cover banner 3-2.png — Montana

TY Kelly

DESIGNER: Ty Kelly BUILDER: Ty Kelly BUILD DATE: 22nd Nov 2017

LOCATION: Montana, United States PHOTO CREDITS: Zillow RATING: 3 Stars.

Owner and designer of this cozy Montana home is Seattle based architect and artist Ty Kelly. To distress from city life, he built his abode from shipping containers in the picturesque Montana plains.

You can find it in Livingston, Montana, USA, and in 2017 it sold for 125K USD!

Build Method

This home is made from two 20ft (12M) High Cube ISO shipping containers welded together along their lengths with an additional small extension at one end. Welding two 12 meter units together is an efficient, low cost design which is easy to make water tight quickly. Although, having taken so much of each long wall side out of two containers (plus the long glass wall) does require additional engineering - but the space dynamic is worth it. You will note from many reviews that of course a single high cube is cheaper but unless you plan to move your home often, its width is just a couple of feet short of comfortable.

Ty Kelly’s escape house has one bedroom with a queen-sized bed and one bathroom on opposite corners, a guestroom, and a fully furnished kitchen and lounge in between.

From the front of the building is not evident that the 720-square-foot home is made from shipping containers (although walk around to the rear and you will see its solid provenance).

Nor is it evident that it is in fact made from a lot of reclaimed materials. But these materials, especially the wood panels and a vast glass wall that lets in an abundance of light work well together. The architect was very passionate about using recycled materials. The bookshelf in the living room for example is made from plywood retrieved from an office building about to be demolished. Even the floors and counters are made from reclaimed wood.

"A lot of it is reclaimed materials," Kelly explains. "I built the counters myself out of two-by-two, all out of leftover lumber, and the wood flooring is reclaimed as well."

One wall of the house is almost entirely lined with glass to take full advantage of the view. Outside, there is extra space with the wooden deck that can be accessed from the kitchen. Perfect for entertaining guests on a clear, beautiful Montana day outside or just sitting outside alone on a chilly day and getting some sun.

Inside, the walls and ceilings are insulated with carbon spray foam insulation. A fairly minimalist inside contains the usual comfort of any home with a wood stove, dishwasher, washing machine, fridge, etc. However, the bathroom is unique - it has an outdoor shower that properly helps you immerse yourself in nature.

“There was nothing around, the property was made for a view,” Kelly explains. “I always liked the idea that an object had landed on the landscape, so I wanted to create an all-glass wall that faced the mountains.”

Interbode Thoughts

Seattle Escape is an efficient design that is proven to work, two containers welded together with a bedroom at one end and a bathroom at the other. It is certainly tempting to over complicate (and overspend) on container design but Ty has proven that simple also works very well thank you!