Small is beautiful

Downsizing has become a buzzword among South Africans who want to hop off the consumer treadmill, flee Covid-19 restrictions and embrace the smaller, more important things in life. For many of them, a tiny home in the countryside seems the perfect solution.

- ALA NDUGGAN

Let’s get one thing out of the way: you are not a bad person if you live in a big house equipped with every creature comfort, and no one is judging you. Unless, of course, your home is surrounded by guard towers, landmines and a piranha-infested moat, in which case you may need professional counselling.

By the same token, people who choose to live in houses marginally bigger than a walk-in closet do not deserve to be labelled as hippies or deadbeats (and if they choose to strum an acoustic guitar, smoke those cigarettes, eat raw vegetables and home-school their kids, that’s entirely their own business).

Why downsize to a tiny home? For starters, it is generally more ecofriendly than a conventional house. Tiny homes are less invasive, often constructed with wood or upcycled materials such as containers, great for off-grid living, and easier to clean and maintain. They consume fewer resources (water, electricity) and are usually more cost-effective for firsttime homeowners – an important consideration at a time when the average home loan is hovering around R1 million.

As an anonymous sage puts it: “Some people want a big house, a fast car and lots of money. Others just want a small cabin in the woods away from those kinds of people.”

In reality, though, South Africa’s tiny-home movement – encompassing a variety of permanent structures as well as minuscule dwellings on wheels – is not about stereotypes. We’re talking single adventurers with limited means, professional couples with plenty of spare change, families in search of something new and different… even people like us. Their motives are as varied as Lady Gaga’s costumes, and just as unpredictable.