Williamsburg couple builds home out of shipping containers
Picture via Google Street View
David Boyle and Michelle Bertomen bought their Keap street lot in 2008 and decided to improvise when finding the cost of building a brick home would cost upwards of $500,000. From DNAinfo:
“We were just sitting around one night, bottle of wine, just feeling like we couldn’t do it,” said Boyle, a 55-year-old contractor whose wife is an architect. “And then just, ‘How about shipping containers?’ came up. So Michelle just sat down and did the calculations, in the terms of the size, fire ratings, how you can stack them up… And she said it would work.”
The couple, who have been together for about 20 years, bought six shipping containers at $1,500 a piece and began work on what they believe is the first private residence in the city made out of shipping containers.
They ended up turning the place into a nice little 3-story apartment with a roof view. I’ve had some ideas I thought were pretty good after a bottle of wine, but these two really took it to the next level (3 levels). I’d like to imagine they were watching Season 2 of The Wire when they came up with the idea. Read more and see pictures of the inside at DNAinfo
However novel the idea, it can’t escape from fact that it looks very, very 3rd world.
It really does look nauseating, but most of Brooklyn isn’t strong on aesthetics anyway.
It is new,
it is unique,
but who would buy it?
My house is 1700 sq ft also,
but it cost only $110,000, not $400,000.