Cute infill houses are affordable without subsidy

For a great example of Missing Middle housing in Fayetteville, Arkansas, here are four infill houses designed by Flintlock LAB. 

These units have been dubbed the “Painted Babies,” a takeoff on San Francisco’s famous “Painted Ladies,” the copiously photographed Victorian homes on a hill overlooking a park. Like their San Francisco counterpart, the Painted Babies are colorful and lined up on a steep slope. They are much smaller, less ornate, and cute, but also adjacent to a green space—the 74-acre Walker Park, which has trails, disc golf, a senior activity center, and more. The houses are less than a mile from Fayetteville’s courthouse square, the heart of the city. 

The four houses complete an entire block of infill housing, joining three other larger—although still modest-sized—single-family houses. The Painted Babies are only 520 square feet, with a tiny porch carved into one corner. The details of the porch and woodwork, the colors, and the roofline all add to the attractive appearance. The repetition is beautiful, with the colors making each distinct. The street slope makes the ensemble much more interesting.

The floor plan of the one-bedroom house is smartly designed to maximize space with a main living area, a small kitchen to one side, and the bedroom in the back. There is no wasted space. The details are simple, but floors, kitchen backsplash, crown molding, and other woodwork add a special touch. 

Despite cute design, the babies were priced affordably when they were completed in 2019. The small size, repetition of the plan, tiny lot, and no parking structure—just a pull-in driveway—minimized costs. “Each home achieves affordability without subsidies, selling at a price point attainable to 60 percent AMI households while remaining less expensive than nearby one-bedroom apartments,” according to the design team.

“The catch is you’ve got a great-looking home next to a great park, in a dynamic neighborhood, walkable to downtown, for a price that is attainable to a single professional, with low energy bills and very low maintenance costs and no POA or condo fees. We built four, and all four are spoken for— two retired couples, a young single professional and a young professional couple.” Zara Neiderman, City Planning Commission Member and Project Developer.

Sounds like there is no “catch,” but a lot of attraction.