Home » A List Of The Most Stunning Container Homes and How You Can Make Them

A List Of The Most Stunning Container Homes and How You Can Make Them

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November 4, 2019June 24, 2022

The only thing better than seeing pictures of stunning container homes is getting a chance to learn from the people that had a hand in building them. So we thought, “Why not do both?!”.
Here is a list of some of the best shipping container homes around.


1. PV14 House

PV14 Shipping Container House
Matt Mooney, a principal at Corgan, based in Texas, decided to use shipping containers for his next house. More than fourteen containers were utilized in total to assemble this large 3,700 square foot home.
It has three bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, and a swimming pool, to name but a few of the features!
2. Riverfront Container Home
Riverfront Container HouseRick is another owner who combined an incredible property with the functional beauty of containers. His two-story container house on two scenic acres is just a few steps from fantastic kayaking on the Loxahatchee River. And even if it wasn’t on a river, the house’s three containers form an architecturally appealing plan that would look great everywhere.


Shipping Container Home Taking Shape3. Tiny 20-foot Off Grid Shipping Container Home

Brenda Kelly from iqcontainerhomes had been dreaming of living in a storage container home since she was 13. She has been modeling and creating designs for container houses for as long as she can remember!
Her home was built from a individual 20-foot shipping container.

4. Modern Container Home

Modern Container Home with DeckOne look at Saffy and Dom’s stunning container home and you’re probably convinced it was an expensive, professional build. However, you’ll be pleased to know it was an affordable, do-it-yourself project for this enterprising husband and wife team. Their innovative use of plywood sheathing with intentional gaps between sheets created a unique interior look for their home. The fun wraparound deck proves their great eye for design was useful outdoors, as well.





5. Nomad Living Guesthouse

Nomad Living GuesthouseThe Nomad Living Guesthouse was dreamed up and built-in 2013 by Arnold Aarssen from Studio Arte. It is based in the Algarve region of Portugal. Only one 40-foot shipping container was employed, but the over 300 square feet of living space feels much larger thanks to the enormous windows and sliding glass doors.

Atlanta Backyard Container Homes6. Atlanta Backyard Container Homes

Adele and her partner built two small container homes behind their main house to form an oasis in the middle of Atlanta. Presently used for short term rentals, the cargo houses would also make grand mother-in-law suites. Adele worked with a professional builder to get her homes completed after being inspired to use shipping containers due to their eco-friendliness.

7. North Branch Container House
Robyn Volker, from New York, wanted a small country house. She got in touch with Tim Steele from timsteeledesign.com, who designed a small but spacious home from three converted containers.
Robyn Volker Shipping Container HomeThe home is built into the hillside to take advantage of the natural terrain. Two 40-foot containers are spread 4 feet apart to create around 800 square feet of open plan living!
The two larger containers are propped up using a 20-foot container, which is used for storage.
8. Riverside Hideout Container House
Riverside Hideout Container HomeA lot of people build container homes as weekend escapes that they’ll share with family and rent to the public. If you have access to a great piece of property like Ryann, a storage container house makes an excellent launchpad for outdoor adventures. Her container home idea was a family affair, and her views on the project overall, while not as technical as some of the other projects, are just as insightful.
Manifesto House9. Manifesto House
The Manifesto House is by far one of the most famous shipping container homes to date. It was made using 85% recycled/eco-friendly materials and was designed by James & Mau.
We decided to speak with Raquel Izurzu, an architect from James & Mau, and ask her what they wished they had known before designing the Manifesto House.




10. California Canyon Container Casa

California Canyon Container CasaWhen you think about homes with amazing views, mountains often come to mind. Mike and his wife built a modern container home right on the edge of a mountain canyon, providing perspectives from inside and outside the house that looks almost like postcards.



11. Containers of Hope

Containers of HopeThe Containers of Hope house designed by Benjamin Garcia Saxe for the Peralta family is another of the iconic container home designs. If you’ve searched for inspiration about living in a shipping container, this is likely one of the first pictures you saw.
This shipping container home costs a very reasonable $40,000 to build and provides over 600 square feet of living space. The Peralta family seems quite happy with the home, as their only issue is a relatively small one related to the noise the house makes in extreme wind.
The bold design with huge windows and center skylights has catapulted this container house toward the top of many people’s list of favorite container homes.


12. Refrigerated Container Homes

Refrigerated Container Home in FloridaShanti brought her can-do attitude and resourcefulness to two container homes she built on her property in Florida. She had the privilege of building each storage container home at a separate time, so she was able to incorporate lessons learned from the first into the second. One unique character of both homes is that she used pre-insulated refrigerated containers in their construction.
13. The DeWitt and Kasravi Sea Container Home
Kam Kasravi and Connie Dewitt own this particularly impressive shipping container home. The home was designed by Modulus using four high cube shipping containers.
The containers were prefabricated offsite, then delivered to California before they were reassembled. The very top floor has nine skylights installed in the roof, which provides enormous amounts of natural light.
The DeWitt and Kasravi Sea Container HomeWhen you think about container home ideas and innovation, this home delivers. From a cantilevered walkway entrance to the see-through floor in the open space of the second level that allows sunlight to cascade through both floors of the house, this California container home is fresh!
14. The Beach Box
The beach box is built in the Hamptons, one of New York’s most expensive areas. The home was built by Andrew Anderson using shipping containers purchased from S.G. Blocks.
The Beach Container HouseThe containers on the ground level are used to create four bedrooms. The second floor contains the kitchen, dining room and living room. Just in case this isn’t enough, the home also features a 1,300 square foot exterior deck and a pool! This custom home is an excellent example of how the size and finish out quality chosen by owners can affect container home prices and style. Contrary to popular belief, a container home can be anything from a single container cabin to a substantial multi-container architectural showpiece.

15. New Orleans Shipping Container Home

This home was built for Seth Rodewald-Bates and cost around $200,000.
Seth and a team of friends and family spent two years building the home, working in the evenings and weekends. The completed container home contains one bedroom, a bathroom, kitchen, office, and living area.





16. Casa Incubo

Casa Incubo is another excellent example of a shipping container home design from Costa Rica. As shown in the picture below, the home was built around an existing cedar tree and architect Maria José Trejos designed it.
Casa Incubo Container HouseThe home was built using eight 40-foot high cube containers. Constructing the house out of cargo containers helped reduce the construction time by around 20%.

17. The Campo Cinco Retreat

Roger Black is the proud owner of the Cinco Camp, which is over 200 miles from the nearest airport and based off an unpaved road, unreachable to all without a four wheel drive car.
The Campo Cinco RetreatMark Wellen, from Rhotenberry Wellen Architects, designed the retreat consisting of five Conex containers and said that the entire project cost around $200,000. He said that it would have been around $100,000 if the camp was built in a more accessible area!



18. Taj Malodge
Larry Wade built his own shipping container home for a cost of around $35,000. With container home prices all over the map, Larry shows us how you can get a lot of house for a little money if you’re willing to do a lot of the work yourself.
Taj Malodge Shipping Container HouseLarry used two 40-foot shipping containers to make his new home. It features solar panels on the roof which are used to provide electric and to heat water.



19. WFH House

WFH Shipping Container HouseThis shipping container home is one of the first in China and was built by Mads Møller from Agency. You can see in the photo that the home has a huge sloped roof which is topped with a living-garden. This filters rainwater and also provides the home with additional insulation.
The external walls of the containers are lined in bamboo which protects the containers from the natural elements and also provides the containers with insulation.
20. Nederland Colorado Shipping Container Home
Nederland Colorado Shipping Container HomeHere we have a beautiful, 500 square foot home in Colorado. The home was designed by Brad Tomecek from Tomecek Studio as an experiment to try and reduce the size of the average American home and to also be as environmentally conscious and friendly as possible. The home is unique due to its pervasive external cladding, which somewhat hides the fact that sea containers form the underlying structure.
The containers are bolted down into the existing rock, and this provides the owners with a gorgeous view overlooking Nederland.

21. Kuziel Residence

Kuziel ResidenceWay back in 2008, Marek Kuziel had the idea to build a shipping container home. It wasn’t until 2009 when things got serious, and Marek purchased a plot of land just outside of Christchurch, New Zealand.
The home was built using three 40-foot and one 20-foot container and even has enough room for Marek’s office when he works from home!
22. G-pod’s Dwell
G-pod's DwellG-Pod has recently launched its brand new prototype named Dwell. This prototype is an environmentally sustainable home, made to be easy to relocate. It is built using a single shipping container and has various pull-out and fold-down sections to enhance the home’s overall size.
Their director Dan Sparks was asked what he wished he knew…
23. Tiny Home Prototype
Tiny Shipping Container Home
Like the G-Pod Dwell above, this Tiny Home is also a prototype. Steve Sawyer built the home.
The home was made using a 20-foot shipping container and contains a full kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom!

24. Cargotecture C192 Nomad

Cargotecture C192 NomadThe C192 Nomad is a shipping container cabin made by Cargotecture, one of the many container home builders that have started businesses in the past few years to take advantage of the market demand for these unique houses. Despite its small size, it can sleep a family of four.
Joel Egan, Cargotecture‘s owner, says the Nomad is designed as a self-contained backyard cottage or remote retreat.
Washington DC Container Apartment25. SeaUA Container Apartments
These apartments are the first residential shipping container homes in the Washington D.C. area. They were designed by Travis Price and Kelly Davies from Travis Price Architects and are a great example of multifamily container housing.
The building was utilized using second-hand containers to keep construction costs down and improve the green qualities of the project.

26. Cordell House
Cordell’s house is the brainchild of Katie Nichols from Numen Development. Christopher Robertson, a local architect, helped design the home, and the results are just stunning!
Cordell Shipping Container HouseThe home spans some 1,500 square feet and contains two bedrooms, an office, a playroom, a kitchen, and a laundry room. There is also a 40-foot container located at the rear of the home, which contains the guesthouse!

27. The SurfShack

We now look toward Hartman Kable from Kable Design Build. He built this DIY shipping container house as a beach retreat using recycled sea cans. Hartman wanted a holiday home on the beach, which he could enjoy over the weekend! It’s a small but efficient space that encourages you to get outside and enjoy the fantastic view and activities afforded by the location.

28. Klip River Container Cabin

Klip River Container CabinShelley’s container cabin utilizes a design idea we often hear about: arranging containers in a U-shape, then enclosing the area in between. Besides, the high-sloping roof leading to the second-floor loft makes the living space feel much more significant.
29. Broadmeadow Shipping Container Apartments
While this isn’t exactly a single home, the construction process is similar, and there are still many lessons that we can learn from Broadmeadow!
Broadmeadow Shipping Container HomeBroadmeadow is designed and owned by Christian Salvati from Marengo Structures. This monster structure was built with 27 containers, is four stories high, and contains six apartments.

Summary

We’re so grateful for all the great advice we received from the container homeowners who shared with us. There is value in hearing lessons learned from personalities who have walked the path you’re thinking about already. We hope you’ve found their perspective and advice helpful and that you won’t have to repeat any of the same mistakes painfully.
The Top 3 Things You Need to Know:
  1. How to purchase the correct shipping containers
  2. The importance of building regulations and planning
  3. Finding a contractor with previous experience
Want to see even more inspiring shipping container projects?