A Texas couple spent $60k building their dream home in a charming rural area near their big city hometown — using just two 40 ft. shipping containers.
Lexi Newkirk, 24, and her husband, Diego, 25, wanted to escape city life in Austin, so they bought bought 12-and-a-half acres of land in a rural area not far away for a modest $180,000.
The pair have always loved unique homes and decided to make a tiny home out of shipping containers — for which they paid just $5,500 each.
Diego — who works in mold removal — has spent the last year constructing the containers into a 640 sq. ft. home with one bedroom and a bathroom.
The pair now hope to have it completely finished by the beginning of March — they’ll live there while they work on the rest of their land, where they hope to create a proper homestead.
Lexi, a owner of a digital marketing agency, said: “We love it.”
“We’re living on 12-and-a-half acres and I love it — It’s like our own little city.”
Lexi and Diego both grew up in Austin, and were ready to leave the fast-growing capital city. They bought their land — which they named Livingstone Ranch — in October 2023.
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 couldn’t get the permits for a commercial project.
Instead they decided to take the concept and build a small home just for themselves.
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 $4,000 — while they complete the container home.
They have been making the home bit by bit to spread costs out. Diego has been doing most of the labor himself.
Once the drywall is up, they’ll decorate, aiming to complete the project in just a month’s time.
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 mom lives it’s a lot of homes right on top of each other. They are all the same.”
“We want to give people inspiration for different projects you can do.”
