Americans are moving on up to smaller, smarter homes

…New homes, after doubling in size since 1960, are shrinking. Last year, for the first time in at least 10 years, the average square footage of single-family homes under construction fell dramatically, from 2,629 in the second quarter to 2,343 in the fourth quarter, Census data show.

The new motto: living well with less.

“There’s a shift in the culture,” says Susanka, whose new book, Not So Big Remodeling, helps homeowners use existing space better. She says the economy has forced people to rethink McMansions and focus instead on what they need.

Other architects agree.

“It’s a return to common sense and what really matters,” says architect Marianne Cusato, who designed the Katrina Cottage, a modular kit house for people who were displaced by the 2005 hurricane.

USA Today