A Smaller House in Your Future?

McMansion:  A great big, pretentious, tract built, "luxury home", usually considered tasteless and badly designed.

The death nell for the McMansion has been heard across the internet.  First cities started enacting zoning regulations to limit the size of housing and now that the economy has put us on a diet, we are asking for downsized housing to help us lose financial weight.  Well, not only are McMansions dying off, middle income home sizes are shrinking as well. 

It's just plain cheaper to buy a smaller house.  Not only do they cost less, they are less expensive to air condition and heat.  The economy is actually forcing people to become green!  Smaller houses on smaller lots use less space, less electricity and less water for landscape maintenance.  They also save money because you don't need as much furniture to fill them up.  Even if you want a custom built house, it doesn't need to be huge.  Sarah Susanka has been designing houses for years that have all the amenities, but use space wisely.

Now, tell me, do you really need a great big house?