New resident enjoys his ‘tiny house
According to the National Association of Home Builders, the size of the average American home in 1950 was 983 square feet; in 1970, 1,500 square feet; in 1990, 2,080 square feet; and 2010, 2,392 square feet.
In recent years, there has been an increased interest in smaller homes and serial TV shows like “Tiny House Nation” and “Tiny House Hunters” has fueled interest in “small is better” even further.
Wikipedia defines a “small house” as under 1,000 square feet and a “tiny house” as under 400 square feet.
When Dr. Zal Kutar decided to build a house on Pine Island, he didn’t want a McMansion. Instead he built a 400-square-foot “tiny house” on Harbor Drive.
“It’s all I need,” Zal said. (Dr. Kutar prefers to be called Zal). “I purchased this lot in 2014, it’s about a 1/3-acre lot, and I planned to build a small house out of bamboo. But the building restrictions wouldn’t permit bamboo, so it’s made of concrete block and I have enough land for a small garden.
“I became a doctor because when I was a boy my father managed a factory and there were only two options,” Zal said. “I didn’t want to work in the factory so I became a doctor. In India you can become a doctor by age 24. In my case, I got tuberculosis and had 1/3 of my left lung removed so I didn’t become a doctor until I was 26 or 27. I married at 28 and had three children, all girls. When my children moved to Canada and the U.S., that brought me to both countries.”
Born in Germany of Indian parents, Zal has lived in Germany, India, Canada and the U.S. “I came here when I was 58 years old because my children were here,” Zal said. “Planning vacations to come here to see them was difficult, so I decided to move to America. Passing the tests to practice medicine here was easy and I found work in Lansing, Mich. I worked for another 10 years and then finally retired.”
“According to the building code, the house has to be 2 feet above the road,” Zal said. “Twenty truckloads of dirt were brought in before the slab was laid.”
The house is concrete block with a steel roof. It has two doors and three windows that can sustain hurricane force winds and meet the building code requirements. Although the building code requires that the home has heat, the code doesn’t require air conditioning which works for Zal. He specifically requested NO air conditioning.
“I bought land here because it’s warm,” Zal said. “I wanted to grow mango trees so I came to the mango capital of the world. I didn’t want a big house because at 81 years old, I can’t manage a big house. I wanted a house that you only need to mop the floor. I bought this property in 2014 and the builder finished the house late last year.”
He became an islander early this year.
“I moved into my house is January,” Zal said.
“This is a very friendly island,” he said. “The people of Pine Island are very friendly and neighbors have even gifted me furniture. I’d like to build a small lanai on the front of the house to keep it cool and keep out the mosquitos, but I’m planting my garden and I am quite happy here.”