Katrina Cottages
For those who don’t remember, after Hurricane Katrina (August 2005) there was an urgent need for housing in the Gulf Coast. Katrina Cottages were an alternative to trailers and temporary housing. And they were adorable.
Designer Marianne Cusato and architect Eric Moser won the 2006 People’s Design Award from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of the Smithsonian Institution for this tiny little house. I tore pictures out of magazines about it. It reminded me of some of the adorable little Key West cottages.
Then Lowes started selling them as kits.
They aren’t available from Lowe’s anymore, but you can still find them here: www.houseplans.com/collection/katrina-cottages
The original Katrina Cottage was 308 square feet. There were four variations. They were designed to be built on site or as a prefab delivered as a modular. They cost $35,000 to build, the same price as a FEMA trailer. They were designed to have the option of adding on additional rooms as needed.
A second Cottage version was larger, 600 square feet, with two bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, and living room.
Photo by Jennifer Smits
FEMA Photo Library
Katrina Cottage Comeback?
With all the natural disasters, the need for affordable housing and the tiny house movement, there has been more interest in Katrina Cottages again.
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