Craigslist Window House

My husband is EXTREMELY frugal.  He's always on the lookout for a good deal.  His skills at fixing things or creating things out of lots of other broken things amazes me.  It also allowed me to stay home full time while our children were really young.

A few years ago we bought 40 acres near Duluth, MN so our kids could climb trees, ride dirt bikes, pretty much run free - something they hadn't been able to do in our neighborhood.  Eventually we'd like to build a cabin and we've been working on preparing the "cabin spot".  (We have a sleeping loft that my husband built in our shed.)  In the meantime however, we need a place to stay and be out of the weather if it's raining or blustery snow AND an indoor place to take a shower - I'm tired of solar showers and mosquito bites on my bum!  It's here where my husbands frugality really has been brightly shining!

He is a regular shopper of Craigslist.  Here was his shopping list for our "Craigslist Window House" (what he calls it) or the Three Season Window House (what I call it):

12 thermal pane vinyl windows for $150 (they are all the same height - and an 1'' or 3/4" different in width)
Brand new steel entry door with an extruded aluminum jam for FREE (it's nicer than the one we have in our house)
Screen door for $20
Fiberglass tub/shower for $80 (it was put in a new house and after it was installed the buyer decided she wanted tile instead so it has never been used)
Vanity for $20
Cultured marble vanity top with sink for $20 (my husband originally went to look at a door and decided he didn't like the door - the seller had a sink "sitting there" so my husband asked if he was interested in selling it)
5'x4' mirror for $10 (it's 3/8" thick glass - the seller were just redoing their bathroom and wanted their old mirror to go to a good home)

The wood was all purchased on sale at Menards and it will be "off the grid" - completely solar powered.  My husband figures by the time he is done, he will have spent $2300.  When it's done, it will be 16'x16' with a hip roof and a 3' overhang (the overhang will keep the dirt from splashing up on the sides of the Screen House when it rains and will help provide shade for the windows).  I wish it was completed but here are the pictures of a work in progress.........

Just the footing are in (they're the cement squares to the left of the shed).

Framing of the floor.

Next came the preparations for the plumbing - sink (bathroom & kitchen) and the bathtub.  Sorry for all future guests - the toilet will still be an outhouse!

Now we're ready for walls!

The roof came next - a hip roof with a 3' overhang.  My math genius of a husband used CAD and his brain to get this just right.  His planning paid off as it all fit together like a familiar puzzle.  Glad I wasn't there though to see my 13 year old and 16 year old hanging from the rafters!

So here it is with most of the framing/sheathing done.  The tar paper and shingles will be put on this weekend.  The windows and all of the other Craigslist buys won't go in until spring.  I'll share more pictures then!

Here's a picture of the Handy Man himself (enjoying some non-handyman time in the Black Hills)!

I am in awe of my husband's brilliance at creating these structures that are really a work of art.  It makes being in them that much more special.  I wish I would have studied harder in math!

"If we want our children to value education, then we must show our appreciation for knowledge."  -Brad Sherman