DW and I wanted to take a little road trip before we both buckle down to fall activities and regular time commitments. DW found this marvelous bed-and-breakfast in northwestern Minnesota. There's a mansion, a cottage, and four converted/renovated train cars. This one was ours:
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It's an 80-foot railroad car with an observation deck on the back and (in the part you can't see here) a two-person whirlpool, a WC, a utility nook (water heater, cleaning supplies), and the "kitchenette" (small fridge, microwave oven, coffeemaker, and space for some dishes and flatware).
OK, not really practical for daily life (for us, anyway): there was a shower handheld in the whirlpool which we used gingerly because of all the wood surrounding the tub and it would be nice to cook beyond heating food in a microwave oven. But there was a surprising amount of storage space, a dining area, a seating area/living room, and a couple of comfy chairs in front of the fireplace. And the deck out back. Not big enough for lots of friends to visit, but there are outside areas available for a few months of the year and if it were truly ours, a three-season porch would not be out of the question if it were sited right.
The cottage, though, was the revelation.
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I would guess maybe 600 square feet total and wide enough to allow wheelchair/walker access. Not designed for tons of privacy but DW and I agreed there was enough space to get out of each other's hair if that were necessary. No space for guests, so that solves that issue. The kitchen is not my ideal (and the stove would not meet code in our location, sitting next to the wall like that). But talk about living cabin life at home! Add a basement for storage/storm shelter (and a garage) and DW and I believed we could be quite happy with so much less.
Seeing both of these spaces started a discussion between us about how much space we needed and how even our current 1700-square-foot house was becoming too much, even with the grandkids over more and more often. We also discussed moving closer to our daughter/SiL and the grandkids. But a place like this won't be easy to find in their sprawling suburb (or adjacent to it) and the cost of building such a small place (railroad motif aside) would rival the cost of a bigger place. However, it did start the conversation. That's a good thing.