Don't you know that less is really better? Who wants a complicated materialistic life anyway?
(Me ... when it is cold.) 
There certainly are a lot of houses about like you described. New Zealand is a couple of decades behind the rest of the Western world in housing, and there are a surprising number of people here who still have not heard about 'central heating', let alone double glazing. We did stay at a house in Auckland that had a waste disposal unit (they tend to be a little more 'forward' in the North Island
) but it had no heating whatsoever, relying on the very hot sun we have here to help heat the rooms. It annoys me too that the toilet is generally separate from the bathroom - very unhygenic.
There are, however a lot of newer houses already with insulation, and I am well impressed by my new house, a cheap four-bedroom house built by a well-known building company. No central heating or double glazing, but if we had the funds we could have had them installed. It is warmer where we are so even the heatpump is rarely used. We also have double electrical sockets in the rooms, and could have had triple(!) if we were willing to pay. These more modern houses are increasing in number, but the traditional NZ flimsy weather-board will no doubt still be around for a while yet.
Not an American, but look forward to your next observations.
