The Building of the Tractor Shed House





This is the story of how we came to live in the Little House on the 100 Farm in a tractor shed.

There once was this couple who lived in Michigan and they dreamed of having some land and a simpler way of life. One day, the husband of the couple had an opportunity with his job to relocate south to a warmer climate. After some discussion, the couple decided to go for it. They searched and searched for the right house. They finally settled for a brand new, 2600 square foot, beautiful house on seven acres of land with four bedrooms and two and half baths.


However, there was a problem. This couple, with only one child, was diagnosed with unexplained infertility. The wife of this couple was tired of taking care of the large home that they only used half of.  Thewife started to dream of owning land, homesteading,  gardening, animals, walks through the woods, and deer hunting. She shared this with her husband, who is way more of a risk-taker than she is, and he said “Let’s do it!”


This was the beginning of the search for the perfect farm for this family. They drove all over and looked online for hours at potential farms.

One sunny, beautiful, fall day they walked a property that was one hundred acres and had a 40x60 tractor shed on it. It was one mile from town and totally secluded with a mile long, off-road, driveway. You see, this couple already had their hearts set on another property they had looked at previously. But, there was just something about this other farm that captured their hearts that day. When they got in their car and headed home, they made a decision that the Hundred Acre Wood with the tractor shed is where they were meant to be.


They proceeded to put their house on the market and put a down payment on the Hundred Acre Wood. During this time the husband came up with an idea. He said “Why don’t we convert that tractor shed into a house?” To which the wife said “Are you out of your mind?” The husband is a very talented guy who can build all sorts of stuff...but a house? Hmm, the wife was not too sure about this. She decided to trust her husband and support him with this decision. This seemed to be the perfect thing to do! It would be small, which is what she wanted, and save them money because three-quarters of the barn was already built. They spent hours and hours trying to come up with the perfect design for their tractor shed house. Finally, their house sold and they moved into a rental to start building their forever home.




The barn before building began.







 Electricity to the tractor shed barn was number one on the list of priorities.




The digging of the basement. The decision was made to put in a small basement with poured floor, walls, and ceiling to use as storage and a storm shelter.


 


























The rest of the floor for the barn was poured. Now, to start with the actual building of the house.




Check out his tool belt!







 A way to get up to the main floor.







 Trying out the stairs for the first time.



Walls going up.







A hole in the floor that leads to the basement.






Insulation time.






Yes, there were injuries and feelings of being overwhelmed with this project. But, they persevered.



 School work getting done during this time.



The drywall going up.











 And then there were lights and paint.





 The dining room.



 The laundry room.



The master bedroom.



The second bedroom.



 The kitchen and living room area.



The flooring getting put down.








The outside progress pictures.














Plumbing the house.



Move in day!








They still had a lot of work to do and continued to make progress on it after moving in. There are finished pictures of the house in this post:








Hope you enjoyed the house building project.



Jenn




 



 



 

7 comments:

  1. That's really clever. I couldn't picture what you were doing at first, but it really came together. I'm also from Michigan and hate that the South doesn't have basements. I was in Macon, GA and on Mother's Day the tornado sirens went off at about 5:30 AM. I asked what are we supposed to do? There was no place to go. I was told to go back to sleep because there was nothing we could do. Ten tornadoes touched down and it looked like a war zone. Still, I love the South because it's warmer here. :-)

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  2. The older homes have basements. I love my basement for storage, extra bed, water, extra food, for storms - we go back to sleep in the basement! LOL. I believe the reason they may have quit building basements is the water table. Most of the basements in our area have a problem with water leaking through the concrete. You need a sump pump in most basements. I am still happy I have the basement. And, you were wise to put one in. Of course I really am envious of your life style and am trying to emulate and pare down as much as I can.

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  3. It looks like a nice place. We're working on turning an old hunting cabin into a home - lots of fun. :) Our place won't ever be as large or nice as yours, I think, though.

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  4. Just plain Marie, we only converted half of the tractor shed into a house. It is approximately 1100 ft.². The rest of it is a garage and used for storage.

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  5. It is a great website.. The Design looks very good.. Keep working like that!. http://www.showmesnowgeese.com/duck-goose-hunting-packages/

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