4 Beautiful Alternative Housing Ideas
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With house prices rising and the population continuing to grow, more and more people are looking at the possibility of building their own home. Building your own home comes with so many advantages, you can be in control of the project, build the house to your own specifications and create a home that’s within your budget, no matter how small. What’s more, building your own home from scratch also gives you a lot of stylistic freedom, enabling you to choose your own raw materials and put them together in such a way that forms the look and feel you were going for.
We’ve come a long way from simply using bricks and mortar to build houses, so here are 4 alternative housing ideas that will also get people’s heads turning.
- Timber
Wood has been used in the building trade for centuries and no wonder given its availability and versatility. Timber framed buildings and log cabins not only look the part but provide great insulation and stability. Do be careful when sourcing your timber though as although wood is often called a sustainable material over harvesting of this valuable material can lead to deforestation and with trees taking so long to re-grow to a harvestable size, we are cutting them down quicker than we can replenish. Why not look into recycled timbers or incorporate timber as a part of your design rather than using it to build your whole home? - Fiber Cement
You may have never heard of fiber cement, but it is an extremely durable material which requires minimal up-keep, is anti-rot and also fire resistant. Coming in a huge variety of styles fiber cement can be made to mimic wood, stone and brick – check out sites such as Nichiha to get an idea as to what kind of designs are available. - Stone
Stone houses are perhaps the most sustainable of them all and really enhance the outside of your home Proving to be extremely durable, whilst also using one of the earth’s most bountiful resources, stone is a popular choice which has fallen out of fashion recently as it can prove to be quite costly. To keep costs down try to build stone houses out of local stone, this will reduce transportation costs and keep your house in keeping with the local area. - Shipping containers
This is perhaps one of the cheapest and most modern ways to build your new home and also comes with the added bonus that recycling old shipping containers is also very eco friendly. The possibilities when using shipping containers are endless, with some people preferring to make a tiny home and others interlocking containers together into elaborate mansions. With a little DIY, some windows and insulation a shipping container home can be finished very quickly and will definitely get heads turning.
So what would your dream home be made off? If it’s not on this list, let me know in the comments.
