How much space do you need to be happy? Part of the American story is that bigger is better, and with cheap credit and tax breaks for home buyers, it’s tempting to stretch one’s finances to build or buy a larger house. My grandpa Otto chose a different path. (a) He didn’t want to find himself working longer and longer hours just to pay for more space and the stuff to fill it. He grew up in a farming community and within a very large family, so living simply was integral to his life philosophy.

Yet my grandpa loved his little home and was content with what he had. Even though the house was small, it didn’t feel cramped. As my dad said, “Everyone was happy and content. The size of the house didn’t matter.” My grandpa taught me that living a simple life isn’t about self-deprivation. Instead, it’s about giving yourself the time, freedom, and money to pursue your dreams. In many ways, I’ve modeled my life after that of my grandpa. I learned from (b) him that simplicity isn’t about austerity. It’s a revolution in personal growth.

In the 1950s, when my dad was a little boy, my grandpa built a 600-square-foot cottage. (c) He put the twenty-bythirty- foot structure on a small plot of land in Pleasant Hill. Dad remarked, “Reusing and recycling was a necessity. In essence, (d) he was recycling before it became ‘cool.’” Grandpa got most of the materials for his little house from the Oakland docks, where he was working. It took four years to build the small cottage, and when they moved in, the roof wasn’t even on!

My dad recalled looking up at the stars in the roofless house as a twelve-year-old kid before falling asleep. Dad didn’t mind living in an unfinished house. (e) He described Pleasant Hill as “open and private. It felt like all the homes were on ten acres.” Over the years, my dad and grandpa noticed dramatic changes in their community. Each year more farmland was devoured to build strip malls and neighborhoods with larger homes. As real estate prices rose, many of their neighbors sold their homes and lots. Soon my grandpa had the only small house on the block, surrounded by a sea of homes four times the size of his dwelling.