PrairieMod

Downsizing In Style

Here's another article on Andrew and Kim Todd explaining why they left a 5,000-square-foot Californian house with a pool and a large landscaped garden for a 1958 Daniel J. Liebermann-designed home one-fifth the size, with a one bedroom and a wealth of deferred maintenance. Read it here.

Image via the spec.com

More Than Just Pretty Faces

A recent article on mysuburbanlife.com discusses how historic homes don't just make a town look good, the hold economic value for the community as well. Read more here.

Of Houses And Heartbreak

Here's a link to an article about the unfortunate demise of Michelle Kaufmann's pre fab housing company. She was riding high when we toured her beautiful "Smart Home" at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago a few years ago, but the economic downturn and the inability to get costs where they need to be has kept these homes on the drawing board and as an exhibit. Read about it here.

An interesting side note: The only other model home to be built on the grounds of the MSI was a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Usonian Automatic (another pre fab house design that never took off) that toured the country in the 1980s. Read about it here and here.

Image via the MSI website & sterinerag.com

Think Big, Build Small

Hopefully 2010 will shepherd-in a new era of responsible thinking and building for American homes. Sarah Susanka provides a pretty good blueprint for success with her "Not So Big" ideas. Read a recent interview about her ideas here.

Kenilworth Maher Sell-Off

A PrairieMod reader sent us the heads-up on a disturbing item in an upcoming Christie's auction. A set of original George Washington Maher art glass windows designed for the 1906 Kenilworth Club in Kenilworth, IL are being auctioned off. Read more after the jump...

Give These Smart Appliances a Whirl

Whirlpool has announced that it will make 1 million "smart" clothes dryers in 2011. "Smart" because the appliances are connected to the grid and can adjust their power consumption based on electricity demand. If 1 million clothes dryers went into power conservation mode during peak time, it would reduce demand by the equivalent of almost 6 coal power plants! Read more here.

Image via Whirlpool/Treehugger.com

To Build Or Not To Build

A recent article on arizonacentral.com highlights some controversy over a proposed retail development project for north Scottsdale that has some residents worried will destroy the area's rural character. Vernon Swaback, former Taliesin apprentice, has been tapped to design the project and promises it will set ambitious environmental and architectural standards–but that doesn't seem to ease the ire of opponents. Read more about it here.

McMansions: Off The Menu For Good?

After years of Super-Sizing their houses (along with everything else) Americans have finally started to trend towards smaller homes (thanks in part to that pesky economic downturn and massive foreclosure rate). But will this new found sense of pragmatism last? You can read how Treehugger.com design and architecture contributor Lloyd Alter feels about it here.

Image via treehugger.com

Feral Houses

I just watched an Animal Planet show on feral pigs taking over America last night, but a post from a blog called sweet juniper (found via on design*sponge) highlights the epidemic of feral houses in this country. Read about this by-product of the economic downturn here.

Image copyright sweet juniper

Instant Backyard Cottage

Check out this slideshow of Sunset's Modern Cottage demonstration house that's all about creating an affordable eco-friendly living space.

Image copyright Sunset

PrairieMod Monday

The wonderful thing about principles is the fact that they can become the foundation of our various life activities. The Principle of “Consider The Cost” can be applied to much more than just where you live or what you buy for home décor. In all of our lives there are costs that need to be recognized for decisions in our careers, our health and even our relationships with other people. For the last post this month on “Consider the Cost,” let’s explore what we eat.

PrairieMod Monday

Teardowns are a huge threat to communities all over the United States. The epidemic is so widespread that the National Trust for Historic Preservation added “Teardowns in Historic Neighborhoods” to its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Tearing down an existing house to make way for a larger, new house on the same site (sometimes more than one house) means a loss of historic and aesthetic character and ultimately has an overall negative impact on a community. It’s become a widespread breakdown in adherence to the principle of “Consider The Cost."

PrairieMod Monday

Whenever I need a reminder of the PrairieMod Principle “Consider the Cost” in urban development, I need not look any farther than a drive down my own street. There used to be a 50’s ranch that occupied a fairly good-sized lot (by Chicago suburb standards) at the corner. Torn down by a developer, that single house on a single lot has now given way to two skinny lots; each dominated by a giant McMansion. It’s quite a sight to behold. The first McMansion built has been finished and languishing on the market for over a year. The second was started this last month and each passing day sees more and more height and girth added. Every time I drive past these two behemoths battling for space, it makes my teeth hurt.

PrairieMod Monday

Two of my friends will be expecting their second child within a few weeks. When they had first learned they would have a new addition to their family, their cozy turn-of-the-century bungalow in Oak Park, Illinois seemed a little too cozy. It was decided that more family meant the need for more space. So they started talking about what their ideas were for the perfect family home. The idea of “space” became the buzzword that seemed to overtake every conversation. “More space!” went the mantra. “We’re going to have another baby, we naturally need more space!”

Well, once the idea of “More Space” took root, they began looking at new homes. Farther and farther west of Chicago they looked at bigger and bigger new homes. Just when they thought they had seen the biggest house they could afford, another town farther west would have a subdivision with even larger homes in their price range. Two-stories, Three-stories, Four-stories! Every night they would return from these expeditions to their little bungalow, their heads swimming with visions of vaulted ceilings and grand staircases to level after level. And yet…something kept them from signing the dotted line on one of the vinyl-sided behemoths.

Every night that they came home to their tiny 100-year old home in Oak Park, they would feel comfort at the sound of creaky wooden floors. The rooms were small, but well laid-out with features like shelves and seating built into the fabric of the house to save space. The human-sized scale of its proportions made the house feel warm and inviting. Plaster walls helped insulate and dampen the noise of the city. They slowly came to realize that the idea of “more space” lead them to ignore all the other aspects of a home that they appreciated and needed just as much.

They started to realize that in focusing on the allure of “space,” they had looked at homes that would add hours onto their commutes. They also realized that what they thought they were saving on a mortgage would quickly be eaten up in utility costs for heating and cooling all that “space”. Suddenly they realized the absurdity of 4 people living in a house that was big enough for 8. They decided then and there not to make this home purchase based on an idea of “want,” but instead on what their family actually needed.

This sort of epiphany is at the heart of the PrairieMod Principle of “Consider the Cost.” So many times we make major life decisions based on ideas of what we want, or what we think someone else wants, or what we are lead (or sold) to believe we want. Rarely do we take the time to examine the principles behind what we really need in our lives. Frank Lloyd Wright once said:

“A principle is a marvelous thing. It never changes. It is elemental. You first apprehend the nature of the principle, then you begin to realize the limitations, the felicities and the force of the principle.”

The Principle of “Consider the Cost” says that there are many facets to a decision and all should be examined before the decision should be made and it can be considered sound. So many people are terribly unhappy with their job, their house, their car, and their life because they don’t stop to consider the “needs” from the “wants”. There is a cost to be paid in every decision we make. It can be a monetary cost, a time cost, an energy cost or ultimately a happiness cost. Considering these costs in advance of making a decision can ensure that it is made in a sound and principled way. This will lead to a harmony and a confidence that the decision is the right one to be made. A decision that you will feel good about wanting, because you have first considered all the ways that you actually need to make it.

My friends ultimately decided to move out of the little bungalow in Oak Park. Even though there were many things they loved about that home, after considering all the costs, they felt they still needed more room to let their family grow. What they decided on instead of going to the Wild Vinyl West, was to buy another older home in Oak Park. Nothing too fancy, something that needed a little TLC, but a little bigger and within the price range of all of their costs.