Sustainable and Small

 

Be prepared to slam on the brakes as you drive past Boiceville Cottages, a tiny rental house community in Brooktondale, New York. From hot pink to bright orange, these 140 colorful tiny houses will definitely catch your eye. They may be small in size, but these houses are definitely big on charm. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bruno Schickel is the man behind this storybook neighborhood. Born in the village of Dryden, New York, Schickel spent his childhood living on a dairy farm. With a long tradition of building, art, and architecture running in the family, it is no surprise that he went on to found Schickel Construction Co., the company that built Boiceville Cottages. 

 

The idea for these storybook houses came from just that - a storybook! Schickel had his eureka moment to create Boiceville Cottages while reading the children’s book Miss Rumphius to his daughters. Inspired by Barbara Cooney’s illustrations of a gothic cottage, Schickel set out to make this fairytale come to life. 

 

Wanting to create a house that evokes an emotional reaction when looking at it, Schickel grabbed a piece of paper and started playing around with different designs. It didn’t take long before Schickel Construction Co. began building the three tiny houses that would eventually become Boiceville Cottages. But before beginning this tiny house village, the most important question that Schickel always kept at the top of his mind was, 

 

“How do you build an inexpensive house that people can afford?”

 

This question motivated Schickel to design a compact but liveable blueprint for these tiny houses, which resulted in a more minimal and sustainable living space for renters.  

 

Each tiny house located in Boiceville Cottages is made of natural materials. Many of these natural wooden houses are built with concrete floors. There is no carpet, or vinyl flooring. 

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A five by ten foot garden box can be found next to each house. Renters are encouraged to flex their green thumb and grow fruits, vegetables and herbs in their own personal garden box. Compost bins can also be found in multiple locations across the property.

 

There are sustainable options for transportation offered at Boiceville Cottages as well. A bus stop is located on the property for those who choose to use public transportation, and a double electric charging station was recently added for those who drive electric vehicles.

 

And although Boiceville Cottages coins itself as tiny rental houses, all of the houses are technically considered too large to be a tiny house. According to a Business Insider article, “A tiny house typically ranges from 100 to 400 square feet.” These tiny house units are 650 square feet, and the other houses available at Boiceville Cottages only get larger in size. Although these houses do not fit the requirements to be tiny houses, Schikel considers them so because of their compact nature. 

 

In addition to being sustainable, these compact houses were built to be a budget-conscious option for renters. The prices range in cost depending on the size of the house. The price of the Studio Apartment, the smallest house on the property, starts at $1,495/month, and the price for the Gatehouse 2 Bedroom + Office Apartment, the largest house, starts at $2,065/month. The prices of these houses offer the financial freedom that many renters are looking for.

 

“For some people, this is all the space that they can afford,” said Schickel. “But there are other people that live here who can afford more expensive housing than this."

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When designing Boiceville Cottages, Schickel wanted to create a sense of community in the neighborhood while also allowing residents to maintain their privacy. He was able to achieve this by building the houses in a pinwheel trio, so that no house was directly peering into another. Schickel also created a Meeting House to serve as a community common space for residents to get together, cook, exercise or host events.

 

In addition to Boiceville Cottages’ classic storybook charm, it is also a cost effective and sustainable housing option for residents. It’s no surprise that some of these houses even get rented sight unseen. With an average stay of 3 years, it's clear that the tiny houses at Boiceville Cottages are the sustainable living option that residents want.

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