Photos via faircompanies.com
Luke Iseman and Heather Stewart, a couple from San Francisco grew tired of paying high rents, so they decided to build a home out of a shipping container. They also wanted a home that could be transported to virtually anywhere, which is another reason they opted for a cargo container over other building options.
They purchased the shipping container for $2,300 from the Port of Oakland, which is roughly what they were paying to rent their SF apartment. Then they set about converting it into a home on their own. It took about 3 weeks to complete and the conversion cost $12,000. So, all told, they spent less than $15,000 on a new home.
Their new home measures only 160 square feet, but they managed to convert it into a very cozy dwelling. It features a lofted bedroom area, a bathroom with a shower, and a kitchen equipped to serve their basic needs, as well as a porch, which works to extend the living area considerably.
Since they wanted a home that can be transported to anywhere, they also equipped it to be fully off-the-grid. It features a PV array, a humanure toilet and an on-demand water heater. For cooking, they installed a camping stove, while their fridge is a $150 freezer from Home Depot, which they hacked with $20 worth of parts (sensors and an Arduino) so that it now runs on a third of the energy used by expensive Energy Star rated refrigerators. For lighting they used LED lights through out, which only cost them $50.
The home can be packed up back into its original shipping container state, meaning that it can be loaded onto a truck and driven to anywhere, just like any other cargo container.
The couple plan to build more tiny shipping container homes just like this one, which they are calling “Boxousesâ€, and sell them fully-equipped for $29,000 each. They will also be offering plans for those who want to do the renovation themselves.
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