Stacking up

Nov 07, 2023

CITRA — Terri McFarlane's metal shipping container home project is stacking up nicely.

"I'm looking forward to having an upper story, basement, a deck to sit on with neighbors and the decorative touches I want in a sturdy home," McFarlane said.

McFarlane, 52, a who calls herself an "artistic MacGyver," started her home building project last fall on her 8 1/2-acre hilltop property in Citra Pines. With the help of a contractor and friends, and plans by local architect Miles Anderson, she expects to finish by June.

McFarlane said she became interested in using the cargo containers, which she purchased locally, to build a house because she sought an economical home that could withstand hurricane force winds in light of the storms here in recent years.

She said the project has been funded by her savings and "pay-as-you-go," with many economical and discounted items brought along the way. Some of the containers, she believes because of residue, were used to ship fertilizer but are in very good condition and the existing oak floors can be used after sanding and finishing.

The layout incorporates seven of the 40 foot long by 9 1/2 feet tall and eight feet wide metal boxes, known as the "high-cube" type, arranged in two stacks three high and one set the long way in a "T" shape. The bottom two containers were sunk about five feet into the ground to provide a basement. Internal stairways will connect the upper floors and top floor to the basement. The containers will be grounded for lightning protection.

The front has a spacious porch and McFarlane plans to put a deck on the container in the "T' position.

"I missed having a basement," joked McFarlane, a native of upstate New York.

She is a former international equine trainer who worked locally in the manufactured home trade until she suffered work-related injuries to both arms in a fall. She now operates a wedding decoration provider.

McFarlane said fire resistance and a platform for her decorative touches were important factors. She has already picked out some antique doors from a 200-year-old Egyptian building and wagon wheels to spruce up the entrance and front.

McFarlane plans to cool her home with mini-split ductless air conditioning units and heat with a wood stove. She plans to have a generator, solar panels and aquaponics with vegetables and fish for self-sufficiency.

"Some people call that being a 'preppie' or prepared for anything," McFarlane said.

"It's very secure," she said.

McFarlane purchased the containers form Ocala Container in nearby Sparr, operated by Jordan Raney.

"About 95 percent of the containers we sell are used for storage and 5 percent for shops and homes. Terri is by far the most ambitious (builder) we've seen so far and we're excited," Raney said.

Raney said a 40-foot container can range from $1,700 used to about $5,500 new. He said at least one of the containers in his current inventory was evidently used in the Puerto Rican hurricane relief effort and carried a label that indicated the cargo was "4,788 hard hats and 7,050 pairs of work gloves."

An article posted on television personality and builder Bob Vila's website, titled "Shipper Container Homes" by Mark Fuller, states that a large shipping container home can cost "about half the square foot cost of a conventional home." The article puts the cost of adding electric, plumbing and windows at about $50 to $150 per hour, plus the cost of the property must be considered. The article states the metal homes are a "fast, green and sustainable" approach to home construction.

A 2015 American Society for Engineering Education paper by Christopher Moore, Semih Yildirim and Stuart Baur, states Malcom McLean, owner of truck and steamship shipping companies, patented the ship and truck intermodal "apparatus for shipping" in 1958. The metal container was accepted by the U.S. military and became "the standard for shipping lines all around the world."

The metal boxes can be called a "shipping container," "ISO container," "Conex box" or "cargo container." but when used for building they are called a "Intermodal Stell Building Unit," according to the article.

Marion County Building Department Plan Examiner Tony Bewley said a cargo container house must meet the same building code requirements as a conventional site-built house. He said the container provides a "shell" for construction.

Bewley said a single container home is in progress in the Florida Highlands area but meeting minimum internal space requirements after installing flooring and wall material may present a challenge.

Roberta, 34, and Nick Mahoney, 35, an Air Force veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, have lived in a seven-container home in Dunnellon since 2015.

"I love it," Roberta Mahoney said in a phone interview. She said they wanted something different and had seen videos on container homes.

Their home was designed and built by her father, Guilherme Bombonato, an architect in Brazil and general contractor here who operates ArchiFence in Morriston. The company specializes in fencing, barns and paddocks.

The Mahoney home is laid out with four on the bottom and two on the top and a garage with access between side by side containers. Roberta Mahoney said it is "very quiet inside" and the home went through two hurricanes "and nothing happened."

She said the power bill is "about the same as we had in a one-bedroom apartment in Gainesville."

She said the home was funded by private funds and a construction loan.

Meanwhile, one of McFarlane's neighbors, Teresa Holman, said McFarlane "goes all the time, 100 mph" working on the project.

"I'm looking forward to a glass of wine on her front porch," Holman said.