How did we get here" Curbed reports The history of the tiny house is, arguably, long. You could trace the tradition of small living back to the first days humans spent in caves, but the modern-day tiny house movement?the act of rejecting more spacious dwellings in favor of pared-down, efficient homes?is easier to track.
Writing extolling the benefits of tiny living emerged in the 1980s, and gained traction in the late 1990s. Over the next few decades, tiny house enthusiasts started design-and-construction companies, wrote blogs and books evangelizing their lifestyle, appeared on television, and generally helped get the word out about the possibilities of living small.
The 2009 housing crisis?and the dramatic rise in foreclosures across the country?only helped push the idea forward. And advocacy work in recent years promises more changes in housing policy and zoning to accommodate tiny houses on a state level. Curbed spoke with Alexis Stephens, co-founder of Tiny House Expedition, about some of the most significant events of the tiny house movement since Henry David Thoreau published Walden, his ode to life in a 150-square-foot cabin near Walden Pond outside Concord, Massachusetts, in 1854. Stephens points out the main players of the movement, showing how their advocacy led to a mainstream conversation about the benefits of limited square footage.

1854

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A replica of Henry David Thoreau?s cabin near Walden Pond, in Mas...