Kyle and Hannah have been building a hybrid container home in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California where they are attempting to grow blueberries. Their blog at CottonwoodMeadow.blogspot.com chronicles the design, site preparation, and construction of the home that incorporates shipping containers with traditional construction methods and their previous home that was relocated onto the new property.
Cottonwood Meadow is a collaborative project between the couple and several local construction and building companies. They have been incorporating a variety of recycle-reuse-repurpose methodologies in the design and build of the home, with some decisions being made as needs arise. When new materials are needed, they are trying to make ecologically responsible decisions. When their framer suggested FSC-certified flooring, Hannah decided to contact local wood salvage yards but found that the work involved to find, dismantle, clean, plane, and prepare wood from salvage can be more time-consuming and costly than it could be worth.
They completed the structural part of the construction in January of this year with the installation of the ice and snow cover to provide waterproofing for the roof and finish the steel stud around the shipping containers.
As winter drew to a close, they discovered that the calculations that had been made for the snow load were accurate and the work-in-progress held up to the layers of snowflakes.
The Cottonwood Meadow blog and its companion Facebook page are an excellent resource and case study in sustainable custom home design and construction. Hannah has done a wonderful job of describing their process and providing quality images to illustrate the progress.
Related Articles on JetsonGreen.com:
First NYC Shipping Container Home Receives Final Certificate of Occupancy
Shipping Containers used in Multi Family Home Build
Zigloo Domestique is First Canadian Shipping Container Home
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