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Rear of the house.
with cabinets fabricated from recycled materials and modernism.” Price has completed four container
stainless steel countertops and backsplash, completes projects with four more currently under construction
the open-plan design. and has designed 25 more that are in various stages
An open stair in glass, steel, and wood leads down of development. He says that container homes can
to the basement and up to the second floor and its three be up to 20 or 25 percent less expensive to build than
bedrooms. In all, the home contains five bedrooms, conventional customized homes. But he is quick to
three full baths, and one half bath. A conventionally point out that beyond the inexpensive steel structure,
built garage is attached to the house and a door on all the other costs of electricity, plumbing, insulation,
the second floor provides access to what will become etc., remain the same as in traditional construction.
a rooftop vegetable garden, well out of reach of the “The real challenge for us as architects is an affordably
neighborhood’s foraging deer and rabbits. beautiful project that meets codes, budgets, and has
Price is messianic when extolling the virtues enduring aesthetics.”
of shipping-container homes. “They are durable, Still, his clients appear to have happily settled into
repurposed, fast to build, and less expensive.” But container living. “It’s the kind of modern design we are
beyond such pragmatic advantages, the architect sees very comfortable with,” said the homeowner. Even the
something more. “It is architecture that represents neighbors are welcoming the newest addition to their
a true revolution in the way we live. It is a house suburban setting. Seeing a stranger gazing intently
wrapped in watertight metal cocoon on the outside at the new container home, one passerby called out
with the warmth of wood on the inside. It is affordable appreciatively, “Isn’t it a knockout!”
THE HUMBLE SHIPPING CONTAINER 63