by Tricia
If you have been following here for a while, you know that I have a thing for tiny homes. I have found some really nice plans (hint – look under vacation plans) and we have pretty much decided that we are going to go for it once we can afford it.
The following tiny home is a steal, with a price tag set at $8,000. The only drawback is that they are 320 sq. feet. That’s a little too small for our family of three. What are they made of? Shipping containers.
I know…I know…my first thought was “No way.” Even checking out the outside picture of the shipping container home I still wasn’t convinced. But click on the second picture. Wow. I am impressed!
Here are a few more details, as well as a link to the full article with pictures:
They designed a galley-style kitchen with a stove, sink, refrigerator and dinette, and a 48-square-foot bathroom with a pedestal sink, shower and commode. Adjacent to the kitchen is a bunk area for children; separate sleeping quarters for the owners lie behind the bathroom wall.
[Via CNN.com]
The creators showed the prototype to some residents of a poor neighborhood in Juarez, Mexico, and one said living in a home like that would be a dream. If you read the story, there are even ideas to make communities out of these shipping container homes, since they are stackable and easily portable.
I still can’t get over that inside view. Amazing.
Thanks Allison for the tip on these amazing tiny homes! 🙂
Very cool – thanks for the link. They may not seem like much to us, but they’ll seem like heaven to a lot of the poor.
isn’t that neat. do a quick search on youtube for container homes and you’ll be amazed. There are people building one home out of several stacked containers. amazing.
Bob Villa even showcased it being done. http://www.bobvila.com/BVTV/Bob_Vila/Project-0201.html
I love that sort of thing.
Tricia-
I gave you an “I Love Your Blog” award.
Keep up the good work.
Danielle
Hey! Thanks for posting this I happen to see it on CNN the other day and thought it was totally awesome. I have been looking for something to put out on our hunting property that I could stay in. I have had many ideas from sheds to big tree houses to these shipping container things. Unfortunately I am trying to do it on a budget and none of these options are cheap. The shipping container looks awesome but I cant find where to get one and the biggest issue is having it brought to the property. I can almost imagine it would cost quite a bit considering where I want it is in the middle of nowhere! I would like to see your vacation plan ideas but cannot find where it is on the site. Can you point me in the right direction? Thanks in advance.
Hi Neal – I don’t have any plans on my site, but if you look at online sites for home plans, or even books with plans, the vacation homes are the ones with the smaller sizes. Their normal plans (I have found) seem to run 1,200+ for sq. feet. The vacation plans run smaller 🙂
Danielle – thank you 🙂 🙂
Just don’t try living in one. I was living in one while overseas. After about 2 weeks it gets very VERY small. I had one all to myself, whereas others had to share them. I used it for a year, and never got that comfort feeling no matter what I did to it. Plus the lack of air circulation didn’t help either….
I think it’s a great idea. In fact, there is a house near me which is three containers stacked on top of each other. I should go and get a photo.
Yeah! I’m so glad you liked it. I was amazed as well at the inside. I was impressed that the gentlemen were actually interested in helping people better their lives.
You are a rich Gringo, no? So… splurge… on two containers, and put a nice breezeway between them with a little patio and a grapevine growing over a trellis. It would be beautiful.
If they want a two story unit can they stack another one on top of the first? I mean wouldn’t that double the capacity since some families like to all live together? I saw something similar to this only it was a worst cubicle contest, one guy had his office in a cargo container. Interesting idea though and probably holds up better than a FEMA trailer.
In poor countries such as in Africa these containers would be ideal homes since the people are now living in shacks made from cardboard.
Very cool – thanks for the link. It’s amazing the ingenuity of people.
If you go to http://www.fabprefab.com/ there are a whole list of container homes under the Container Bay link. People have gotten pretty creative with these!
I think shipping contaner homes are very cool but I wonder how/if they are insulated? Even in hot climates, a non insulated home is going to take a ton of money to cool.
You should definitely be reading apartmenttherapy.com – they have a thing for tiny homes too 🙂
For any of you interested in projects/services such as the group in NM, check out what is being done in Boone NC by a group producing the dwellbox line.Go to:
dwellbox.com/dwellblog
Your idea is great. And wrote very nicely. But you could have written more about Container Home.