Can downsizing increase your quality of life?

I wrote a few weeks ago about how I believe the homes of the future will be vastly more productive — meaning that they will produce electricity, water and food.  They will probably be smaller and more efficient as well as I believe the era of the McMansion is over. The whole concept of resilient homes or sustainable homes is fascinating and one that we are looking into very carefully.  For those interested in the subject, the Resilient Home page at the Miiu wiki is building out a nice set of resources on the subject.

What really drove home the concept for me was a link John Robb posted yesterday about the North Shore Illinois mansion of Eric Litowitz.  Litowitz for those who may not remember was the billionaire head of Magnetar Capital who devised the devastating subprime strategy that accounted for as much as 35% to 60% of demand for suprime toxic waste mortgages back in 2006 and arguably made the subprime mortgage crisis vastly worse than it might otherwise have been.

Now, that’s neither here nor there for purposes of this, but stick with me because I’ll get to a point eventually, I promise.

A year after the financial crisis (a crisis that many think Litowitz made immeasurably worse), he and his wife were featured in a Chicago Home and Garden write up on their Illinois mansion. Some would argue that it might be in poor taste to flaunt your ostentatious lifestyle after contributing so much to the financial crisis while walking away with hundreds of millions of dollars, but hey, we’re talking about a different breed here.

A typical description of the Litowitz “manor” (the billiards room) is as follows:

Here Wells applied striped mohair fabric to the walls to “soften the sound of the pool balls during play” and built a platform into the window alcove so bystanders could view the game from a bird’s-eye seat. The room is even outfitted with a drinks rail—an extra-wide wainscot molding with a cork inlay to absorb any stray moisture from players’ tankards.

Yuck!  I don’t know about you, but the whole house sounds cloistering and claustrophopic – the kind of snooty brahmin estate that would make me break out in hives and panic attacks. For one thing, keeping track of all of my  priceless antiques would turn me into a total stress case.  For another, living behind a walled-fortress is like living in a prison, it’s bad for the soul and we Americans spend too much time stuck in our homes with the shades drawn and TV’s on already.  Bottom line, I don’t envy Litowitz’s living situation at all.

Now these guys on the other hand…

First, imagine living in a real-life treehouse community in the jungles of Costa Rica?  Finca BellaVista offers the opportunity in what has to be one of the coolest neighborhoods in the world. The homes are perched high in the trees, and residents actually zip-line around the property to meet up with friends for an evening meal or cocktail. The base camp has a community complex, dining hall, open-air lounge and WIFI zone, a rancho, a bathhouse, and a campfire ring. It sits near two whitewater rivers and is close to Costa Rica’s national parks and beaches.

Or… if that doesn’t interest you, how about buying a few scenic acres in the mountains or near the beach and constructing your own “tiny house” like these guys recommend.  Think about it.  The ethos here is that you’re better off spending your money on “location” and going simple with the accommodations. A house should be a place to cook, bathe and sleep.  Your living room on the other hand should be a place where you live. And what could be more life inspiring than waking up, making a cup of coffee and walking out into a living room like this every morning?

Or if you live in a crowded city, you can take inspiration from Hong Kong architect Gary Chang who lives in a tiny shoebox 32 square meter apartment that he turned into 24 different rooms with a series of sliding walls that allow him to live in a multi-roomed apartment with a home cinema, spa, guest bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and standalone bar.

The takeaway here is important:  “Downsizing” doesn’t necessarily have to mean a hit to your lifestyle.  With a little creativity and innovative thinking about what a home actually should be, it’s very possible that downsizing can increase your quality of life in ways you never imagined.