We built our dream home for £48K after living in a van – we don’t want to waste our cash on rent & now have our own farm
A COUPLE spent £48k building their dream home - out of two 40ft shipping containers.
Lexi Newkirk, 24, and her husband, Diego, 25, wanted to escape the city and bought 12-and-a-half acres of land in Hill County, Texas, US - for £144,700 .
The pair have always loved unique homes and decided to make a tiny home out of shipping containers - costing £4,000 each.
Diego - who works in mould removal - has spent the last year constructing the containers into a 640 square foot home with one bedroom and a bath.
The pair now hope to have it completely finished by the beginning of March and will use the rest of their land to build a homestead.
Lexi, a owner of a digital marketing agency, said: "We love it.
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"We're living on 12-and-a-half acres and I love it.
"It's like our own little city.
"It's going to catch a lot of peoples' attention."
Lexi and Diego grew up in Austin, Texas, but wanted to move out and bought their land - which they named Livingstone Ranch - in October 2023.
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Lexi said: "We grew up in the city and we wanted to escape it."
The pair had originally wanted to turn their land into an "exotic tiny Airbnb ranch" by building 15 to 20 little unique homes but were not allowed to put in commercial property due to state laws.
Instead they decided to use one of their ideas to use and build their own shipping container home.
The single use containers were delivered after the couple had marked out their road and spot for their house in November 2023.
They built a foundation and basement before stacking the containers on top of each other.
Lexi said: "We did the plumbing, electricals, put a septic tank in.
"We had to run the electricity about 300ft."
The couple has been living in a renovated RV - which they bought on Facebook Marketplace for £3,190 - while the complete the container home.
Tiny Homes FAQs
The tiny house movement began in the USA before gaining popularity in the UK.
What is a tiny home?
Tiny houses are small, fully-equipped living spaces designed to lead a more sustainable, off-grid lifestyle. Although they vary in size and shape, tiny homes tend to be between 15 and 50 square metres in capacity, made of sustainable materials and are easier — and cheaper — to maintain than traditional brick homes.
Are tiny homes legal in the UK?
As long as the tiny house doesn't exceed 19.8m x 6.7m in size, it is defined as a caravan in UK law. Therefore, tiny houses are classed as legal additional living space.
Can you get a mortgage for a tiny home?
The small size and relatively low cost of tiny houses means they’re not generally considered eligible for a mortgage. However, there are plenty of options to take out a loan to fund your dreams of the perfect, moveable home.
They have been making the home bit by bit to spread costs out and Diego has been doing most of the labour himself.
The pair have the dry wall to go on before they can then decorate and hope to get in for March 1, 2025.
Lexi said: "The living area and kitchen is all underneath.
"Then we have a bedroom, master bath and office.
"The bedroom wakes up to the sunrise and from the bath you can see the sunset."
Lexi and Diego hope to then save up to make a barndominium - a barn conversion - and have purchased chickens and two cows to build their homestead dream.
Lexi said: "We didn't want to put that money towards an apartment.
"Where my mum lives it's a lot of homes right on top of each other.
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"They are all the same.
"We want to give people inspiration for different projects you can do."
