▲ Nature Housing / CEO Han Kim

All of us might have dreamed of having a country house. As more and more people gather around big cities to find jobs and to benefit better convenience facilities, they are equally yearning a life in a wide open field or a cozy corner in a forest. Among many types of country house in South Korea, it is notable that wood house is one of the top choices for eco-friendliness. 

Nature Housing
Located in Jinjeop-eup, Namyangju City, Nature Housing has gained its recognition with differentiated space efficiency in small wood country house design.

“Not only small wood house is eco-friendly but also it saves utility bills. Because it is wood, the house is excellent in adjusting moisture level. When on fire, the emission of toxic gas is relatively less compared to other materials. Also it lasts longer, stands still better on earthquake and takes less time to build” explains Han Kim, CEO of Nature Housing.

Eco-friendly and cost-effective
Kim built extensive knowledge and knowhow during his time working as an architect in the US. Combining the experience in South Korea makes him a veteran builder who has 20 years of expertise in the field. It is his long time habit that he focuses on eco-friendliness and cost-effectiveness when building a country house. 

Lilac, a rarely small building found in the world, in Jayang-dong, Gwangjin District, Seoul, is one of his popular works. Kim made it a three storey building with 8.25 square meters each on 16.5 square meter land. The first floor is being used as a takeout coffee, the second and the third as residence. Although the size seems small, you will be wowed by his efficient space layout that looks bigger than you prejudiced. 

Less is more
‘Build 5 small houses on 330 square meter land instead of one big house’ thus has become a motto of Nature Housing. “I want to change the way people wanting to have a big house. As I proved myself, just a 16.5 square meter land can accommodate 1 store and 2 residences. How cool is that? Less is more. What makes us happy is not the volume but quality at the end” says Kim.

Considering the fact that increasing number of young people and couples in advanced countries like Sweden and the US living in small houses, Kim’s vision seems to reflect change of the way we, the South Koreans, see housing. We choose apartment for convenience and profitability but we need to pay attention why they prefer small houses in advanced countries. 

Sunhwa Four Season Village
Nature Housing is set to start a project from early May this year. The team is to build 40 houses of each 19.6 square meter big on a 4,958 square meter land in Hoengseong County, Gangwon Province. When completed, the cluster will be named Sunhwa Four Season Village. Hearing about the project, an acquaintance of Kim has suggested him to do the same project in his 6,611 square meter land around Seoul.