Friday Cabins #7: How 5 Shipping Containers = 2 Off-Grid Cabins
From the Australian coast to the California desert, these reclaimed shipping container homes propose a more simple way of living
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Greetings and welcome to Friday Cabins, another EOW round-up of daydream worthy homes brought to you by Cabins Etc., the cabin-hungry newsletter everyone’s talking about IRL. On Wednesdays, we explore niche topics from the cabin world in our Deep Dives, so if you love to nerd out, join us then, too.
In NYC, the Earth continues to remind us she is warming, as yesterday Spring seemed around the corner and today is so windy it woke the city up from its deep morning slumber, and between you and me, a bucket just flew off my fire escape. But have no fear, for escapism is here! Today we explore two homes built exactly to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Ah, ye ol’ shipping container home—a hotly contested movement in the building industries, and rightfully so. Is it actually inefficient to convert a 40’ foot long metal box into a liveable structure? Maybe, but also, maybe not. Stay tuned for a future Deep Dive where we explore this exact issue on a TBD Wednesday afternoon. For now, we bring you two containers from across the globe that have been reborn into off-grid cabins.
Read on and ponder. Then circle back and forward this little Friday gem to a friend.
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🚮 Three Shipping Containers Create an Off-Grid Home in Australia
Featured on newest season of Shelter streaming’s original series "Tiny Spaces,” this reclaimed shipping container home is an experiment in sustainable living and design. Built by homeowners and designers Amy Plank and Richard Vaughan of Modhouse studio, the pair decided to simplify their life after a trip to the UK, where spaces tend to be more compact.
Back on their property on the Australian South Gippsland coast, the couple decided three shipping containers would act as excellent skeletons for their soon-to-be-home. They added a corridor down the center of all three, and outfitted the entire structure with a floating roof that acts as a solar panel platform and giant rain-catcher. Harvesting Mother Nature’s seasonal gifts looks pretty dang good here.
The interior is lined with warm Ecoply plywood walls and Tasmanian oak flooring, for a space that looks more cabin, than container.
🏜️ This Shipping Container Home Sits (Lightly) on the Grounds of a Nature Conservatory
West of Mount Lassen, three hours outside of Sacramento, CA, this shipping container was built on the 1,000-acre plot of land abutting a Nature Conservatory. The client, an avid hunter, had spent years sustainably hunting the land while sleeping in an old Fleetwood trailer, and wanted an upgrade. Due to a conservation easement that prohibited permanent development on the land, designers decided to haul in two shipping containers, converting them to a stylish yet rugged off-grid outpost.
The cabin features warm Douglas fir interior paneling, an industrial kitchenette, and is completely off-grid, powered by solar panels, and a propane range and fridge.
Oriented West, large sliding doors and picture windows let in plenty of views of the sunset over Black Butte.
Till next time, folks. Just think, exactly 1 week until next Friday! Can’t wait. In the meantime share and subscribe to Cabins Etc, the most trusted source for cabin content this side of the Mississippi (and the other too).
-ee