Jen lives in a permitted shipping container home in the Colorado mountains—a dream come true. But to get to this point took a massive amount of research. Importantly, she found a county government open to nontraditional housing types. Gilpin County proved to be exceptionally helpful during the entire permitting process. Of course, the pandemic made completing everything a challenge. But Jen prevailed and is thrilled to be living tiny legally on her property with incredible views!
“We have a certificate of occupancy that I got in June of 2020. It was not too difficult. Part of my process in my research in finding property was also doing research on building departments and what they did allow and didn’t allow.
There are a lot of counties in Colorado that shy away from unique builds like this; being a container is a big deal, and a lot of them are very afraid of that. Gilpin County was not.
They were very welcoming and open to building with anything as long as you build with the wind and snow load minimums, which are really huge. Being at this elevation it’s a big deal. You got to make the house sturdy enough to withstand the elements up here.
My engineers, architects, and the builder were all responsible for that. They met and exceeded all of those minimums on this house.”
-Jen, @r3cubedhome
Jen’s tiny home is built using a 40-foot shipping container. In total, her container house has about 320 square feet. She minimized the use of interior walls to create an airy, spacious feel. So, the only separate room is the bathroom. Additionally, the exterior was insulated instead to maintain the industrial look of the container inside the house. Jen did paint her interior white, however. Then, she re-painted the container serial numbers as an accent and reminder of its past use.
Notably, Jen maximized her open space with simple effective tools. Her space-saving closet space, for example. It is below her raised bed. Jen’s kitchen also features much space-efficient storage with the help of Ikea. Of course, a well-known small space design go-to resource!
What is he heat source? Somehow I missed it…??