Let's Talk About Cost

I've worked on all different types of homes. Historic remodels to new construction. And the thing that always struck me is just how is a kid, starting out, going to be able to afford a home?

Owning a home is a lot more than just paying for a house. It anchors you to your community in a way that until I owned a home I'd never considered. Just how attached can you be to a place if your paying rent. If you don't like your neighbors you can just move. If the street you live on is getting trashed you move. If you own a home you stand and fight. You do things like look out for the neighbors kids and pick up stuff that blew into your yard. Because you know your going to be there a while. The first container guest house that I built cost me $3200.00. It was a single twenty foot standard container (160 square feet). I salvaged almost everything from from places like the Rebuilding center in Portland. I did all the work as well but in the end I had a well insulated little house with a hot shower and toilet.

My point is that even a kid fresh out of school can save up that kind of money. Sure, that's not a lot of room but this kind of construction is modular. If you want more room you can expand as you need it. And there's always little bits of land around that you can put something like this on. I wanted to be able to offer a way to home ownership to someone that couldn't front the usual paperwork to a bank. It's one way to improve the world, a little bit at a time.

It's also got the benefit of creative reuse. 85% of the mass of this house is recycled. I made sure that everything I could from the windows and doors to the boxes themselves had a previous life, it makes ethical and economic sense. In the end my costs on the 640 square foot house in Portland came to about $51.00 a square foot. That includes all the permits and professional services, as well. Simple modern remodels cost at least twice that. Labor costs are going to make that price higher if you can't do any of the work but if your into a little sweat equity those costs can be controlled too.

A couple of other points;

If you keep it painted steel doesn't go anywhere. These homes will be standing long after every thing around it has rotted to the ground. The average modern house has to be almost completely rebuilt every forty years.

They don't have to look like cargo containers when your done working on them. You can sheet these things in any material you chose and blend them into any neighborhood. Even someplace as historic as New Orleans.

This photo was of my first container house at 1140 Carondelet St. New Orleans, Louisiana.