Fueled by backlash from the financial and housing crisis, these homes — typically sized 500 square feet or smaller — are having a moment. In April, the first Tiny House Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, sold out, attracting some 170 attendees.

Tiny-house pioneer Dee Williams, who has spent the last decade in an 84-square-foot home in a friend’s backyard, has toured touring the nation to promote her memoir “The Big Tiny.” Even students at the Savannah College of Art and Design are getting into the game, building an entire floor of 135-square-foot homes inside an old school parking lot.

These home may be environmentally friendly — they force owners to reduce their possessions and, often, to use less power — but they’re not exactly cheap. Tiny houses typically cost between $200 to $400 per square foot. On a square-foot basis, that’s far pricier than the average American home-and tiny homes don’t include land.

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