Living small — Some Utahns discovering the charm of cottages

Cottages are all the rage lately. Take Washington state. On the islands and in the suburbs around Seattle you can find new "pocket neighborhoods," each with 10 or 12 cottages clustered around a common green space.

The cottages are colorful and stylish. Outside, porches and flower boxes woo the eye. Inside, an expanse of hardwood and high ceilings create an illusion of spaciousness. The homes themselves are actually only 900 square feet. Some are 1,000.

In Umatilla, Fla., a new neighborhood of cottages is being built on the wooded grounds of an old estate near the center of town. The developer hopes to find 16 buyers who want to live in a smaller than-average home, close to nature and nightlife.

Utahns have been living small for years, notes Bernell Loveridge, program manager with the Utah Energy Office. In towns from Providence to St. George, it's easy to spot a tiny Tudor or a small farmhouse. After WWII, entire subdivisions of small homes sprang up in larger cities.

Salt Lake's Rose Park was one. Christeele Acres in Orem was another. It was built for steel workers and was recently put on the National Register of Historic Places, says Kirk Huffaker, assistant director of the Utah Heritage Foundation. Huffaker himself lives in a 1,000-square-foot home in Sugar House. He likes little. He mentions the houses that line the hidden courts in downtown Salt Lake. These "sidewalk streets" are so underappreciated, he says.

Unlike the new cottages, which are designed for singles or couples, Rose Park and Christeele Acres were intended for families, Loveridge notes. "It used to be it was OK for all the kids to be in one bedroom."

And if there are plenty of small historic Utah homes, there are also new small houses — and condos and town houses. Small homes are popular, says Dave McArthur, president of the Utah Homebuilders Association. McArthur says we fool ourselves if we think this is a state of large, detached houses.

The people who buy small homes may be empty nesters or two-parent families, he says. "Or single moms, single dads, people with roommates, young people who understand that owning a home is a good investment . . . " McArthur says not every Utahn wants three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths on a quarter acre.

For Erick and Shelly Shosted, it is all about being cozy. They originally owned a house with two bathrooms, but when Erick's grandmother died, they couldn't wait to sell that place and buy her one-bathroom home in Copperton.

The neighborhood feels like a neighborhood should feel, explains Shelly. And since they added insulation and energy-efficient windows, the all-brick house is actually as snug as it looks.