We firmly believe that smaller houses are better. Better to live in, better for the environment, better for the community, and better for your bank account. In her Not So Big House franchise Sarah Susanka has written extensively about how building smaller homes (let’s say under 2,000 sq. ft.) lets you devote more of the budget to nicer finishes and architectural details, which creates a more inviting and comfortable home.

At Soulcraft we agree with the thoughts and motivations in the Not So Small House, but there are lots of other arguments in favor of smaller dwellings. The most important is that reducing house size has the greatest influence on energy consumption of any green building strategy.

Accessory buildings are a great way to create extra living space. They might be a small detached dwelling that serves as an inlaw apartment, guest quarters, or a rental unit or an office or studio. Two smaller structures on a property can do a lot more than one enormous house.

See what Soulcraft founder Sean Groom has written on the subject in Fine Homebuilding magazine in Rise of the ADU.