First, the history:
Five days after Hurricane Katrina, when Andres Duany and Steve Mouzon of the New Urban Guild met in Miami to conceive what would become the foundation concepts of the Katrina Cottage. Andres said early in the meeting that "this disaster is simply too enormous to depend on one type of delivery system to rebuild. We have to have all hands on deck. Houses must be site-built from stock house plans, panelized, modular, and manufactured.
Originally created to take the place of those nasty FEMA trailers, Katrina Cottages are suddenly becoming popular for camps, weekend homes and other uses across the country. Compared to the 23-28 foot temporary travel trailers that FEMA spends roughly $75,000 to deliver and install for Katrina victims, the 400 to over 1,000 square-foot cottages can be set up in days for less than $60,000.
Blueprints for the Katrina Cottages can be purchased at
Lowes online for $700.
The smaller homes have metal roofs that can withstand 140-mph winds. They also have termite and rot-resistant siding, and moisture-resistant interior wallboard that makes them suitable for flood-prone areas. The house can be built in as little as six weeks, according to Lowe's.
The smallest of the cottages, with 544 square feet of living area, will cost around $29,000 for the kit, which contains all materials above the foundation -- including studs, insulation, fixtures, plumbing and appliances. The homeowner must pay for construction, a foundation, and a heating and cooling system, which could add more than $80,000 to the cost, depending on local construction costs.
Katrina Cottages are being constructed to house the members of the Louisiana National Guard, at Jackson Barracks , a fixture in the neighborhood for more than 170 years. The 100-acre, 100-yard-wide Barracks straddle the Orleans/St. Bernard Parish line for about a mile from north to south. They took on water, too, from Katrina and Rita: varying in depth from about 4 to 22 feet.
Katrina Cottages dot com offers a description of the "kernel cottage"
A Kernel Cottage is a seed, or kernel, of the larger house it will grow into effortlessly through the Grow Zones. Thomas Jefferson built Monticello this way, living in one of the little cottages at the back of the house for several years as he built the larger main house. Much of America's traditional architecture is charming precisely because it has grown piece-by-piece over the years.
There are several different versions of the Katrina Cottage:
Cottage I - architect Marianne Cusato - located in Ocean Springs, Miss. - 308 Square Feet
Cottage II - architects Steve Oubre-Andrés Duany - location: Chalmette, LA - 770 Square Feet
Cottage III - architect Eric Moser - located in Pass Christian, Miss. - 1182 Square Feet
Cottage IV - architect Marianne Cusato - located in Ocean Springs, Miss. - 544 Square Feet
Cottage V - architect Andrés Duany - located in New Orleans, La. - 612 Square Feet
Cottage VI - architect Andrés Duany - located in Sarasota, Fla. - 480 Square Feet
Cottage VII - architect Steve Mouzon - (it travels) - 225 Square Feet
Cottage VIII - architect Steve Mouzon - located in Silver Spring, Md. - 523 Square Feet
Katrina Cottages are not new. For years it seems, people have traded in living in huge mansions to simplify their lives in very small homes.
The Small House Society provides links to existing Small House Communities, people offering land for small house communities, designers and builders for small houses as well as other links.
3 comments:
Just love the little coral-colored cottage pictured above with the white picket fence. They are small, but a great chance to own land and a home on limited income. Interested to see if more communities with these cottages emerge.
Grew up in Louisiana (50s-late 80s), by the way.
I really like cottage #8 (the last one, white). I think these homes are very nice. There's quite a few around here on Long Island. They seem adorable and practical.
I love the one on wheels I even like the color
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