By Kimberley Mok

One major reason why tiny homes are so popular is probably that they are cheaper to build than your average home, usually costing anywhere from a few thousand to many thousands of dollars -- still cheaper than average. The only drawback is that tiny homes are, well, tiny, typically measuring under 280 square feet. But what if you could get a home twice the size, for about the same price? That's the aspiration behind Rural Studio of Auburn University's 20K House, a decade-old project that has aimed to design low-cost, efficient homes for the broader public.