UPDATE! Shed to house Conversion Video Tour…
It has been 2 years since we last posted a tour of our off grid DIY shed to house conversion here on our 16-acre homestead in Middle-Georgia… and on December 2, 2023, it will be our 12th anniversary living in our home.
12 years ago, we sold our belongs and left our big city lives in Miami, Florida (John) and London, England (Fin) to pursue our dream of a simpler, more eco-friendly, and self-sustainable off-grid lifestyle. It has been a of hard work, sweat, and blood (seriously, John has broken two ribs, an ankle, and been cut many times), but it has all been worth it carving out our definition of what we call our little slice of heaven.
We’ve learned a lot and have grown so much over these past 12 years… both as a couple and as individuals.
Solar energy, rainwater harvesting, solar thermal heating, implementing earth-ship technologies in our greenhouse-bathroom & greenhouse-kitchen additions, humanure composting, creating biogas for cooking fuel & a nutrient liquid fertilizer, and so much more.
Tankless Water Heater: https://precisiontemp.com/products/rv-550/
Derksen Portable Buildings - https://derksenbuildings.com/
HomeBiogas - https://www.homebiogas.com/ref/2/
Solar system, EcoFlow - https://www.ecoflow.com/us/
Berkey Filters - https://www.berkeyfilters.com/
TV Stand - https://a.co/d/5AUyHL5
We leased 81 acres during our first 3 years for $1,200 annually and purchased our first 3.16 acres in 2015 for $5,000… we then move our shed to home conversion from the leased land to our purchased land. Over the years we’ve kept buying adjacent land and in 2019 we purchased the last of our current 16 acres.
By buying raw and land-locked land we have saved so much money by clearing and developing our land ourselves. We toted in water every week by filling 5-gallon jugs at a boat ramp and we utilized two generators for months until we built our first small capacity solar system, which we added to over time and used for over 10 years until we upgraded in 2023 to our current EcoFlow system. For almost a decade we used composting toilets and practiced humanure composting, until we upgraded to a HomeBiogas Digester to process our sewage and create both a nutrient-rich liquid fertilizer and a scent-free, odorless, clean biogas for 2-4 hours a day of cooking fuel. (More details on all these applications coming in an upcoming video.)
We purchased our Derksen Portable Buildings 12’x’30’ empty shed shell for $6,500 and spent a grand total of $6,000 for our original shed-to-home conversion. Over the years we added decks to all four sides of our home, in 2019 we added our greenhouse-bathroom for $1,500 and in 2023 we added our greenhouse-kitchen for $6,000.
Always buying used & repursued materials, utilizing salvaged/recycled/upcycled construction materials, and scoring dumpster dived items have saved us so much money! DIY’ng and doing everything ourselves has aways been a BIG money saver too!
For income, we currently have 8 short-term rental getaways on our homestead consisting of 3 tiny houses on wheels (we just received a 4th tiny house on wheels we will be making available soon), 2 geodesic domes, 1 yurt, a skoolie (short-bus conversion), and a 16’ bell tent on a raised platform. We have organized 29 tiny house festivals around the country and our 30th festival is coming up December 18-19, 2023, in Gainesville, Florida. We are also invited speakers and emcees at events and festivals around the country.
For years we have been running an animal rescue sanctuary here on our homestead… we have 6 goats, 2 pigs, 30 chickens, 4 ducks, 10 quails, 4 spayed/neutered dogs, and 31 spayed/neutered cats. (These numbers change regularly.)
Growing our own food in all our various gardens satisfies Fin’s vegetarian needs & John’s side dishes, having fresh eggs (chicken, duck & quail) is always wonderful, and having all our fruit trees (peaches, apples, nectarines, figs, plums, pears, persimmons, pomegranates, olives, mulberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, muscadines, passion fruit & more) are such a treat to pick and enjoy.
Never let anyone tell you or discourage you from accomplishing your dreams… especially yourself. Go for it! We’re proof you don’t need to be a trust-fund baby, have generational wealth, or need a bunch of money in the bank to accomplish this type of lifestyle… nor do you need great carpenter or tool skills (Fin’s idea of a screwdriver when we first started out was a butter knife).
All you need is belief in yourself, a partner (if you have one) who is on the same page as you & on board, the ability to tune out any negative noise from others, and a true desire to GO FOR IT!
We wish everyone great success and the same happiness we have been blessed with during these past 12 years in all your goals and endeavors. – John & Fin