The North Platte Telegraph

When a recent housing study showed that people wanted more affordable housing for single parent families the Lincoln County Community Development Corporation was listening.

And thus the "tiny house" was born.

"Most of our houses are around 1,200 square feet with three bedrooms, two baths and a garage," said CDC director Nancy Striebel. "We sell them for $80,000 to $92,000. A lot of people can't qualify for that much of a loan, even without paying closing costs."

The organization couldn't go cheaper on costs, Striebel said, so they thought about using less space.

"We did some research, messed around with some concepts and came up with a design for a 2-bedroom, one and a half bath home that is very tight and very well planned," she said.

The CDC is applying for a $76,000 grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development to build three more tiny houses in 2011. Two of them will be sold to households at 80 percent of average median income for Lincoln County. The third will be sold at 50 percent and below.

The first completed tiny house at 612 North Lincoln was sold before it was completed, Striebel said.