Creative living – in trees, yurts, and cargo containers

Your apartment is a cool small space to hang out, but would it land you on ABC News? Probably not. But if you lived in a refurbished cargo container, well that would qualify as an attention-worthy abode.

We went looking for some of the most unusual residences we could find, thinking creatively about how summer campouts and fun adventures could be translated into year round living. You might not see these in your neighborhood, but how cool would it be if you could live in a..

Shipping container

While being locked in a shipping container as your primary residence might sound like something out of a bad Law and Order episode, some creative folks are refurbishing containers to house their stuff – and themselves. Though they’re often lumped into the category of “sustainable” architecture, it turns out that making a tiny little house out of a shipping container can actually be really expensive – and not create very much space (the photo shown below is less than 200 square feet in size). This design method will likely not become a second unit staple.

Yurt

Yurts are cool. They bring the look and feel of an igloo and connect it with the experience of a vintage Boy Scout tent camp.  They’re becoming popular as a camping alternative at many parks and can also be purchased for assembly and extra housing in a large backyard. (You build a platform on which to house the yurt.) One disadvantage that really brings home the camping-like experience: no bathroom.

Treehouse

I’ve always wanted to live in a Swiss Family Robinson style tree house, and cool custom tree houses are very popular these days. You need a big solid tree and an innovative builder to create your dream, but otherwise the sky’s the limit to what can be imagined. Tree houses bring out the creative kid in all of us, and wouldn’t it be amazing if you could actually live in one?