[David] We are building a 1,200 square foot shipping container home.
[Stephanie] We are surrounded by wildlife and donkeys.
Once you get to our front gate, good luck.
[Stephanie] Oh, no.
[David] It's going to be a miracle to get out of here.
- That would not be good! - Oh, no!
It sounds like a really terrible idea.
I have [bleep]. I can't watch this any more.
Back in, let's... Oh! Whoa!
Are you kidding me?
I am so tired of throwing money at this project.
[David] This is destroyed, honey. Look at this.
[Stephanie] We have no other option.
We got to move, guys. Lightning and thunder.
[men grunting]
[David] This is the last place I want to be, right next to a metal container
when there's a lightning storm.
You need to go that way! Go, go!
- Come on. - [David] It's the wind.
[Stephanie] Pull it back. Go!
[narrator] Are you ready to go off the grid?
[David] So, do you want to feed the donkeys?
Well, they're hungry.
Harper.
Oh, who is going to get that?
We have a property that's about 300 acres
and we're building on a quarter acre of it, it's beautiful.
- So, I'm Dave. - And I'm Steph.
[David] And we're building our off-grid getaway
in the Mark Twain National Forest.
[Stephanie] The build site is located in the boot heel of Missouri,
about two hours south of St. Louis.
We are surrounded by wildlife
and donkeys that are roaming the area.
You want to feed them a carrot?
Here you go, Ben.
We are a donkey rescue, a donkey sanctuary.
We are part of the largest equine donkey rescue in the world.
We just love kind of doing our part to give back to find these amazing animals homes,
and we're just excited to kind of share the land with them
and do what we can to keep them safe,
happy, and eventually find a loving home.
And these adopters come from all over the United States,
and when they visit, they're going to need a place to stay.
They're not actually stubborn, surprisingly.
[Stephanie] How did you get so strong?
What makes this land really special, though,
is the fact that it's been in my family since the 1950s.
My grandparents first purchased this
so they could have a place to raise their family.
I grew up staying there as a kid
and my grandfather handed it down to the next generation.
- Eat that. Eat the carrot. - You want to hold the carrot?
[Stephanie] Along for the ride,
of course, are our two little ones Sutton and Monroe.
He is five and little Monroe is almost two.
- Who's your favorite donkey? - Ben.
[Stephanie] Ben? Why do you like Ben?
[David] You like the little guy?
Because he's the smallest donkey just like Monroe.
[Stephanie] He is.
He's small like your baby sister.
[Sutton] Yeah.
[Stephanie] Being down here with the kids,
it just kind of forces us
to spend that quality time together
in a whole different world than what you get from the city.
It's kind of like our own little safari here.
And speaking of safari, it can get a little...
What's the word I'm looking for?
- Hairy. - It's a little rugged, yeah.
[Stephanie] The sticks and the brush,
especially when the weather starts to warm up,
this stuff really gets overgrown.
We've got trails that were not exactly
meant for big heavy equipment and concrete trucks.
[David] They're tight. They're really tight trails.
Once you get to our front gate,
good luck.
[Stephanie] There are no hospitals. No help.
Hardly any cell reception.
When I do want to go make a phone call,
I got to find and climb to the top of a hill somewhere.
So we are in the middle of nowhere.
Ultimately, it is our getaway in the woods.
[David] So we are building a 1,200 square foot shipping container home
where we are taking two shipping containers
and stacking them perpendicular.
We have a rooftop deck,
which is going to be an amazing view
right on top of a lower deck.
So you walk in from the end of one shipping container
into an atrium with a fireplace.
On the left will be the lower bedroom.
If you keep going,
you look through the dining room,
into the kitchen, you'll see the living room with the vaulted ceilings.
The bathroom will be there.
You can go upstairs.
You'll see the loft and two bedrooms will be
on each side of the upper container.
So some of our off-grid features are a massive
24 panel solar array.
We have a well pump for water,
an electric fireplace for heat.
[Stephanie] We've got a budget about 50,000,
and we're hoping to knock this out in two months.
So even though we're in the middle of the woods,
we're going for a kind of a key Midwest coastal vibe.
We're in the Midwest here,
we love Key West and we thought,
why not put the two together.
It is going to be a tropical paradise when it's done.
It looks like the donkeys are ready.
- They're happy. - Are you ready?
- [Sutton] Yeah. - [David] All right.
We gave ourself a pretty aggressive timeline on here,
and that's because we got a lot more donkeys coming
and we have to get the shipping container done
because we're going to have adoptions
from all over the country and we want to give them a fun place to stay
and experience the donkeys before they go home with them.
[Stephanie] There are always challenges
when doing this type of thing, but I feel really good about the first day.
It took forever to get here.
But just like that,
the ball is rolling and we're ready to go.
We are not exactly first-timers to the build process.
This is somewhat of what we do for a living,
typically doing remodels, a few new builds here and there.
[David] So we have built off grid before.
It was a major challenge, to say the least.
Hopefully, we have a "lessons learned" binder.
- Yeah, I wrote all of it down. - Okay.
She's got the lessons learned, so we're good with that.
Nonetheless, there's just a lot that gets thrown at you
that you can't prepare for out here.
We overcame, we built.
We're hoping, ultimately,
that this shipping container build turns out the same way.
Now that the land's cleared, it's time to start our build.
We've got a big day. They all are.
But when a third of your house is being delivered in one day,
that's pretty important.
So our shipping container,
each one is going to be around 90 to 100 pounds,
40 feet long and we got the high cubes.
So I think it's about 9-feet, 6-inches to the top.
Oh, my goodness.
All right.
So this thing is a lot bigger than I thought.
- Crap. - [Stephanie] Yes.
It's going to get a little hairy.
[Stephanie] The trails are really tight.
[David] Even if the driver is skilled
and he stays straight, that trail might tip him,
and that's enough to hit one of the trees.
[Stephanie] The driver is key here.
All right. Just follow my path.
It should be good.
40,000 pounds.
I'm sweating now.
It's a little muddy, it's a little slick.
Man, this is just soup, isn't it?
[Stephanie] We're hanging on by a thread here.
His wheels are spinning.
Oh, no, this is...
Wow.
Looking good.
[David] Finally his tires start to hit hardpack
and he got the grip,
he's following me and from that point on,
we were able to meander through the trail
and get to the other side.
[Stephanie] Oh, thank goodness.
Yeah, we're good. That was close.
Do you not feel so relieved?
[sighs] Yeah.
[Stephanie] If you could just get it off the truck first.
[David] I think that's the easiest part.
[Stephanie] It's kind of hard to imagine
at first living in a shipping container home.
But finally, when it actually got here in front of us,
I was really able to see
how this is all going to come together
and truly, the uniqueness of building a house out of a shipping container.
I like it. Good day.
So last night we got about inch and a half to two inches of rain.
We got concrete coming today to pour the forms.
The route that that truck has to come in is slick and slippery,
with a lot of mud.
[Stephanie] That might get messy.
Oh.
[man] I'm stuck.
Oh. Oh, oh, oh.
[David] That would not be good.
[Stephanie] Have you seen his front tire?
- No. - [man] I hate to go any further.
[Stephanie] We're stuck. I mean, this is not good.
The concrete is going to harden,
we don't have that poured yet.
[man] It's going to be a miracle to get out of here.
[Stephanie] I don't think we're getting out of this mess.
[Stephanie] That might get messy.
So last night, we got about inch and a half to two inches of rain.
We got concrete coming today to pour the forms.
I'm trying to be optimistic, but I know that the route
that that truck has to come in is slick
and slippery with a lot of mud.
[Stephanie] Oh.
[man] I'm stuck.
Oh. Oh, oh, oh.
[David] That would not be good.
[Stephanie] Have you seen his front tire?
[man] I hate to go any further.
[Stephanie] We're stuck. I mean, this is not good.
The concrete is going to harden
and we don't have that poured yet.
[man] It's going to be a miracle to get out of here.
[Stephanie] I don't know how this one's getting out.
I'm going to try to get the dozer.
We'll try to get you closer.
See if this is a little better.
Okay.
That truck is buried.
The plan is to hook them up with the dozer
and pull them out of the ditch,
but hopefully the dozer is enough to pull them out of place
and get that concrete poured.
If not, I don't know what we're going to do.
- Go another way. - [man] Go that way.
[Stephanie] It's going to happen again.
[David] Well, it worked, kind of,
kind of not.
Oh.
[David] But we got them through the gate and...
[Stephanie] No, no.
He's spinning out.
[David] Then he got stuck again.
Worse than the last time.
Go figure.
So I thought we could do this.
I thought I could tow.
My ego got the best of me.
We got to get this concrete out.
It's getting hot. It's going to harden.
We've got to get this in the form.
We've wasted an hour and a half.
How much time do you have before that starts hardening in there?
Well, we really need to get it off there as soon as possible.
Right now, what they're doing
is we're going to get the skid steer.
We're going to put it in the bucket.
Take it out of the bucket. Put it in the forms,
lighting this thing up and hopefully, at that point,
we can get this thing moving and get it out of here.
This is going to take forever.
This may be 20, 25 loads.
[Stephanie] Ooh!
[David] We need to get this concrete out of the hopper
into the forms quick because it's getting hot
and it's going to start hardening real fast.
[Stephanie] Keep it coming.
It's going to take a lot more time,
a lot more labor, really was a tedious,
most probably, miserable part of this entire build.
[David] Taking the concrete from the hopper into the bucket,
and moving it with the skid steer and filling the forms
and working it and...
That's kind of how it was.
And my arms still hurt.
[David] And paddle and paddle and paddle.
[Stephanie] We couldn't paddle fast enough,
that's the problem.
- Are your... Yeah. - These...
- I think that says something else. - What are these?
Are these traps or lats?
I don't think those are anything.
[both laughing]
That's sort of mean, you've hurt me.
I think this is it.
[Stephanie] Oh, I thought this was never going to end.
It only took five hundred loads, right?
Give me a concrete five.
[Stephanie] The forms are finally poured and in place.
I'm just glad that concrete didn't dry
before we could do it.
Oh, boy.
Oh, oh, much better.
[David] With the extra weight out of the mixer,
he was able to get out of the mud
and drive away without getting stuck.
Man, what a day.
[man screaming]
[David] Less than a week ago,
this was just like the woods behind me.
So it's really nice to see this.
We're going to get the slab poured.
I don't have time to be stressed.
I don't have time to be worried.
It's going so fast.
[Stephanie] After installing our N4 thermal heating,
our foundation was poured.
And our second container was delivered.
[kids screaming]
Now we are ready to move the box over to the concrete from A to B.
I mean, how hard could it be?
David and I are going to tackle this,
and saying that out loud,
it sounds like a really terrible idea.
All right, honey. There you go.
Oh, you're such a gentleman.
We're in the middle of nowhere
and it's hard to get people here to help.
So sometimes we just have to jump into action and see what happens.
[David] Yeah, you got to keep in mind, budget.
We're trying to pinch every single penny
by moving this ourselves.
All right.
So let's thread this through and take the shackle.
The container weighs over 9,000 pounds
and the straps should be able to handle that pretty well.
It's well over the weight of the container,
but I'm not feeling very confident.
I don't know that we thought this out...
I'm right here.
Oh, he can hear me.
I don't know that we-- He thought this out enough,
but David has a genius idea and that is,
lift it from the middle, pick it with the excavator.
[David] Seeing the piece of equipment
close to the shipping container
makes me a little nervous, but we're going to try it.
[Stephanie] And we should be coasting
into paradise with the container over to the concrete.
Hopefully, everything goes as planned.
You're good. Open.
[David] I know everything's rigged right up there,
and then we're just going to kind of shimmy it in the site where we need it.
[Stephanie] All right. Bring it back.
[David] Get it up on the piers, that's the plan.
Oh, my... I can't watch this any more.
Back in. Let's move!
Oh, oh.
Ah!
[Stephanie] We have no other option.
[David] So we got concrete.
We just need the container on the piers in place
and we can get going with framing.
[Stephanie] David has a genius idea,
and that is to lift it from the middle,
pick it with the excavator.
[David] Makes me a little nervous, but we're going to try it.
It sounds like a really terrible idea.
You're good. Open.
[David] I know everything's rigged right up there,
and then we're just going to kind of shimmy it in the site where we need it.
[Stephanie] All right. Bring it back.
[David] And get it up on the piers.
That's the plan.
[Stephanie] Oh.
I can't watch this any more.
Back in. Let's move.
- Oh, oh. - Ah!
[Stephanie] Are you kidding me?
I thought the weight of the straps with the container,
I thought we did some math on this.
[David] Yeah.
[Stephanie] We barely even moved it.
Well, we moved it enough to snap it.
What's the plan?
It will be a crane. That's the only way to do this.
[Stephanie] Seriously think we're going to have to bring in a crane?
Yes. Week delay.
We got to get a crane out here.
$1,500 a day to mobilize out here.
Minimum.
And I bet you they are a week to a week-and-a-half out.
[Stephanie] This build is at a complete standstill until we get a crane here,
but I don't really see any other way
it's going to happen at this point.
So we're going to really have to stretch
some pennies to make this work.
Do what we have to do, keep this build going.
[Stephanie] So we've had about a two week delay,
and I am ready to go.
We have just been sitting and waiting things out
and we are finally ready to get this container into place
and that means get the crane here as well.
So this is a big move for us.
[David] We have the containers outside of the fenced-in area.
The crane operator is going to be set up right there.
He's ready to pick and place.
The plan is to move the first container
on top of the concrete piers next to the slab.
Once that's in place,
we will move the second container
perpendicular on top of that.
Oh, now we got the fun part.
We are picking the first container right now,
and, so we're going to pick these over the fence.
The chains are going to come,
we're going to rig it at all four corners and go from there.
This is a really big task.
It's as if we're framing 640 square feet of our house
in three hours right now.
Yeah, right. It should be easy, right?
I'm not doing all the work.
[Stephanie] That's what I'm saying.
So, yeah, it should be, is it?
Yeah, get thing in the air and bada-bing.
No straps this time.
We obviously know what happened last time with those.
This time, as you can see, these chains,
they're pretty thick.
This could lift a house. This is lifting a house. Oh, boy.
They give me this tag line.
You can control what's in the air with this 50, 60 foot rope.
I'm extremely nervous.
I mean, my goodness.
Well, we got 9,000 pounds going to be 50,
maybe even 60 feet in the air.
[Stephanie] It's happening.
Oh, my gosh.
This is crazy.
Okay.
Coming in hot.
I think that's good, right?
That's good enough.
Oh, it's turning. Go that way.
[David] There you go.
Just call me the tightrope master.
So far, it's going pretty smoothly.
I'm ready.
[Stephanie] You got this?
[David] Yeah.
We just need to get the second container over the fence.
[Stephanie] Forward.
Here you go.
Just don't let it swing.
Down, down, down.
Yeah.
It should be all right.
[David] Then we need to squeeze
the crane truck through the gate.
[Stephanie] He's good on this side.
This is his tight side.
[Stephanie] He's clear over here.
He's got a little room.
Yeah, he's good.
[David] Now, the really difficult part.
We're going to lift with the crane again,
but this time where we drop the container needs to be precise.
[Stephanie] It's really important
to get that first container exactly in place.
We're framing a stick frame on the backside of it,
so we've got to make sure that there are no gaps
and that everything is perfectly level.
So getting it into place is key.
And once we get that into place,
we will set the second container on top.
You line up your edge.
[David] I am.
Okay, go down.
We are as flush as we can get...
[Stephanie] Okay. Good.
[David] ...level, we're gonna weld it in place.
[Stephanie] Uh-huh.
Let's get the chains off, so we can get that last pick.
Oh my gosh. Fingers crossed.
[Stephanie] Worried about this one.
[crane whirring]
[David] This is eight-feet off the ground.
Next one, 20, 30-feet off the ground
to get it to lift on top.
You're looking good?
[David] I'm good.
[Stephanie] That wind is starting to pick up.
Just in time, right as we're about to pick
that second container into place
and I'm a little concerned
it's going to clip these trees.
The big one.
Slow and steady.
[David] You tell me if we're getting too close.
Yeah, you're already a little close.
[David] Really? Where do I go?
[Stephanie] I don't want you to get off track, but...
[David] I'm along for the ride on this. This is not...
- You are just heading into the tree, come on. - [David] It's the wind.
[Stephanie] No, now you're...
Whoa, whoa, whoa! You are clipping the tree. You are clipping the tree.
Holy crap, I'm trying.
[Stephanie] All right. Whoa, whoa! Pull it back.
[Stephanie] That wind is starting to pick up.
Just in time, right as we're about to put
that second container into place...
It's the big one.
Slow and steady.
I'm along for the ride on this. This is not...
[Stephanie] You are just heading into the tree. Come on.
[David] It's the wind.
[Stephanie] No, now you're...
Whoa, whoa, whoa! You are clipping the tree. You are clipping the tree.
I'm trying.
Holy crap! This wind is something else.
[Stephanie] All right. Whoa, whoa! Pull it back. Pull it back.
[David] We got the second one going on top
and you can control what's in the air with this little rope.
It's not that easy when you have a big sail in the air,
even though it's 9,000 pounds,
I'm just at the mercy of the wind.
You need to go that way.
[David] No, now I'm going to hit the crane.
-[Stephanie] You probably didn't... -It's the wind.
[Stephanie] Bring it down!
All right, you're clear.
[David] Oh, my goodness.
Seeing your vision turn into something physical.
Wow, this is cool.
[Stephanie] How... This is... Does that look right?
[David] No, that's a little cattywampus.
Yeah, I think it should be forward a little more.
Why don't you go look at the back?
[David] Now you're far enough back.
[Stephanie] Do you want it back more, though?
- [David] Go back. - [Stephanie] Yeah, back.
[David] About three inches.
- There you go. - [Stephanie] Here we go. Yeah.
Okay. Yeah.
Now that six inch post is going to rest right on the main support.
- [Stephanie] Yeah. - [David] So, we are good.
Good to go. It's a good day.
This went, this went better than I thought.
[Stephanie] Much better.
[Stephanie] With the two containers stacked,
we stayed up late, adding support beams,
as well as welding everything together.
That means today, despite some light rain,
we're ready to get to the wood framing.
It is first day of framing and we've got Bubba
and his crew on the scene
and I think they're going to nail it.
[David] It's not the most difficult framing job right now.
It's some heavy walls, two by six exteriors,
but we should be able to throw up
all these exterior walls today.
That's if the weather cooperates.
[Stephanie] So things are moving along.
And then of course,
things change with the weather,
which in turn change our plans.
So we've got heavy rains on the way.
We're kind of in a race to get these walls up.
Things are getting wet.
It's muddy out here,
and it's just going to really dampen our plans
to kind of move this along,
and it's going to put us behind even further.
[David] Nighttime is coming in.
It just got super dark.
We're back to these ropes.
I'm not the biggest fan,
but we've got to get this wall up and it's pretty heavy.
We've got to move quick.
We are going to take the excavator
and lift, stabilize, brace,
and move on to fight another day.
Let's hope.
We're going to raise this side up.
- Push it in this way. - [David] Okay.
All right, hold it.
[thunder rumbling]
[Stephanie] We got to move guys, lightning and thunder.
[Bubba] Okay. All right, pull it up.
[David] One of these times, the shelf is going to pop up right over us.
We've got to get this wall brace before that happens.
Go on.
- [David] Oh. - [Stephanie] Oh!
[David] Hold on, we're going to hit that.
-[Stephanie] Yeah, we're bending. -[David] Hold on.
As I raise it up little bit, get that rod up in the middle.
All right. One more time.
[Stephanie] I think we're clear.
[David] You want to go and bring it up a little bit more,
but no more than that until we get braces on it.
Yep, that's good.
[Stephanie] Are you guys hearing this?
Oh, lightning.
[David] Whoa, whoa, whoa.
I don't even care if this is level.
With this storm coming,
we've got to get out of here, guys.
Let's go, guys.
This is the last place I want to be, right next to a metal container
when there's a lightning storm.
[thunder crashes]
[Stephanie] Are you guys hearing this?
- Oh, lightning. - Oh, yeah.
[David] Whoa, whoa, whoa.
I don't even care if this is level.
With this storm coming, we've got to get this done.
So right as the excavator boom is going up,
we're lifting the wall,
[mimics thunder rumble]
right on cue.
It's not far away. It's here.
Let's go, guys.
Grab a couple more concrete stakes.
This is the last place I want to be,
right next to a metal container
when there's a lightning storm.
[driller whirring]
All right, we got that brace.
This should be good. We're done.
You hear this?
We're out of here. Good job.
Let's wrap up the tools.
Actually, forget it, let's get out of here.
[Stephanie] It's been a few days, but the weather is clear
and we managed to finish
framing out the back portion of the build.
[David] So we have both the top eave
and the bottom eave done
on our single slope pitch roof for the great room.
And right now we're getting the high joist up
so we can start sheathing the top of this,
so that we can do some work inside.
[Stephanie] Next, we cut out the space
for our pop-up loft area and finish framing it out.
I started to install some windows
and painted the entire exterior.
It's going to be one of the best features of the entire build.
How is painting going?
You picked the right color shirt.
[Stephanie] Joke's over.
[Stephanie] One of the other challenges with working
with a shipping container has been cutting the metal.
It looks a little flimsy on these metal boxes,
but once you actually cut a piece out
and feel the weight of it,
it is kind of a bear to get out.
- [David] Oh! - [Stephanie] Oh! Oh. Oh.
[David] So we have a few difficult windows,
some five by five, some picture frames.
This is one of the bigger picture frames
right in the front.
It's kind of the focal point of that cantilevered second storey container.
Getting that perfectly fit with the doors open is really a challenge.
All right. So what's the plan?
Drive careful, please.
Okay.
Oh, we should tighten these.
[Stephanie] Whoa. Yeah.
Oh, my goodness.
I'm behind the wheel, so I'm not going to let anything fall.
Ready to go up?
[David] We'll have two guys helping us.
That way we can get those nail flanges set immediately.
I don't want to tail too much, I don't want you to fall. Up.
[David] There's always a risk for something to break.
We don't have any spares, either,
so something happens to this,
obviously, you know... Womp, womp, womp.
All right. I'm gonna have you guys both take the top.
Okay.
[David] And I'm going to step out on the fork.
Are you going to lift it?
[David] You're good.
Got her?
I think so.
[Stephanie] Got it?
[David] We got room.
- [man] Yep. - [David] There you go.
[Stephanie] That bottom corner is in.
[man] Make sure you don't topple over.
[David] Right there is fine.
That window looks great.
It's exactly what we were looking for.
We wanted that large picture frame.
When you are up there that high,
you felt like you were outside,
and that's the exact feel that you get from it.
- We're done. - [Stephanie] This looks so good.
What a transformation just to get some glass on that.
Woo.
[David] Happy?
- Oh, yeah. - [David] I am.
[David speaking]
We have the original homestead on the property.
It's probably about a mile and a half,
two miles away from our build site here.
[Stephanie] I grew up staying there as a kid
and it just brings back so many great memories I have
spending time with my family
and I'm really excited to kind of incorporate
that into the new build.
Oh...
[Stephanie speaking]
It's a far cry from the build that we're working on today.
Oh, my gosh, so many memories flood through seeing this place.
The rain has just brought down the ceiling.
It's so sad to see that.
So many cool things still in here.
The fridge?
[Stephanie] I think we have one lined up already.
So I'm hoping that when we do a little treasure hunt there,
we can find something that's gonna really
bring back some memories
and the perfect piece to fit in our new design here.
Oh, wow!
Come here and look at this.
It's one of those vintage light bulbs that's full of water.
You want squirrels and raccoons in this?
Squirrels and raccoons? I'll take it.
- I like critters. - I'm pretty sure that...
- [Stephanie] They're friendly. - [David] ...nature has taken over.
[Stephanie] Oh, my gosh, this is my old bedroom door.
- Oh my gosh. - [David] Are you serious?
- Look at this. - [David] Look at that wall.
-That is what we came for. This is it. -[David] And the color.
[Stephanie] It was just a solidification
that new doors are opening in this new build,
and it couldn't be more fitting.
[David] Good find.
[Stephanie] We're going to just load that into the side by side,
take it home and get this thing into place.
[David] Hold on to that, baby.
So today, we have the exterior rear siding to put up,
and once we're done with that,
we can move on to the inside of the house
and plug away in there until the finish line.
[Stephanie] We walk up to the site
and we are ready to get it put up and...
- Uh... - Did you order this tree?
[Stephanie scoffs]
[David] We have a tall, probably 100 foot tree.
We have the metal right under it
and a branch must have been blown off,
and it dented pretty much first sheet all the way through.
Look at that, all the way through.
Oh, my gosh, it is all the way through.
[David] This is destroyed, honey.
[Stephanie] It's going to look terrible.
I am so tired of throwing money at this project.
We don't have time.
We have nobody out here to help us.
I don't know what we're going to do.
[Stephanie] We walk up to the site and we are ready to get it put up and...
- Uh... - Did you order this tree?
We have a tall, probably, a 100 foot tree.
We had the metal right under it
and a branch must have been blown off,
and it dented pretty much all the way through.
Look at that, all the way through.
Oh, my gosh, it is all the way through.
[David] This is destroyed, honey. Look at this.
[Stephanie] I am so tired of throwing money at this project.
I don't know what we're going to do.
It's been a difficult journey so far.
We're behind schedule. We've got a ton of hurdles.
We got to keep pushing if we want to get this thing finished.
[David] Even though we're kind of stuck in the mud
on the exterior until we get new metal, fortunately,
there's a lot of other projects
we can check off the list.
We've got the spray foam crew here today
to get the place all insulated.
[Stephanie] We were also able to get the drywall inside,
which is really exciting because now we get to bring this place to life.
This is where we get to start transforming
the interior of this rusty metal shipping container into a tropical paradise.
Yeah, hold it tight, like that.
[Stephanie] So without a doubt,
one of my favorite rooms in this house
is going to be the kitchen.
Today, we have a simple white countertop going in.
But trust me, it is going to be far from simple when it's done.
[Stephanie chuckles]
- [David] You guys got this, right? - Oh, yeah.
It looks so good.
I'm so excited to see this get in place.
[man] All right, here we go.
[Stephanie] It's all about the countertop when it comes to a kitchen.
Nice. Like a glove.
It's going to feel so tropical,
and I think this is a perfect piece to bring it all together.
A pink refrigerator is going to pop.
What? You got a what? What?
Oh, you heard me, pink.
[David] So one of the things I'm most excited
for is this 100 inch fireplace for our living room,
so I got a custom mount for it.
We've got it all tiled.
All that's left to do is drop it in place.
This is one of the prettiest fireplaces
I've ever seen,
and full control over the colors,
the flame, the brightness, you name it.
So we got... [whooping]
Look at all those.
Now while you were obsessing over the fireplace,
we finally got our new metal delivered and installed,
and it looks amazing.
[David] It's a good day.
[Stephanie] So few weeks ago,
we discovered a door that was in the room
that I grew up sleeping in.
- What do you think? - It looks prettier than I remember.
It fits perfect
-with what we're doing right now, -Very on trend.
So whoever painted that had a great vision for the home
that we were going to build years later.
[Stephanie] It's going to be the barn style door
where it just kind of swings across
and I can look at it like a pretty little picture hanging on the wall.
- Ooh. - Ah, just a piece of the old cabin.
I love it.
[David] It feels good to be where we're at right now.
We're kind of entering the finesse stage of the build.
However, there's still a lot of work to be done.
Honey, this is going to be
so cool for you to test once I'm done.
If you hadn't installed it, I'd be happy to test it.
[David] Thanks for the confidence.
[Stephanie] We decided to add another element
to the build by adding a pop-up loft
that we're calling Hemingway's Hammock.
We're really excited about the...
Just a little extra something that it gives to the build.
[gasps]
[David] I'm thinking that we're both going to take
- quite a few little naps up there. - I'm thinking so.
Oh. Oh, this is really cool.
I could get used to this. This is paradise.
Yeah.
[David] Now it's time to install the 24 solar panels.
[Stephanie] I'm just excited to kind of get things done
and call this place a home.
Ready?
- You can slide it in. - All right.
Over.
- [Stephanie] Yeah. - [David] Nice.
[Stephanie] You ready to start serving up some pies?
- [David] I'm ready to start eating them. - [Stephanie] Ooh.
[David] It's coming together pretty nicely right now,
so I want to keep on this trajectory.
[Stephanie] We're in the homestretch.
[David] I'm pretty excited.
[Stephanie] I am so relieved to be finished.
It was very challenging,
but it feels really, really good
to finally get to this point
and be looking at this work of art that we created.
[David] It's beautiful.
It's exactly what, I think, she had visioned.
It looks perfect.
So our original budget was $50,000.
We ended up nearly 75,000 to finish the project.
We put two months as our timeline.
We went one week over and it was well worth it.
It gave us just that extra amount of time to button things up.
Oh, my gosh. Hi.
Oh, my goodness.
This is really cool.
[Stephanie] Christina and Josephine are coming today.
They're going to check out the build
and hopefully, adopt some donkeys.
[Christina] Look at all the colors.
[Stephanie] Can you see it? Is it bright enough?
Tropical little oasis in the middle of the woods.
- Yes, exactly, right there. - That's exactly what we wanted.
I can hear the ocean calling.
I think it's calling us inside.
Yeah, I'm ready for that.
So we cannot wait to show you the inside.
Come on in where it's nice and cool.
[Christina] Oh my goodness.
[Stephanie] Look at this. [Christina] It's awesome.
[David] You like it?
- I love it. - Nice.
[Stephanie] You would never think
that this is a shipping container.
[Christina] Look at this fireplace.
[David] Yeah, look how slim this thing is.
It will fit in a two-by-four wall.
[Josephine] So cool.
[David] 100 inches, it's amazing.
[Stephanie] Pink kind of took over.
It really wasn't the plan. Sorry, honey.
It just kind of happened that way.
You did it perfectly, so I'm not going to complain.
- [laughs] Good man. - That's true.
[Christina] All right. Look at this kitchen.
This is amazing, it flows right into the dining room.
This is really, really neat.
[Josephine] I love the tropical leaves. Look at this.
This is amazing. Is that wallpaper?
- [David] Yes. - [Stephanie] Yes.
[Josephine] Oh, my goodness.
[Stephanie] It was... it's David's new favorite.
Oh, wallpaper is my new best friend.
[Stephanie laughs]
All right, so look at this flip out window, too.
- Wow. - This is nice.
- [Christina] That's huge. - [Josephine] Really cool.
[David] So, you know what I said about the donkeys
being all in our business here, which is fantastic.
You can see them from here.
Hey, guys, what do you want to drink?
[Stephanie] Don't you have a special for them?
- Two orchard martinis. - There you go.
[David] They got it.
We'll be serving up pies, and then donkeys.
- It's a perfect combination, right? - There you go.
[Josephine] This is beach at the Midwest.
This is amazing.
So, where do you get your water
and how is this powered?
So we have a solar array
that feeds a huge battery bank and it feeds a well pump,
just like a normal house out in the country would.
[Christina] So we got to go look at the rest of the house.
[Stephanie] Okay.
Wow, look at this.
Oh, I love the original container.
See, they noticed.
This thing has been all over the world.
Yeah.
[Stephanie] And it landed here into our hands and...
[David] 25 years later.
That's how old the container is.
-[Christina] So cool. -[Josephine] This is really neat.
Wow, look at this.
[Christina] Oh, my goodness.
[Stephanie] It's another gathering room.
I love the little nook and the extra fireplace.
[Stephanie] We had to go with two, of course.
This is totally my style.
Something you don't really get
in a shipping container is going to be a vaulted ceiling.
[Christina] This is gorgeous.
[Stephanie] And then we have another barn door over here.
This one was extra special to us.
This actually was a little hidden gem
at our original homestead here on the land.
My heart sunk and I laid eyes on it
and I said, "Okay, this is it."
Got to show you...
[David] So, the bathroom is an old Florida style theme too, by her, obviously.
[Christina] Oh, wow.
-[David] I think she nailed it. -[Christina] Yep.
[Stephanie] Okay. Now wait till you see the upstairs.
[Christina] Pretty stairs.
Oh my goodness.
Look up, look up. Look at the net.
- Whoa! - [Josephine] Oh, my gosh.
This is crazy.
[Stephanie] That's a third story pop-up
that you were seeing from outside.
[Josephine] Yeah. Oh, this is fun.
This is really cool.
- I love it. - I love it. I really do.
[Stephanie] So this is another bedroom.
[Josephine] Wow.
[Stephanie] I hope you like pink.
Here is bedroom number three.
[Josephine] It doesn't stop.
As you can see, lots of Florida vibes going on in here.
[Josephine] For sure.
You feel like you're in a tree house up here.
[Stephanie] You do. You're absolutely right.
Don't get any more ideas about a tree house.
[Stephanie] That might be the next project.
Well, if you want to spend more time outdoors,
let's show you the next space.
This is probably our all time favorite space.
Oh, wow! Look at this.
Oh, my gosh, this is beautiful.
Oh, this is really, really awesome.
[Christina] Oh, look at this table.
[Stephanie] This would probably be the ultimate view
because you can really see everything.
You're in a little piece of heaven on a beach,
in the woods.
[David] In the woods.
It's where all the fun is.
- I know. - This is amazing.
[Christina] Beautiful, beyond my expectations.
Truly, especially how remote it is out here.
I'm thoroughly shocked and surprised
that they were able to get those containers that high
and really bring that feel from Florida to here
in the middle of the Midwest.
It's really, really nice.
[Josephine] I thought it was awesome.
It actually reminded me of the Caribbean, I'm from Puerto Rico,
and it's like I felt right at home.
I love the colors, love the vibe.
It was just beautiful.
[David] Today, the feeling of accomplishment
that we have is well worth it.
Yeah, you really have to push through
some of those challenging times.
I mean, it was a lot of work,
but finally, you get to just breathe a little bit.
Here they come.
Look at them.
[David] To have a donkey sanctuary
finally on top of all this, it's perfect.
Let's go play on the beach.
[Stephanie laughing]
There you go.
Hi, guys. Hi, Lucy.
This is truly what it was all about.
You're going to get a good home.
[Stephanie] We are so excited they're going
to the best home they could possibly go to.
[Josephine] Yeah.
[Stephanie] It was well worth it. We have a house now.
We have a place for donkeys.
I wouldn't change it for the world.