Solar homes tour

Woot! Just got back from the solar homes on the National Mall, and I'm blown away. The lines were long, so we weren't able to tour all of them... And they shut the one for Kansas down for judging right after we finished going through. It was incredible. I really hope the judges take note of the beauty of that particular house. I started out wanting to see it because of its compact, mobile design, but found myself wishing I could stay, take a sit-down on the sofa, and maybe try to whip up some dinner in the lovely kitchen. They'd even included a small herb garden out on the porch, with a built in bench near the entry to the kitchen. Stick a small porch swing on there, and it would be ideal. The views were fantastic, including a small window at just above ground level in the living room, to watch wildlife on the prairie.

I found a comment of someone waiting in line near me to be fascinating, however. She didn't think anyone would live in "such small houses". First of all, my own apartment is right at the size limit for those houses, and is much less well designed. Secondly, most of the homes were designed for expansion, with the University of Colorado intending to expand theirs to over 2,000 feet after the competition, and the University of Illinois providing a model to show how their modules could be expanded up to a 4-bedroom house. And finally, I wanted to ask her how she thought my grandparents had raised 10 children in a house only half again as big as those on display...

Gee, do you think our monster houses might have something to do with the level of inactivity in this country? (Though I also cheerfully admit to looking at the Kansas house and thinking that I could curl up fairly cozily in that living room and watch thundershowers roll across the plains...)