this book features a feasibility study focusing on land-use regulations, site planning focusing on community planning elements, and building design focusing on tiny home interior layout, particularly homes on wheels. The feasibility study assesses the impact of government regulations, diving into the two feasible approaches to creating regulations for this relatively new housing type: “modifying” the present ordinances or “rezoning” the site to another existing ordinance. The author provides the recommended lot sizes and shared community space ratios based on the study observations and interviews.

The site planning session assesses the impact of site elements and amenities on the residents’ quality of life. Based on the study findings, the author provides recommended site-planning prototypes. The building design section evaluates the foundation, material, and impact of the layout on residents’ quality of life by looking at tiny homes on foundations and tiny homes on wheels. The book is further supported by interviews with property owners/developers, local planning officials, and tiny homeowners, as well as the author’s recommended community development prototypes and tiny home interior space design prototypes. This book is important reading for planners, architects, policymakers, developers, designers, and academics and graduate students studying in these areas.