Small spaces

Bigger is far from better for proponent of microarchitecture

July 07, 2011|By Emily Sweeney, Globe Staff

Derek Deek Diedricksen and some of the small living spaces he has created.… (Photos by George Rizer for…)

STOUGHTON - Once upon a time, Derek “Deek’’ Diedricksen worked as a disc jockey at Boston’s legendary FM rock station WBCN. But these days, he’s making a name for himself in a completely different realm, by designing and building tiny houses. With the release of his book and new video series on microarchitecture, his lifelong love of building small structures is fast becoming a second career.

On his website, www.Relaxshacks.com, Diedricksen evangelizes about the joys and benefits of scaled-down living spaces and microarchitecture. It’s a concept that has grown in popularity in recent years as thriftiness and living simply have become more appealing - and, for many people, more financially necessary - than ever.

Diedricksen, 34, has always had an affinity for what he calls “compact living.’’ He’s a diehard do-it-yourselfer. He can swing an ax like a seasoned outdoorsman. He chops his own wood to heat his “900-or-so’’-square-foot home in Stoughton that he remodeled himself and lives in with his wife, Elizabeth, and two young children. He takes pride in using a wood stove to heat their cozy place: “Stickin’ it to the man!’’ he says, nodding, with a big smile.

To him, super-sized living quarters just don’t make sense. The larger the home you have, the more time, effort, and money it costs to maintain it and keep the lights on (and keep the place warm). His take on McMansions, which could come in at 10 times the size of his home? “I don’t feel they’re necessary,’’ said Diedricksen. “People already work too many hours every week.’’

Smaller homes are less expensive, better for the environment, and can free up your time to do other things, he says.

“I grew up in a small house, and vacationed in a small house,’’ said Diedrick sen, who is originally from Madison, Conn.

As a kid, he lived in a “very modest’’ ranch home. Building stuff is in his blood (his father taught woodworking at the high school level), and he loved making forts. He comes from a big family of Boy Scouts, and eventually achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He worked at WBCN from 1999 to 2005.