Althouse: The "microhome"...

December 3, 2011

The "microhome"...

"... 7 by 12 feet stem-to-stern, including a wood-burning stove, an antique parlor chair that also serves as a seat for the compost toilet beneath it, and a shower under the bed....."

45 comments:

Wally Kalbacken said...: This is why we work. Well, some of us.; 12/3/11, 1:11 PM
Anonymous said...: That sounds like the Obama model.

Change.; 12/3/11, 1:15 PM
Wince said...: ...an antique parlor chair that also serves as a seat for the compost toilet beneath it...

Just in case there are no cop cars nearby.; 12/3/11, 1:18 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: an antique parlor chair that also serves as a seat for the compost toilet beneath it, and a shower under the bed....."

Gross!

Plus, "compost toilet?" You mean "bucket of shit?" Sitting in the living room?!

"Here, have a seat right above it."

Etiquette in distress.; 12/3/11, 1:26 PM
Chuck66 said...: Looks like my first apartment. Well, not that small, but not much bigger (but at least I had a seperate bathroom).

If they can be heated well enough, this guy should sell these around the oil fields in North Dakota.; 12/3/11, 1:28 PM
Chuck66 said...: Up until about 15 years ago, before the EPA cracked down on them, Amtrak still had a few old cars that dumped right on the tracks. You did your thing, hit the flush pedal, which opened the little trap door at the bottom of the stool, and could watch your stuff drop on the tracks at 75 mph.

This guy should do that. Have someone pull him around the block as he does his bathroom duties.; 12/3/11, 1:30 PM
grackle said...: I'm interested in the small spaces concept but 84 sq. ft. is a bit too cramped for my tastes.

I want a stand-up shower and a conventional toilet. I've experienced a compost toilet and do not like them.; 12/3/11, 1:32 PM
edutcher said...: The future for everybody if the enviro-nuts had their way.

Everybody, but them, of course.; 12/3/11, 1:44 PM
DADvocate said...: Is the boogeyman in the shower?; 12/3/11, 1:50 PM
gerry said...: I know some monasteries that have 7 x 4 cells for sleeping, communal toilets and showers, prayers 8 times each day, and sparse diets.

I never knew it would become fashionable...; 12/3/11, 1:52 PM
T J Sawyer said...: Similar in size to some of those Manhattan apartments that people describe as cozy and economical. "And the location is fabulous!"

Just shows that their are crazy folks everywhere.; 12/3/11, 1:56 PM
Alex said...: Actually what the enviros want is a 90% reduction in population which simply takes us back to around 1700!; 12/3/11, 1:57 PM
edutcher said...: True, true.

That's what ZeroCare is for.; 12/3/11, 2:01 PM
Stoutcat said...: "For many Americans who bought more home than they could really afford in the giddy days before the crash, the big-house dream has become a nightmare in the ashes of foreclosure and regret."

Amazingly enough, the New York Times actually puts the real news in the first sentence. Who'd a thunk?; 12/3/11, 2:04 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Otherwise known as a camp trailer. But not as nice or comfy.; 12/3/11, 2:04 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: When does it go from being a "microhome" to a "cell?"; 12/3/11, 2:05 PM
Alex said...: I know some monasteries that have 7 x 4 cells for sleeping, communal toilets and showers, prayers 8 times each day, and sparse diets.

I never knew it would become fashionable...

Only by the NY Times navel gazers.; 12/3/11, 2:07 PM
Albatross said...: It's not a microhome. It's a fancy trailer. Put it in a trailer park and the Times would never run a story on it.; 12/3/11, 2:09 PM
Fr Martin Fox said...: Just think, we can make this work even better...

What if took advantage of large-scale construction techniques; we could have stacks and stacks of these, row-upon-row; of course they'd be built with something sensible and sanitary, like poured concrete; and think about it, the residents could all work together in harmony to keep it all tidy...

We could, of course, have nice, enclosed gardens area for recreation and sun...

It's the new urbanism! We can save people from soul-killing suburbia, with all it's aimlessness...

And of course, the residents could, um, work in the fields or in a factory or something, nearby--I'm sure we could arrange earth-friendly mass-transit; or they could all march--er, stroll out to the fields together! Maybe singing, that's always good for communal spirit!

Of course, with large dining halls and communal showers, this would be very economical and oh-so-chummy!

And of course, the pris-...um, residents could take turns digging new "compost toilets"...

Wasn't there a movie about a European experiment with this? Those cosmopolitan Europeans are always ahead of us stick-in-the-mud Americans...what was that movie?

Stalag 17? Not sure...; 12/3/11, 2:14 PM
caplight said...: Freeman Hunt said" "When does it go from being a "microhome" to a "cell?"

I have been in more than a few prison cells in my life. Most recently the USP Leavenworth, Kansas. That is smaller than a cell at the "Big House," as it is known.; 12/3/11, 2:24 PM
ricpic said...: When a man's seat is his throne his home is his castle.; 12/3/11, 2:28 PM
MayBee said...: When a man's seat is his throne his home is his castle.

Genius.; 12/3/11, 2:43 PM
Michael said...: Fr Martin Fox, in a paragraph, has summed up the high speed rail movement, the "new urbanism," government control over our lives and the aim of the bureaucracy. Well done! Jesuit by chance?; 12/3/11, 2:48 PM
virgil xenophon said...: Paging Ted Kaczynski..; 12/3/11, 3:06 PM
ndspinelli said...: I was in the Atlanta airport a few weeks ago. They have Minute Suites where you can rent by the hour..glorified closets w/ tv and stereo. Maybe there's a discount for members of The Mile High Club. I would just need 2-3 minutes.; 12/3/11, 3:06 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: Still pretty spacious compared to a capsule hotel.; 12/3/11, 3:24 PM
Anonymous said...: Isn't there something in the small living space that insults the conservative soul?

I'm sure that Freeman Hunt can illuminate exactly what it is about this small living space that ought to inspire such ire... after all, she broadcasts the fact that she attends regular bible study classes.

Freeman Hunt is a Jesus-show-off... so best to just defer to her and her opinion on the matter...; 12/3/11, 4:02 PM
Bob_R said...: I'm with Albatross. Distinguishing the yuppies from the people they call "trailer trash" gets harder all the time.; 12/3/11, 4:24 PM
gk1 said...: Yeah its funny how people who try to sell self composting toilets always try to delude themselves they don't stink. I'm sorry their shit really does stink!; 12/3/11, 4:34 PM
Anonymous said...: It was the "shower under the bed" that caught my eye in the description. Raised bed? Horizontal shower? No, just a pit to stand in.; 12/3/11, 4:40 PM
Fr Martin Fox said...: Michael said...

"Jesuit by chance?"

No, I'm Catholic.; 12/3/11, 7:16 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I'm sure that Freeman Hunt can illuminate exactly what it is about this small living space that ought to inspire such ire...

I already did, but small isn't the problem. It's the bucket.

As for the rest of your comment, I don't know what you're going on about, but that is nothing new.; 12/3/11, 7:21 PM
Fr Martin Fox said...: Dead Julius said...

"Isn't there something in the small living space that insults the conservative soul?"

The man can live in a matchbox for all I care.

What repels me is the idea that, after all so many generations -- including the intrepid pioneers who tamed the wilderness -- the "paper of record" wants to highlight some fellow whose achievement is a fancier version of the shacks our pioneer parents were all to glad to leave behind on the cruel prairie.

Of course, if it were merely the project of an eccentric, I'd shrug. But I know what you won't admit: it's an agenda. Our "betters" are absolutely determined to herd us all into such squalor.

And you know? One day soon the rest of the farm animals are going to give the pigs just what they deserve.; 12/3/11, 7:23 PM
MadisonMan said...: Is it worth $16,500, the asking price? Does the parlor chair have the original patina, or did they (gasp) refinish it?; 12/3/11, 7:28 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I think there's a point when an outhouse becomes preferable to an indoor toilet. For example, if the indoor toilet is a bucket with a lid, an outhouse is preferable.; 12/3/11, 7:30 PM
Andrea said...: OK I like small homes but that's too small.; 12/3/11, 7:30 PM
bagoh20 said...: I plan on living in one of these ... when they bury my ass.; 12/3/11, 8:05 PM
Phil 314 said...: Gosh Julius, were you always this obnoxious?; 12/3/11, 9:09 PM
Sydney said...: He could have done a better job of camouflaging the "compost toilet" chair, and it wouldn't even have taken up more space. But even then, it would smell terrible in that little space. Even urine. Better to leave out the toilet and use the woods.

WV: "lityl" Heh.; 12/3/11, 9:17 PM
somefeller said...: Of course, if it were merely the project of an eccentric, I'd shrug. But I know what you won't admit: it's an agenda. Our "betters" are absolutely determined to herd us all into such squalor. And you know? One day soon the rest of the farm animals are going to give the pigs just what they deserve.

You know what's also interesting? Reading a priest spout off conspiracy theories about the motives of the "betters" who are supposedly expressing their will via a human interest piece about an eccentric, followed by a vague fantasy of (possibly violent?) rebellion against such betters. Did you sample the communion wine tonight, Savonarola?

Anyway, you couldn't pay me enough to live in such a place, but to each his own.; 12/3/11, 9:25 PM
Fr Martin Fox said...: Somefeller:

Savaranola was nice touch!

Seriously, it's not a "conspiracy theory"; the determination of the media and political elites to wreck prosperity and downgrade and devolve our society are on full display.; 12/3/11, 9:57 PM
somefeller said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/3/11, 10:15 PM
somefeller said...: Thank you, benefits of an education in the classics. I'm glad you appreciated the cite.

But your comments are a conspiracy theory. They have all the hallmarks of such a theory - claims of shadowy elites doing evil things, lack of direct evidence of such malevolent plans, lack of such evidence used (directly or by implication) as proof of the effectiveness of the conspiracy, etc.

Come on. If anything, society's elites are made wealthier in the long run by general prosperity (see the history of Western elites vs. those in impoverished nations), and elites that are interested in remaining as such understand that. If you think Obama stinks as a President, fine. There will be an election on that topic soon enough. But claiming that there is some vast conspiracy to wreck the economy on the part of US elites is absurd.; 12/3/11, 10:17 PM
Heart_Collector said...: Where do you fuck without demolishing that space. Or is this thing for J?; 12/3/11, 10:21 PM
Fr Martin Fox said...: Somefeller:

You refer to a lack of direct evidence; well, I wasn't writing a treatise, just a summary of what's in plain sight:

> Our political class is rushing us to a financial collapse; we're not far from bankruptcy.

> The same political class is taking a wrecking-ball to our Constitution.

For evidence I cite Obamacare's vitiation of the commerce clause, the degradations citizens must endure at airports, and the attempt, in recent days, to give the government power to detain citizens, on U.S. soil, indefinitely without due process.

As Mark Steyn points out astutely, one must be very naive to think that our government, having gotten a taste of invasive and degrading treatment of citizens in airports, won't seek the same power beyond airports--all for our good of course.

> The political class, abetted by many in the media and academia, have for some time forced us to accept compromises on our quality of life, in the name of spurious environmental gains.

I cite the imposition of low-flow showers, washers that don't clean, toilets that don't flush, the suppression of the incandescent light bulb (and the American jobs that produced them), as but the tip in the spear.

Coming down the pike are massive hikes in energy costs, cars that aren't safe (because of imposed mileage standards. Our government, for example, makes the risible claim that CO2 is a "pollutant."

It's all a load of garbage; we have an abundance of energy, but our government--abetted again by outside allies--are determined to keep those energy riches locked away forever.

The problem isn't that we don't have elections; but that we don't have serious choices. Both Gingrich and Romney are big-government types; there is nothing in their records to give confidence they will make any major change. After all, they both support the security state, having the power to detain and torture; neither can be relied upon to make any real constriction in government power. At best they'll make the Leviathan work better. Yippee!; 12/4/11, 9:52 AM