Life in a Shipping Container – an Inspiring Story

A 29 year old Canadian is the living proof the need for freedom knows no limits. With just a few thousands bucks in his pockets, with a plot of land in a secluded woods inherited from his parents about 35 miles from Ottawa, the young man worked 14 hours a day for three months in a row to raise his home in three old shipping containers. The home, which spreads now on 355 square feet, has drawn the attention of the international media which started telling the story.

Joseph Dupuis, a renewable energy researcher, wanted to prove that an old shipping container can turn into a genuine home. It only takes removing prejudice and a bit of imagination. He takes pride in presenting his home as an off-grid house and says that when at the cabin his most expensive bill each month is his phone.

He keeps referring to his home as cabin. The explanation is just a juridical thing, namely that since the home doesn’t have a septic it cannot be legally designated a dwelling place. But, despite the outhouse toilet, the three containers are fitted with solar panels, a wood stove, full kitchen, shower, heated floor and a cooling system. In winter, for instance, the wood floor is heated to around 15 degrees.

The young engineer’s ambitions go further the three shipping containers you see below. He has in the meantime moved closer to Ottawa after two years in the home, but says that he is going to continue adding pieces such as a fourth container on top for a bedroom and glass ceiling with a view of the stars. “It’s like a giant science experiment so I’m observing and making modifications”, he says of his ambitions.

His story was broken public by a photographer who was driving in the wilderness and saw Joseph’s cabin. He was speechless to find out his home cost only 20,000 Canadian dollars. And when you think there millions of abandoned shipping containers around the world, he exclaimed, thinking of the housing potential these containers have.