Trevor Seip and Jennifer Sansosti have transformed two 20-foot-long containers into their home in Ellsworth, Maine. (Kate Collins/ Bangor Daily News via Associated Press)
PRESENT
FUTURE
Remember the good ole days when any moron with a 600 credit score able to scribble an X on a loan document could live in their very own $600,000 McMansion? Well those days are dwindling. Even though millions of these morons have been living mortgage payment free for the last two years as the corrupt clueless banks try to figure out who holds the note, they will eventually get kicked out on their asses.
But they have a backup plan. SHIPPING CONTAINERS. Have you ever driven on the NJ Turnpike past Elizabeth NJ? There are thousands and thousands of empty shipping containers piled high. We really have no need for them as shipping containers because we no longer make anything in this country to ship. A couple in Maine may inspire the new housing craze. Live in your very own 160 square foot container with all the modern conveniences, including a composting toilet (no tampons please).
Imagine the pleasant odors wafting through your 160 square foot steel palace. The possibilities are endless, as these containers are stackable, offering the opportunity of multi-level living. It’s easy to get new ones, so you can have an in-law container close by.
And the best part of living in a shipping container is the flexibility and mobility. If the shit hits the fan, just have yourself delivered to the nearest port and ship yourself to any country in the world.
I’m going to call my old buddy, Bob Toll, and recommend that he get in on the bottom floor of this gold mine. I can picture it now. Mile upon mile of McContainers in gated communities with names like Containerville Country Club Estates, Coventry at Container Commons, Container Meadows, and Coastal Container Lakes.
Couple at home in shipping containers
Associated Press / June 21, 2011
ELLSWORTH, Maine — Some Maine homesteaders live in tents, others in converted buses and straw-bale homes. A couple living on 63 acres in this Down East town call home a pair of former shipping containers, which they bought on the auction website eBay for a total of $1,500.
Trevor Seip and Jennifer Sansosti, both in their late 20s, have spent the last year modifying the containers on their property, where they hope to build a conventional home.
Each container measures 20 feet long, 8 feet high, and 8 feet wide.
One is insulated, plumbed, and wired by the couple. It boasts a bed and table that fold up against the wall, a cushioned bench seat, a sink, a camp stove, a wall-mounted propane heater, and a bathroom with a shower and a composting toilet. The other has a large storage closet and folding futon, the couple said.
“You need to use every inch you can when you’re dealing with 160 square feet’’ of floor space, Sansosti told the Bangor Daily News.
The containers sit about 5 feet apart, but the couple plan to have them moved so they’re connected.
The couple designed their shelters so they can live off the power grid. They have power-producing solar panels and energy-efficient lights that are powered by batteries, and they collect their water from a nearby stream and filter it. They plan to have a windmill with a power generator installed.
Seip and Sansosti had been considering homesteading in locations as far away as Uruguay. Seip, a Maine native who previously lived in Stroudsburg, Pa., and Sansosti, a New York City native, chose Maine so they can be closer to their families and because they consider Maine more tolerant of their unconventional housing choice.
matt says:
Not completely crazy. Buy a litle parcel of land, put one of these on it, get off the grid and grow some food. These seem to be pretty tornado and zombie proof as well.
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21st June 2011 at 9:39 am
Dirty Billy says:
This is from The Onion right? Right?
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21st June 2011 at 9:42 am
Administrator says:
Dirty Billy
True story. It was in my local paper this morning.
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21st June 2011 at 9:47 am
Administrator says:
Other options.
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21st June 2011 at 9:56 am
FTL says:
I’ll take the grey and white one at the top.
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21st June 2011 at 10:08 am
Don Murphy says:
I think it is a damned fine idea! I admire people that have the cojones to do something like that. I would like to someday downsize to about the size of, say, a suitcase!
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21st June 2011 at 10:31 am
StuckInNJ says:
Container homes? Didn’t we once call those Mobile Homes?
Anyway … don’t laugh. The pic below is nicer than our home!!
“With its modern lines and appealing spaces, the award-winning Redondo Beach House by De Maria Design turns heads. The luxury beach-side showpiece was built from eight prefabricated, recycled steel shipping containers, along with some traditional building materials. According to the architects, the modified containers are “nearly indestructible,” as well as resistant to mold, fire, and termites. Seventy percent of the building was efficiently assembled in a shop, saving time, money, and resources. One of the containers can even sport a pool! The lessons learned from Redondo Beach House are being incorporated into a line of more affordable, accessible designs, soon available as Logical Homes.”
Pics of 11 more luxurious and lovely Container Homes here;
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/daily_green_news/8/twelve-amazing-shipping-container-houses.html
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21st June 2011 at 10:53 am
StuckInNJ says:
Dammit. Pic didn’t show above. But it’s the second home in the yahoo link above. Do check out that link !!
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21st June 2011 at 10:55 am
Administrator says:
Stuck
That clinches it. Bob Toll will be all over this concept. Luxury Container Living.
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21st June 2011 at 10:57 am
StuckInNJ says:
Trying one more time from a different location.
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21st June 2011 at 10:57 am
KaD says:
I prefer the portable variety.
http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses/lusby/
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21st June 2011 at 11:38 am
Hope@ZeroKelvin says:
I think you missed the point of this article which was that this couple is getting off the grid. Personally, I think this is a great idea.
We bought a 20 x 40 one for use as secure storage on the doomstead. Had it brought to our place and leveled, cost about $2000. No way we could build a secure building for that price or that size. Once you close the doors and put one of those circular locks on it, you will need a cutting torch to get in.
Ya, know, we laugh at some of this redneck stuff but it usually a good use of the materials at hand.
The self-composting toilet has to go. However, I don’t know why you couldn’t use a 20 x 20 one as a shower/BR combo though.
Hell, I’d even put in a swimming pool.
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21st June 2011 at 11:47 am
StuckInNJ says:
Interesting site, KaD. But … $50,000 for a 117 square foot home?? Jeezus!! PIGMAN!!
By comparison, here’s a nice looking 1500 square foot house for $75,000 in Orlando.
http://www.orlandohomesearch.com/bin/rea.php?acnt=AR14453&action=ACTIVATE_FRAMES&button=SEARCH_MLS
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21st June 2011 at 11:49 am
KaD says:
You couldn’t pay me to live in Orlando.
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21st June 2011 at 11:53 am
StuckInNJ says:
KaD
OK. Work with me. lol How about Idaho? $75,000
http://www.buyidahorealestate.com/listing/98470409-5208-broadview-way-caldwell-id-83607/
My initial point, of course, is that $50k for 117sq ft closet is a total ripoff. A pigman capitalist trying to take advantage of the down-and-out … in my very humble opinion.
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21st June 2011 at 12:01 pm
Buddabull says:
Less is more. If they decide to move it is portable.
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21st June 2011 at 12:11 pm
ron says:
That is assuming you can get a loan.And have a job.I like things that are paid for.Knothing like being a slave for thirty years for a building.
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21st June 2011 at 12:41 pm
ecliptix543 says:
I like the Idaho house. Wait another few months and it’ll be $60k. End of the year, it’ll be $50k. If Emperor Obama gets re-anointed, it’ll be free since the current owners will have been rounded up and shot for treason.
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21st June 2011 at 12:54 pm
StuckInNJ says:
I used to go to Boise quite a bit when I worked for HP, as that is where their laser printer division is located. I gotta tell ya the truth, ecliptix, there are more ugly homes in ID than nice looking ones.
But the scenery is spectacular. Yeah, I’m also known as Mr. Obvious. If it were not for family ties here in NJ and MI I would move to Idaho in a fuckin heartbeat. Plus, they have a lot of looney-tunes anti-government survivalists and militia up there. They have secret handshakes and the secret password is “fuckbanks”. I’d fit right in.
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21st June 2011 at 1:01 pm
AKAnon says:
Hope-I plan to get a 40′ unit this summer, and build on top of it.
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21st June 2011 at 1:04 pm
Thinker says:
Oh, looky there… a Google Ad in the right corner for shipping containers for sale!
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21st June 2011 at 1:08 pm
Hope@ZeroKelvin says:
@AK-Anon: I would love to have buried mine, with a ramp I could camoflauge, but when it does rain here, the soil about 2 feet down becomes sandy-loam-goop and my container would likely sink to China!
You need to do some research about burying a container or building on top of it. I have read a little on this and there are structural and leakage considerations. Some of the used containers are used because they got beat up on the ship and can have small cracks. Ours did and we had to weld them closed. (I say we but it was Mr. Kelvin doing the welding and me as the go-fer, lol.)
One night when we were trying to shoot some raccoons, we accidentally shot our container. It stood up well to the .22 mag round but I have not tested a bigger caliber. (At least we didn’t shoot our tractors.)
Regardless, I still think these things have great potential and Jimbo is a big snob to thumb his nose at them.
Good Luck! When I can figure out this photobucket thingey, I’ll try to take some photos of what we did inside and out if you’re interested.
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21st June 2011 at 1:33 pm
Administrator says:
Hope
I’m not thumbing my nose at it.
I think it is fascinating that in the space of 6 short years we’ve gone from people making $50,000 a year living in McMansions to people living in containers.
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21st June 2011 at 1:47 pm
Hope@ZeroKelvin says:
Okay, okay, I’m just a wee bit sensitive about the Redneck slurs, since I is one, heh, heh.
Your point about how far and fast we have fallen is, drum roll please, just one more item vindicating my premise about how freaking DOOMED we are.
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21st June 2011 at 1:58 pm
Gonzalo Lira's Girlfriend says:
Gonzalo’s going to buy one for us if he can sell a subscription. But it has to be completely airtight, because he can only have sex in total darkness.
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21st June 2011 at 2:08 pm
AwholeDr says:
Admin:
“SHIPPING CONTAINERS. Have you ever driven on the NJ Turnpike past Elizabeth NJ? There are thousands and thousands of empty shipping containers piled high. We really have no need for them as shipping containers because we no longer make anything in this country to ship.”
I beg to differ, New Jersey has piles of export materials:
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21st June 2011 at 2:32 pm
llpoh says:
I have been in a couple really nice container-homes. They can be really well insulated, and aren’t bad at all. Zombie-proof? Not so much. Might withstand a .22 but a really rifle will turn it into swiss-cheese. They can be buried, I believe, with prep, and then you may have some zombie protection.
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21st June 2011 at 9:22 pm
AKAnon says:
I know a guy who built a 3 (4?) story log hotel/B&B. Ice jam flood picked the building (and every other building near the river) up off its foundation and over several feet. Clever bastard jacked the whole Mary-Ann up and set it on a pair of 40′ connexes. Now he has an additional 640 square feet of lockable storage, as well as a below 1st floor garage (between the boxes).
There are lots of covered “car ports” (equipment sheds) made by a pair of connexes with a truss roof across the boxes and space between-again with two securable storage areas. Not pretty, but function trumps aesthetics in my book. My plan is a cabin on a hillside, with connex as downhill foundation and a pony wall on the uphill side-toys & supplies go in the box, vehicle between box & hill, and only ground level access to the cabin on the uphill side.
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21st June 2011 at 2:14 am
AKAnon says:
Hope-You are correct that the containers are often sold when they are too beat up to re-use. Some outfits only carry boxes that meet specs (I forget the specifics), but they need to be water tight. I imagine they pressure test them. Others sell the crappy surplused units that no longer meet spec. I would not bury one below ground without thinking the drainage through pretty thoroughly, but with a little engineering, I believe you could (at least partially) mound soil around them. I’m not too worried about loading them-if my buddy’s multi-story log structure works, a stick-frame cabin should be fine. But I’ll run some numbers-I’m a mechanical engineer by training.
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21st June 2011 at 2:23 am