PITTSBURGH — Tiny houses are big right now.

There are hundreds of blogs and websites devoted to them, and the design website Houzz currently has 2,716 stories on the subject. Television shows such as “Tiny House Nation” and documentaries such as “Tiny: A Story About Living Small” have Americans dreaming of radically uncluttering their lives and living with less stuff and a lot less square footage.

The major attraction is the idea of living a simpler life. But affordability also is a draw. The low price tag of most tiny houses means financial freedom, at least from a mortgage, in places where housing costs are high.

Elaine Walker, co-founder of the American Tiny House Association, says a tiny house can be built for $20,000 if you build it yourself and use donated or recycled materials. Experts at TinyHouseBuild.com say it can be done for as little as $10,000 if built off-site and transported to a lot.

Not everyone is content with a no-frills tiny house. One done by a luxury builder can rise to $80,000, Walker says. “On average, many are around $45,000, but the trend has been to make them both bigger and more expensive.”

So why does Pittsburgh's first tiny house cost more than twice the average? The house cost much more to build — $191,000 — than its asking price, said Eve Picker, the architect and urban planner from Australia who spearheaded the project.

Half of the construction cost went toward remediation of the land, which included removing an old foundation, digging a basement and excavation for a sewer line, said Ben Schulman, communications director of Small Change, a real estate equity crowdfunding platform. The two-year project was also complicated by delays in getting city permits and variances for smaller setbacks and other requirements, Schulman says.

Heather Wildman and Chad Chalmers of Wildman Chalmers Design worked with Picker on its design, which includes one sleeping/living room measuring about 24 by 8 feet, a nearly 8-by-8-foot kitchen and a 7-by-4-foot bathroom with a 21/2-footdeep utility closet running its length. The ceilings range from 8 to 9 feet.

Many of the house's components are also tiny: a 4-foot tub, a counter-height refrigerator and a combination washer/dryer in the corner of the kitchen. The kitchen range, sink and dishwasher, however, are standard size. The unheated basement offers 350 square feet of storage.

The sleeping/living room has a long desk beneath a front picture window but no other furniture. Picker said the buyer could choose a folding Murphy bed or loft bed for the blank wall at the far end.

The house's $110,000 price is almost identical to the median house price in Garfield last year. So why did Picker choose this neighborhood?

“To rebrand Garfield, to turn eyes onto it and to build something affordable in a market where affordable housing is very, very difficult to build,” Picker said. She said she hopes that Garfield, which is sandwiched between two urban redevelopment success stories, will be the next neighborhood to experience a rebirth.

But the house's price is raising some eyebrows. Maureen Broge, 58, of Lawrenceville stopped by late last month to inquire about the price. “That's kinda steep,” she said.

Gloria Potter, broker and owner of Lotus Real Estate, has a two-bedroom, one-bath house three blocks away priced at $99,500.

“Square footage is how you determine value,” said the 17-year agent. “For 350 square feet in Garfield, I wouldn't pay more than $65,000.”

Some communities have made special accommodations for tiny houses. Fresno, Calif., recently became the first U.S. city to allow tiny houses on wheels in neighborhoods zoned for single-family homes, according to the American Tiny House Association.

Tiny houses on trailers do not need basements or sewerage and are far less expensive to build, but that was not an option here. City ordinances require houses to be tied to public water and sewer systems and have a foundation.