Alternative Housing Ideas Gain Popularity

Lately I've been seeing more and more ideas for alternative housing. People want greener spaces that take up less space and blend into nature more readily. This desire to go green has induced designers to come up with some very interesting ideas for homes that are far from traditional, but are still quite desirable.
One interesting idea is the earth sheltered house. In short, this is a house that is surrounded by earth on all sides but one, including the roof. Think Little House on the Prairie. Remember the little sod house they lived in? These homes are super insulated for starters and often are built with upcycled materials like used tires. They typically have a modern look, but I have also seen some that look like more traditional. I've even seen some that made me think of a hobbit hole in the Lord of the Rings! Here are some examples:

Another interesting new idea is the tiny house. A tiny house is exactly what the name implies. It makes better of use of space than traditional homes so that fewer building materials and less land are used. Many of these are also easily moveable, so if you move you can take your house with you! Of course, they are easier to heat and cool also. Here are a few pictures of tiny houses:

Yet another idea is the pod home. A person buys a central pod that is great for one or two people. Then as the family grows, additional pods can be added to the central pod. When the kids are grown and ready to move out on their own, they can take one of the add-on pods off of the central pod and let the son or daughter take it with them! How neat is that? 

What about the tree house idea? We can't leave that one out because it's by far my favorite! I would absolutely love to live in one of these! Check out these amazing tree houses for families!

I think these tree houses are like dream homes! 

All of these ideas are new and different but quite appealing. What's your favorite? Have you seen some new ideas for housing that I've missed?