When we think of affordable housing in the region, we usually envision huge apartment buildings, such as those marching up 7th Street north of the Convention Center. Or we’ll think of the varying percentages of affordable units promised in the multitudes of luxury condo developments popping up all over our city, and often not delivered in the final construction.

For the next several weekends in Silver Spring, you can get a close-up look at a different solution to the affordable housing dilemma, one that’s received tons of press coverage in the Gulf Coast in the last year: the Katrina Cottage. Conceived in response to the poorly planned, terribly designed, and often permanent trailer encampments erected by FEMA, several versions of the Katrina Cottage have been designed by New Urbanist architects. All have the same goal: to provide decent, inexpensive, easily constructed housing that complements a community rather than blight it. Sponsored by USA Weekend magazine, and supported by many of their Make a Difference Day volunteers, Silver Spring’s cottage is being constructed in the parking lot of a community center to maximize exposure. Upon completion, it will be moved to a nearby neighborhood for a local family to move in.

Washington’s version of the Katrina Cottage was designed by Miami architect Steven Mouzon specifically for our mid-Atlantic context, appropriate for pre-war suburbs such as Arlington, Bethesda, and Silver Spring. Implemented more widely, it could be a real tool for affordable housing advocates who have run up against NIMBYism. The houses vary from 1300 square feet to a tiny 400, and could be an interesting way to capitalize on small infill lots in existing neighborhoods – a charming counterpoint to the gargantuan McMansions swallowing many of Washington’s historic bungalows in these neighborhoods. Most importantly, when it comes to affordable housing, it may even be politically feasible, given the high standard of design. Think of Habitat for Humanity, with better design and a greater emphasis on standardized building components to maximize replicability.

The house’s construction will be open to the public weekends in November at the Gwendolyn E. Coffield Community Center, 2450 Lyttonsville Rd in Silver Spring.

Photos of cottage under construction by Peggy Grosswiler. Used with permission.