World

You Have to See the 441 Sq. Ft. Garage This Man Calls Home

At 441 square feet, Jeremie Buchholtz’s house seems like a palace compared to the 320 square foot home or the tiny 78 square foot Manhattan apartment.

But wait — Buchholtz’s Bordeaux, France house isn’t a house at all. At least, not originally. The photographer bought it when it was just an old garage and turned it into a stylish pad, all for less than half the price of a similarly-sized home in the French city: 80,000 euros, or about $110,280

You Have to See the 441 Sq. Ft. Garage This Man Calls Home

Buchholtz told faircompanies.com he was looking for an affordable apartment in Bordeaux, and when he came upon an abandoned garage for sale — complete with old junk inside — he thought it was worth a try.

“My friends said, it’s impossible you will do nothing with that,” Buchholtz said, “there is no light, there is nothing.”

But an architect friend, Matthieu de Marien, saw potential in the garage as well and got to work transforming it:

Buchholtz bought the property and De Marien quickly cut into the old garage to create more light and ventilation. The roof is historic and couldn’t be touched so he carved a 12 square meter (129 square foot) patio out of the small space, leaving only 41 square meters of living space (441 square feet).

In order to make the space feel larger, De Marien created a “house within a house”: one large piece of furniture that includes the bathroom, bedroom, office, closet, a sofa bed and all of the home’s storage. With everything contained in this large furniture box, the rest of the home was given more breathing room.

You Have to See the 441 Sq. Ft. Garage This Man Calls Home

You Have to See the 441 Sq. Ft. Garage This Man Calls Home

Take a tour of the home — complete with innovative space savers — below, courtesy of faircompanies.com:

So what do you think? It’s no 320 square footer, but it’s not much bigger. Could you do it?

Comments (100)

1 2 3
  • Gonzo
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 9:59am

    In France you don’t need a shower in your apartment, that saves a little space.

    Report Post » Gonzo  
    • ChiefGeorge
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 10:22am

      If people are willing to live this way the government will be quick to help them make their dreams come true. Putting people who think that its saving the planet to live smaller in tiny living quarters suits the governments agenda just fine.

      Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
    • AZ_Dennis
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 10:33am

      That really was funny!!

      Report Post » AZ_Dennis  
    • gmoneytx
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 1:29pm

      They don‘t need showers because they don’t believe in personal hygiene. Have you ever smelled one?

      Report Post » gmoneytx  
    • Old Truckers
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 4:01pm

      Gonzo!
      You are brilliant, most of the time with a good funny comment.

      Report Post » Old Truckers  
    • hud
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 4:19pm

      GI’s in Viet Nam had a shower as a high priority, not so the French that preceded us.Japanese and Chinese don’t want any thing to do with stinky folks.

      Report Post »  
    • NYHuguenot
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 11:37pm

      And you save bathroom shelf space by not having deodorant.

      Report Post »  
  • Sage rebel
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 9:36am

    Wait a minute! Wait a minute! The last few seconds of the video seemed to show the neighbors windows looking down into the ‘patio’ space! So it IS a public place…wonder what they think. And it looks to me like there’s room for 2 more in that space, a la Chinese worker’s dorms. Where we’re all headed.

    Report Post »  
    • 4blackhorses
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 9:13pm

      No, no. Ala illegal Mexican dorms!!

      Report Post »  
    • Hoosier Daddy
      Posted on September 20, 2011 at 8:08am

      Needs carpet. Concrete floors get COLD in the winter. Also, they could have incorporated a regular door into the sliding wall…unless he likes hiding the fact that it‘s a small house when he’s away.

      Report Post » Hoosier Daddy  
  • star7mj
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 9:33am

    Love it! Creativity, just using your imagination and small funds available anything can be put together. I love stories like this because it shows what people are capable of. I don’t like seeing all those gigantic houses which have only 2 or 3 people living in them – such a waste. When I was younger I wanted a really big home, but now that I’m older and wiser and have been homeless and have had to lose so many “things” I’ve come to really appreciate a smaller home and having those items I love the most. Having a bed, a roof over your head and some comforts and food – it’s heavenly! Try living (like me and my son did) out of my little Ford ZX2; then you really appreciate having just a space, a bed to sleep in. This mom and her son would have loved that little garage home. I;m thankful now I’m remarried, have my family, a small home and have what we need. So, people stop putting down this story -Toooo much negativity in the world. Enjoy it for what it is! A sweet news piece, creativity and insight into another human beings lifestyle and choices. Personally, I‘m glad The Blaze isn’t all sad, depressing, political, boo hoo news. Hasn’t our Father in Heaven taught us to Be Of Good Cheer?! To Love One Another…

    Report Post » star7mj  
    • kaymarth
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 4:20pm

      I agree with your assessment of the creativity involved. It should never be stifled. I am always amazed at what can be built in such a small space! I need a little more “breathing room”, but it’s OK for him, and that’s what matters.

      Report Post » kaymarth  
    • Melvin Spittle
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 9:24pm

      I think it is very creative and the most economical use of space I have seen, yet it feels very open like you are not cramped for space! Very nice job!.

      Report Post » Melvin Spittle  
    • myrtleturtle
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 11:37pm

      I agree with you; it is a darling idea. Where I work we have to make the packing containers like those on railroad cars into homes, I have such fun doing it, Of course it is part of our “roles” as people living in third world countries, but it takes good imagination and openmindedness. Unfortunately our children today are losing those wonderful gifts., All their toys ‘DO’ things so they can’t work their imagination, …. I could live in a small space, a small home; not as much area to clean!!! haha…..just have to be able to get outside!!! I would go ‘ster crazy’ otherwise. haha

      Report Post »  
  • china clipper
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 8:12am

    It’s a dive!

    Report Post »  
    • HumbleMan
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 8:32am

      Hey … this is how high you should set your expectations if Obama continues on his path of destruction.

      Report Post » HumbleMan  
    • AZindependent
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 9:23am

      Much nicer than living in an Obamaville tent city. For that kind of money you can buy a nice house with a pool in Phoenix, thanks to the Federal Reserve and banksters.

      Report Post »  
  • palmettopalflorida
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 8:09am

    A “stylish pad,” is over the top. Kind of like living in a trailer, without the park, and a bedroom (bath?). But for $110,000 (plus the original sale price), where’s the pool? I’d have gone for the apartment and rented the garage as parking spaces. The French, are different. But then, possibly, advocates for a “New World Order” are getting us ready for prison cells, with upgrades.

    Report Post »  
  • Harold B
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 8:01am

    A lot of Americans are building mini houses and by putting them on a trailer frame are bypassing minimum size regulations. Many others are living in camper trailers.

    Report Post »  
    • Walkabout
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 8:11pm

      If I worked temporarily in a high tax I would consider one of those small homes not for environmental reasons but for tax reasons. Save the money and invest it elsewhere.

      Report Post »  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 7:23am

    .
    Have a friend who’s son lives in a 18 wheeler trailer, thing is like a luxury motor home. Think they did the whole thing for under 20k………..

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
  • LadyLibertykicksASS
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 6:55am

    By the time Obama gets through with America, We will be luck to be living in a cardboard box on the side of the road.

    Report Post »  
    • bikerr
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 8:07am

      That’s true,and the box will need to be made by Union labor.

      Report Post »  
    • mama6
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 8:12am

      It’s so amazing what someone with a vision can do, even when other people are negative. That’s the spirit of ingenuity.

      Report Post »  
    • Hollywood
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 3:13pm

      Barry can fit you into his place in Chicago. He got a REAL good deal on it from his bud,Tony Resko. I think Tony is still doing time is he not?

      Report Post » Hollywood  
    • myrtleturtle
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 11:52pm

      I totally agree with you and Humble Man

      Report Post »  
  • Carol Ingian
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 6:44am

    Merci, mais ca ne me va pas du.
    Thank you, but this doesnt suit me at all. :)

    Report Post »  
  • PoliticalJunkieToo
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 6:20am

    NOT going to happen in any city in the USA. .

    Sadly, this man would have spent just in fines, permits and fighting neighbor lawsuits what he spent on converting his garage into an apartment in France.

    The guy would have been strangled in red tape and bureaucracy trying to convert that garage and/or fight off the lawsuits filed against him from the owners of the garage who don’t want their neighbor to have anything different than them IF the guy even got that far because ZONING laws would stop him in his track first.

    Report Post »  
    • PoliticalJunkieToo
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 6:25am

      Correction”

      Fighting lawsuits from the owners of the OTHER garages who don‘t want their neighbor’s garage to be converted.

      Report Post »  
    • dnewton
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 11:09am

      How True! There are many stories of architects that run afoul of the law when designing buildings at the edge of the legal codes. It seems like at least forty year ago there was a ma in Virginia that built a house in Virginia that was lavish on the inside but ugly(didn’t look like nearby homes) on the outside so it had to be demolished to satisfy the city fathers. Before anyone cared about energy conservation, a young architect designed a house with 60′s technology to minimize power consumption. The bank refused to finance it because of the slightly higher ratio of cost per square foot and they feared no one would want it in case of a default. Property rights are nearly dead. Just because you own it does not mean you can have unlimited use of it.

      Report Post »  
  • The_Almighty_Creestof
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 6:15am

    Did you all read where he says he spent “less than half” of the average price of an apartment there of $110,000.00? So…we can guesstimate he spent around $50,000.00 on this garage?

    Wow…just…Wow!

    Report Post »  
    • bum
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 11:56am

      it’s expensive in France. for one, the exchange rate is about 1.43 to 1 dollar. my wife and i went to paris about a month ago and literally spent $24 on Coke during one lunch!

      Report Post » bum  
    • addie
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 1:48pm

      Apartments at that size (440 sq ft) go for $110k, imagine what a 1500 sq ft home would go for? If you go by price per sq ft, it would be $375k…..and this area is considered a “privileged area” – looks ghettos to me. I have 2/2 car garages at my house. I guess if times get tough, I can always sell them as homes. lol

      Report Post »  
  • BeEtLjOoZ
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 5:58am

    Well it’s nicer than the apartment I live in now. I might have a little more space, but the design is very inefficient and I have wished I could do something similar to free up space. But I don’t own the place so it is what it is.

    Report Post » BeEtLjOoZ  
  • Slayer
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 5:46am

    Don’t like these stories at all. They start out all cute and then before you know it, we’ve been mandated into small living quarters while the Powers That Be live in one of several 25,000 square foot palaces.

    Report Post » Slayer  
    • rcampb10
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 6:01am

      Amen!! I agree. I see stuff liek that more and more often. Its like, plant the seed in the public mind, that react to it..

      Report Post »  
    • PoliticalJunkieToo
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 6:22am

      Lots of people want to ditch the ugly McMansions and live a simpler cheaper life. There is no conspiracy to put all people in small spaces.

      Report Post »  
    • Aviyah
      Posted on September 25, 2011 at 12:42pm

      Nobody forced the guy to live here Slayer. He lives alone and wanted to be close to work. Is that such a foreign concept? Didn’t say one word either about green concerns and yes he did have a car in the alley and a shower in the bathroom.

      He probably prefers to live in a gated community where he can walk out into the neighborhood without Muslims clogging up the streats by flopping their prayer mats down in the main thoroughfare five times a day.

      Report Post » Aviyah  
  • Ron_WA
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 5:32am

    To each his own. Not my dream house (especially not the living living in France) but if it works for him so be it.

    Report Post » Ron_WA  
    • Zorro6821
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 6:20am

      Nothing new here. Here in California many garages are considered home and even storage units. I think that would make a better story.

      Report Post »  
  • TinCanVet
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 4:09am

    I’d live in a place LIKE that… just not in France..

    Report Post » TinCanVet  
  • cloudnfire
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 3:35am

    Adorable!! Just adorable!

    Report Post » cloudnfire  
  • Californiasodbuster
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 3:21am

    BFD, i lived in a 10×14 room when my parent’s could no afford anything else, had an old Sears wood burning stove in it to keep us warm, i know an older fella that lived in a tent here in so. cal when he was young, you made the best of it, and not even thinking you are poor.
    Who cares about these lame stories from france.
    There are a lot of people living in worse conditions in this world right now, and our tax dollars going to them are not going to them.
    Post a story about how our tax dollars can help the people that sincerely need it, and not the lowlife schlubs in section 8 housing, lord knows there are a lot of them around me, thanks barry.

    Report Post »  
  • staythecourse
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 2:42am

    Love it. Reminds me of living on a small boat. I’d need more room for books though, so add a few more feet on the tv wall ….the depth of a bookshelf, and I’d be fine!

    Report Post »  
  • OkieMandy
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 2:17am

    I adore this idea. I loved the 320 foot home and find this very unique. Many people would find this uncomfortable to live in but I think its manageable.

    Report Post »  
    • loriann12
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 2:30am

      I could do it if I was single. I’m married with 2 kids, so it wouldn’t be workable now. My worry is, are they getting us used to the idea of small houses ala Agenda 21? And he paid $110,000 for a garage (including the improvements, I assume) which was half what he would have paid for a house that size? That’s outrageous. If you go to Tiny Houses, they can give you plans to make tiny houses for something like $48,000? Can’t remember. But it still worries me that they’re pushing such small spaces. And my house isn’t big, just 1554 sq ft, 3 bedroom, 2 bath.

      Report Post »  
    • Melvin Spittle
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 10:02pm

      You can build the house for 48k. It’s the sq footage of the land you put it on that kills you if you live in any metro area anywhere in the world.

      Report Post » Melvin Spittle  
  • AMERICA4EVER
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 2:17am

    Are we supposed to be impressed by this and all live this way?

    Report Post »  
    • babylonvi
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 3:31am

      Obviously you are not one of the globalist elite who believe the peasants(the rest of us) take up too much space and produce too much carbon. Well my friend, UN Agenda 21 will put an end to YOUR wastefulness. Before the Globalists are done with you, you will consume no more resources than a fruit fly.

      Report Post » babylonvi  
  • Red Meat
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 2:10am

    The ungrateful cheese eating surrender monkeys are lucky they have any roofs over their heads. WGAS what goes on in France anyway?

    Report Post » Red Meat  
    • Aviyah
      Posted on September 25, 2011 at 12:24pm

      In that they are Western allies, I GAS.

      Clearly a lot of the folks that comment here do not bother reading the books that Glenn Beck advocates ~ were it not for French Christians holding off Islam at the Pyrenees Mountains during the first century, the world likely would have tipped in another direction and the free world we enjoy never would have come into existance. Reubenites did their part then and by some miracle (the grace of God), during this insane time when leader of the free world has been usurped by a hard core Communist Obama, our Socialist cousins in Europe have miraculously managed to bring balance to Western civilization via Cameron, Merkel, and Sarkozy.

      I think the whole point here is, give our kind a shack and we will make something magnificent out of it.

      Report Post » Aviyah  
  • dico
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 2:09am

    What a waste of space, I live in 450 sq ft in Manhattan, and I have more living space than this man does. That ‘storage box’ is hideous, A designer could have made that little home very nice. But the architect took a decent design and hacked it with the “BOX”, it looks like a cheesy bachelor pad with no warmth. The dude better plan on being single forever or move. If he does find a partner the person will have one dress, no makeup and will have to sport a shaved head. Or if it is a man, he better wear the same size clothes, so they can share.
    PS: living in 450 sq ft sucks, even with the best of design, just my humble opinion

    Report Post »  
    • ZeitgeistBuster
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 4:45am

      LMAO!!!!

      I Love your comments BabylonVI….. carbon footprint of a deermouse, energy consumption of a fruitfly… Ha! Ha! Ha!….. Just classic.

      I lived in a TWELVE THOUSAND square foot ranch house on an ELEVEN THOUSAND acre ranch with 800 head of cattle, and a diesel generator for electric power when we got tired of the green glow of the kerosine lamps built into the walls.

      We already had enough of a carbon footprint to last for the next seven or eight generations of our family!

      My line to the carbon phobic folk is this: MY CARBON FOOTPRINT IS HELPING REGROW THE TROPICAL RAINFOREST.

      And….. My carbon footprint is SWEET TOO! Sugar is C6H12O6… just look at all those carbon dioxides trapped in Glucose.

      STUPID Global Warming alarmists….. the current 450ppm of Carbon Dioxide BARELY gives plant life enough CO2 to do it’s Photosynthesis thing.

      Photosynthesis completely shuts off and plants die at 250ppm of CO2.

      The Sweet spot for optimum plant growth and fertilizer uptake with minimum water requirements that are Greenhouse Tested are from 800 to 1200 ppm.

      But we cannot pump the atmosphere up to even 800 because the biosphere would respond with magnificient growth and absorb the extra CO2.

      Report Post » ZeitgeistBuster  
  • Bunk
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 1:59am

    He probably doesn’t own a car. The bike serves his needs.

    Report Post »  
    • babylonvi
      Posted on September 19, 2011 at 3:33am

      How green of him. I’ll bet his carbon footprint is no greater than a titmouse.

      Report Post » babylonvi  
  • KSherrell
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 1:54am

    Only in France would they think that living in a shoebox is luxury.

    Report Post » KSherrell  
  • dirtydog1776
    Posted on September 19, 2011 at 1:51am

    Where does he park his car?

    Report Post » dirtydog1776  
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