As the American dream of home ownership becomes more and more elusive for many folks, ingenious minds are working on solutions, from the ?tiny house movement? to portable homes to going off the grid.

Well, now there?s the 20K House!

Rural Studio, an architecture program of Auburn University in Alabama, had an interesting challenge: Succeeding groups of students, since 2005, had to create prototypes for homes that would cost just $20,000 ? that?s the highest number the average Social Security recipient could afford in terms of a mortgage, a person living below the poverty line. And, they had make them look like dignified homes someone would actually want to live in – an appealing alternative to mobile homes. The homes could then be reproduced en masse by contractors.
A couple of the 17 so-called 20K Houses have just been tested in the real world in Serenbe, an upscale, tiny community south of Atlanta, where homes go for circa half a million dollars. This first pilot project for Rural Studio was possible thanks to cooperation with an artist residency program in that community, as well as donations. Still, each prototype had only $12,000 allotted for materials and the remainder for labor and profit. The result" Both little houses are single bedrooms with a bathroom, measuring in at 550 square feet. The cottages are set on piers for maximizing airflow, heating and cooling. The two field test artist cottages have an open and airy feel and nothing about them looks ...