
With affordability concerns at top of mind for many prospective buyers, particularly first-timers, Lennar is taking a unique approach in San Antonio: tiny homes. Within the home builder’s Elm Trails subdivision, Lennar is offering two floor plans under 665 square feet to prospective buyers.
“Lennar has a long history of innovation and of allowing local leaders to develop offerings unique to individual markets. In San Antonio, we’ve really focused on affordability and keeping the cost of homeownership accessible to first-time buyers,” says Lennar San Antonio division president Brian Barron. “It’s no secret that small-footprint homes have gained a following across the country, and we wanted to see if we could do that at scale here in San Antonio.”
Barron says after identifying a national trend of acceptance of homes with smaller footprints, Lennar began researching how it could make such homes available across an entire community.
“We listened to our customers and refined the floor plans and elevations to create a unique home that meets the needs and lifestyles of a broad swath of buyers,” Barron says.
Since the Elm Trails subdivision is located outside San Antonio city limits, Lennar had “greater flexibility to experiment with homesite sizes,” according to Barron.
“As more and more municipalities address affordability, we believe it will be important that traditional zoning requirements are updated to reflect new types of housing,” Barron says.
Lennar has developed two tiny home floor plan options for shoppers in San Antonio: the 661-square-foot Henley model and the 350-square-foot Cooley model. Barron says the company expects its first closings on tiny homes to begin in the next 30 days.
The one-bedroom, two-bathroom Henley model, priced at $162,999 on Lennar’s website, is a two-story home with an open floor plan first level and a lofted second level. The first floor features a shared kitchen and living room space, an owner’s suite with a bathroom, and a small enclave that can fit a table for meals. The upstairs loft provides homeowners with an additional bathroom and flex space that can be used as a home office, a living area, or a combination of both.
The Cooley model is a one-bedroom, one-bathroom plan priced at $129,999 on Lennar’s website. The two-story home has an open concept that connects the kitchen and primary living area, an owner’s suite with two closets and a bathroom, and an open upstairs space that can be used for storage, according to Lennar.
“It’s been really gratifying to see the range of buyers these homes appeal to—from singles to couples to families,” Barron says. “The majority are first-time buyers, and they are excited to be able to afford a new home.”
At the moment, Barron says Lennar remains “laser-focused” on refining and building tiny homes in Elm Trails, with no additional expansions of tiny home offerings planned across the company.