How do you re-purpose an old mobile and shed? I have some ideas, I want your ideas too.
Thank you Steemit community! Your comments are amazing, uplifting, and very helpful. And your upvotes too. Speechless on that front, thank you.
A quick update. I'm back in Illinois trying to sell my mobile home near Champaign/Urbana. That will be my seed money to get started back in Arkansas. Once I sell this place, I'll be staying with a relative about 40 miles away from my property until I've got a comfortable enough long-term living situation figured out. That solution is still up the air, but I can't wait to leave behind my $250/month lot rent and $38/month water/sewer bill.
So while I'm back in Illinois waiting, my mind can't help but wonder about the possibilities for this property. I've only been physically on the property for 5 hours, and I haven't even seen half of it yet, so I have to remember I don't know squat. But I do have some pictures, and videos to contemplate.
This is a picture of an old structure on the property as viewed from the front door on the mobile home.
The room that is visible, I'm picturing as two farrowing pens for pigs. Take the floor out. Leave the middle post in to make it into two stalls. Put up some of the extra tin lying around to keep out the rain.
To the left of the visible open space is another good size shelter facing the opposite direction. Leave the floor in there, and make it into a chicken house, with access to the nesting boxes from the side that we are looking at. That would house a flock of a pure-bred heritage breeds, or even some olive-eggers, whatever the local market desires for their own backyards chicken flock.
The floor on that shed thing is starting to rot and has been exposed to the weather for decades now, I'm sure. But another idea would be to replace the flooring that needs it, and use that as a platform for a yurt. Maybe one day I could rent out the yurt, AirBnB style, for people that want a getaway as close to Blue Mountain Lake as they are going to get without camping. A glamping spot, in other words, I have no shame making some extra income like that. Still, I'd prefer the barn idea, but you never know.
Another thing I'm contemplating is what to do with the mobile home. I know I don't want to heat and cool the whole thing, and I know I don't need that much space to live in. I also know the thing is infested with bugs and cockroaches already and it would a be huge task to seal it up. Here's the front view from the entrance of my driveway, and a side view
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In the front is a small bedroom, maybe 8 feet by the 16 foot width of the mobile. Next to it is a small bathroom and the furnace (broken down) area. This is to the right of the front door. The front door open into the living room. I see the living room being a good workshop area. Table saw, work bench, tools, etc. The electricity is already there.
The kitchen is to the left of the living room. It already needs a new sink as the cabinet surrounding it is rotted out. Why not a deep utility sink, where my personal laundry can be washed before drying outside? Keep some cabinets for any canned foods I can put up, without much fear of bugs. It might also serve as a good place for processing some fish after a good day of fishing or a couple young roosters.
At the back of the mobile, is the master bedroom with the master bathroom on the very end. If I am hatching eggs to breed heritage chickens, I need a place to raise them until they are big enough to go outside. Or ducks or turkeys or guineas or whatever I raise there. Quick access to water in the old bathroom, and access to electricity for a heat lamp in the winter. Seems like a good opportunity for a brooding room in there. And if any bugs get in there, oh well, less feed I've got to buy.
Those are some of initial thoughts. There are more in these videos I took the first day I took possession of the property.
This video is 12+ minutes long as I walk the eastern border of my property which is the road frontage. There is an interesting foot high rock wall, and I walk down to see the posts on the southeast corner of my property indicating there is fiber optic cables buried there. That means 100/10 high speed internet for me. :) I also walk to the northeast corner and show to open field where I saw bull grazing the first time I toured it.
This next video is 14+ minutes, and is a tour inside the mobile home. Its ransacked, so its hard to tell what the overall condition of the place is behind all the junk,
The final video, 7+ minutes, from my first day in possession, is when I spotted a couple wild, free ranging chickens while I was holding my camera. Not long after I arrived there to unload the few storage tubs I have, there were 5 chickens that came up to the door while I was inside. The previous owner had a few different stories for those chickens, so I'm not sure what to believe, but they hadn't been fed or watered in a couple weeks and I saw no signs of a chicken coop anywhere. I'm sure they've mostly been on their own for a long time.
I don't know when I'll get my place sold in Illinois and be able to get started in Arkansas. I'm hoping any day now. I'll be sure to keep doing updates once I get down there, I love all the feedback and suggestions and sharing of experiences.
We have talked a time or two here on Steemit, don't know you personally but I am proud of you! You are doing it! Dream big, all great plans start as dreams... looking forward to followong your journey!
Thank you very much. The encouragement really helps. I'm probably too excited and overly anxious, but I've got the rest of my life to pull it off. I'll never stop dreaming, I agree that's a good way to make plans come true.
Amen!
HHmmm, no suggestions but interested to see what you do with the place! Well done!
Thank you, I hope to do some interesting things with it and have fun along the way.
Upvoted & Resteemed! Dude, you are an encouragement to everyone. You are going to make "it" happen no matter what and that gets us all excited! We watched all of your future homestead tour videos and love the potential we see! I think you are totally onto something with converting the building into an "all in one style mini barn"! That's a huge blessing to have it so close to the "trailer house as well". Again, your ideas for making the trailer house into a possible "workshop/multipurpose farm" area is tremendous. You could also use it for storage as you will need a dry place to store things. It's going to be awesome! It may take a while before it actually looks..."awesome" but that will be the beauty of it all...the "process" will be very real...and that's what we all love about you anyway! Hope your having a blessed day my friend~TexasMom
Thank you so much for being such a big supporter, you've been a huge help, I appreciate the kindness. I love the continuous progress you are making at your homestead. You've got a pregnant milk cow!!! That's so awesome, it just keeps getting better down in Texas.
I am excited for you just reading this! I have always loved moving to new places! It is like a blank canvas - you get to re-invent absolutely EVERYTHING!!! which is so much fun!!! - well, it is to me anyway!!!
I am VERY big on upcycling stuff, in fact I have designed my entire shop with that in mind! Our seats are made from old milk crates, our newspaper stands are old coat hangers and so it goes on.... Pinterest is a GREAT inspiration for projects like yours... go and take a look!
I would LOVE to see what you come up with!
I would also love your feedback on my post if you are looking for some bedtime reading in your "spot" hehe... ;)
https://steemit.com/life/@jaynie/the-matter-of-motivation
Looking forward to seeing the transformation of the space :)
Cool, I hope to do more upcycling than I ever dreamed of in the near future. :) Thank you so much for your kindness, I'll definitely take a look at your posts.
Well make sure you have fun with it!!! I want to see pics :)
The way you describe it, the mobile home seems like a LOT of work. In the long run it may be worth it to invest in a tiny home/shed to get you on the property. And then spend your time working on the critters.
I think you are right that the best long-term strategy would be to do the tiny home/shed. My finances to get started might not allow it, however. The cheapest pre-built shed I've seen in that area was $3,100 for a used 12 x 24. I could go a bit smaller and I wish I could build my own cheaper. But then it'll cost to wire and plumb and insulate and seal it off from bugs as well. I could easily blow my whole savings and not have anything for other projects. I could go the rent to own route with a new shed for like $1,000 down and $200 or so a month, but I don't like debt and paying tons of interest which really jacks up the overall price paid.
I want to keep my housing budget under $4,000 so I have enough left over for chicken wire, fencing, etc and some stability paying bills for a good while. I'm also not sure how much I will be able to sell my place in Illinois for. If I have to drop the price some more, that'll impact my situation.
So I'm still thinking I'll just make the smaller bedroom in the front livable and sealing it up so I've got a comfortable place to sleep and work on the computer. Just keep my food and cooking stuff in plastic tubs so the bugs don't get to them. Then next year buy a shed and start turning it into a cabin little by little as funds allow. Another thought was to buy an older RV/travel trailer in the $3-4k range to live in until I could get a cabin built. That seems like a waste of money in the long-term, however, as I probably wouldn't get much back for the RV when I'm done with it.
Lots of ins and outs and what have you. Maybe I'll find a couple grand worth of junk in there to sell, there is a piano and that ham radio tower has to be worth something. I am enjoying all these math problems to find what might work best, that is fun for me. Thanks for your input, I really do value hearing other perspectives as I sort through my options.
You have a start, now comes the hard part, figuring out what to make this or do with this. LOL. You have some good ideas, Run with them and if they do not work try something different. It is all trial and error, just do not give up and remember everything is a step forward even if it looks like it is going backwards. Clean out the moblie home and really see what shape it is in. It can be a great asset for short term until you can build a house or whatever you plan to do.
Luckily for me, I kind of enjoy figuring that stuff out. That's good advice to remember, if at first you don't succeed, try try again. With electric and water inside already, makes sense to use it for a few useful things. Thanks for the support.
We bought a 12x16 repossed shed for right at $2500.00. Cleaned it out and painted it . Has a built in loft. It's in great shape. If we can do it you can too. Finished out an old mobile home too. You can do anything for a year! My motto! Best of luck! 🐓🐓
That's great. A deal like that is exactly what I'd like to find. Not sure I can do lofts going into the future, but something can be stored up there. A small, bug free, temperature controlled space with a comfortable bed to sleep and nap in isn't too much to ask, is it? :) I'll figure it out, thanks for the encouragement. It's great knowing others have done something of the sort also.
Wishing you the best on your new place. Hope you make a bundle on the sale of your previous place. Be well! 🐓🐓
Very excited for you to get down to Arkansas like everyone else. Have you thought about a shipping container? They are less expensive than a shed but very sturdy. What are the winters like there?
Thanks. I have considered shipping containers, there are a lot of really cool conversions of them out there. This is a great option for many situations. Sometimes they cost more to finish out than a shed as you need different tools to cut out windows and doors and vents, and you have to do some type of siding to make it look more normal if you care about that. But its still a good option, I've seen 40 foot containers listed on craigslist for $3,300 in that area. Thanks for the suggestions, I appreciate the ideas.
@bobbleheadstead I love your ideas. I have a couple of suggestions for you to consider. First, you need a safe place to stay both at night and during bad weather. In my opinion that should be your first concern. Closing off the bedroom in the old house if one possibility. The second one you mentioned was the RV thing. It could be used as your primary dwelling while you build what you want. Then you could add it to your "glamping" area as either extra storage, or rent it out along with the yurts. More income would be good as well. Second, you could try to "domesticate" those wild chickens. If they have been there, unattended, for a while they are capable of existing without supervision. Wonder how they make it in cold weather. You might be able to get them to become "your" chickens by building an easy and cheap coop, placing food inside in bad weather, or beside the entrance. They would probably go inside to escape the weather. Voila, Instant flock. Great post and I love the videos.
Thank you for your thoughts, it helps me sort through my own. I'd like to have a space to sleep and be in the front of the computer that is temperature controlled and bug free, I certainly agree that's my first choice. Where I put the money to do that is the question.
Once I get the junk out I'll see what it would take to do that with the smaller front bedroom. Window A/C and an electric heater should be good enough, and then seal off any places bugs can get in around the window or under the door. I'm hoping that won't be a big deal, but we'll see.
If I do that in the mobile, I will also have to worry about my cooking area and kitchenware and food storage and coffee maker having bugs. I'll need to keep stuff in plastic totes and put the coffee maker in my room. That stuff I wouldn't need to worry about in an RV.
For an RV I'd need to hook it up to electric and water and send the grey water where I want it to go, but that is taken care of in the mobile for now. I have to do a composting toilet no matter what. I'll also need to figure out a winter shower/bath in the mobile that I won't need to do in an RV. It's a hard choice.
One worry I have about an RV long-term, is that for the $3,000 price range I'd look at, they aren't in very good condition. I'm afraid it wouldn't be nice enough to rent out later without putting more money into. I did see a vintage AirStream for $2,500 that needed a complete renovation, I think something like that would be more appealing for glamping than an old regular camper. But maybe if the price is right, there are some who wouldn't mind an old regular camper. When I checked AirBnB there was only one listed within a few minutes of Blue Mountain Lake, and it was a whole house for $125/night.
If the chickens are still around I'll definitely start feeding them and making sure they have water. That will be before winter. Then I'm not sure what I will do with them, I'll have to get to know them. The winters down here aren't bad, there's rarely snow on the ground for more than couple days, but I'll probably build a coop for them to use.
I would like to pick a heritage breed and try my hand at continuing and making that breed better with selective breeding and hatching lots of eggs. A few of the best examples of the breed are kept, and I'll sell the pullets and the roosters nobody wants will go to the freezer. In theory, anyway. Picking the breed will be another fun choice.
I appreciate the support, thanks again.
I can't wait to see what you do with this!
Thank you Rose. If only I could wave a magic wand... :)
Looking forward to seeing future posts on your homestead.
Thanks @christa. I'll try to make it more interesting than "I cleaned this today". Might take a while :)
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STOPNice post. Thanks for sharing
Brilliant that you are going for it. I write a lot about tiny homes and upcycling and permaculture and it seems everyone is always happier when they've made something themself. And it's a great bit of land. Let us know how you get on!
Piccata? Titicaca! I am Cornholio! I need piccata for my bunghole!
Cool, thank you. I took a look at your magazine, looks interesting, I like some of the same stuff, and hope to do some of that soon.
Wow. I admire your tenacity. Wishing you the best of luck with your vision.