How small can my house be?

**720 square feet.** This is the question where reading only your covenant will give you the wrong answer.

**What your covenant says.** The nine subdivisions do not agree:

**What the Township requires.** Freeman Township's Zoning Ordinance sets a minimum floor area of **720 square feet** per dwelling unit in the Single Family Residential district. That applies to every lot at Lake of the Pines.

**Which governs.** The higher standard. So in eight of the nine subdivisions, the Township's 720 is the number you build to — not the 420 or 480 in your covenant. Only in Pinehurst III do the two already agree.

This is not the Association overriding your covenant. Both sets of rules apply to your lot at the same time, and the Association's own Accessory Building Regulations state the principle directly: where another law or ordinance imposes a more stringent requirement, that requirement prevails.

**What counts toward the 720.** Not everything under your roof. Both the covenant and the Township exclude the same sorts of space. The covenant measures enclosed living space and excludes porches, breezeways, carports, patios, pool areas, garages and other accessory uses. The Township excludes basements, utility rooms, breezeways, porches, attached garages and accessory buildings.

So 720 square feet means 720 square feet of actual living space.

Confirm your figures with the Township Zoning Administrator before finalising plans.

*Source: Restrictive Covenants, Article VII; Freeman Township Zoning Ordinance No. 8, Table 1 and footnote (c); Lake of the Pines Accessory Building Regulations (6/8/2025), item 18.*