On March 2018, a Florida couple, Mackenzie and Spencer, did what most people have only dreamed of doing.
“For the last four and a half years, my husband and I have been building our very own off-grid shipping container home and now, it’s officially done,” Mackenzie announced on their YouTube video.
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Now let’s start from the beginning. How did it all get started?
Mackenzie and Spencer’s off-grid home journey started a few years before they began building their new home. They already knew they wanted something different from their life but did not have any idea what it is.
But they were prepared because they began to save up for that possibility in the future.
“After years spent not knowing what to do with our lives, we have finally decided to chase what makes us happy. Inspired by our past road trips, the hippies of the seventies, and the alien, Elon Musk, we are choosing to risk everything. We are selling our traditional home, quitting our current jobs, and moving from Florida to Texas where we will build our dream debt-free off grid shipping container home,” the couple wrote.
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And they really took on a tall order.
They want to completely build an off-grid home. They’ll have a solar panel system that will power their home. A rainwater catchment system will provide water for their needs. Even their internet connection will be off the grid!
“We will be doing everything ourselves and learning as we go. Becoming as self-reliant as we possibly can is the goal!” the couple shared.
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They first saw the land in 2016 while on their way to Alaska and fell in love with it.
At that point, they’ve always had a dream that they will live in an off-grid home but Mackenzie and Spencer always imagined they’d do it when they were older when they’ve already retired.
“The stars kinda aligned, not only the offer of coming out here but the market went hot. A lot of things just pointed us in this direction,” Spencer explained.
The couple first started by converting an old barn into a solar-powered workshop and building their solar panel system before they started the construction on their shipping container home. They used two 40-foot shipping containers that they will transform into an 875-sq ft three-bedroom, two-bath house complete with a big deck overlooking the pond.
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Did they achieve it?
After 4.5 years, they definitely did!
Plus they were able to incorporate their house-build journey and personality in each part of the house. When you walk right in the front door, they hung up portraits of how it all started, from the arrival of the shipping containers to the structure building, and the final home. It’s great how anyone who visits will get a glimpse of the history of the house as soon as they enter.
They also opted to add high ceilings when they can and added windows on top to add more natural light and make the house feel bigger than it looks.
The two kids have their own bedrooms. They are a little small but they still have everything they need. For example, in their daughter, Beau’s, bedroom, they opted for a captain’s bed so there’s a lot of room for storage. Plus they added a sliding table for her nightstand or study desk that can be out of sight when not needed. And the windows are huge to make the room look bigger than it does.
Their house planning was really good in maximizing the tight space they have.
They used pocket doors for all the bedrooms plus a sliding barn door for the living room. In their kitchen, they opted for tall cabinets on one side and a pantry/kitchen island in the middle.
In 2018, it was just two of them on an empty piece of land.
4.5 years later, they’ve got an 875-sq ft home with two children, two dogs, and lots of farm animals. Now that’s a welcome upgrade!
Would you like to see what their house looks like inside? Watch the video below.
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