 |
| Space-saving options include Murphy beds, but entire homes can be engineered to save space. |
Whereas my dreams of owning a TARDIS are unlikely to be answered I have owned my own home. As a homeowner I occasionally grow tired of the local neighborhood. I sometimes wish I could pick up the house and move it to a new location.
As many people realize it is possible to move an entire house. There is a whole industry devoted to the moving of homes. I suppose if you are moving to the next town over it will be less expensive to buy another house and leave the old one behind. One could try waiting for a tornado ala "Wizard of Oz" but history teaches us that tornadoes are not nearly so kind to the furniture or occupants of homes as in the movies.
One might consider purchasing a "mobile home". I have never quite understood why they are called "mobile" because you don't live in them while they are on the road. Those are "recreational vehicles". A "mobile" home is merely one that is built in a factory and then transported to its final location. Maybe someone has moved their mobile home but I have never see that in action.
What led me to this latest round of fancy rabbit chasing? It was not a trip down memory lane. Rather as we contemplate moving again we are concerned with keeping our costs down. In that article you will find several common sense tips for saving money when you move. But I would rather just move the entire house. Or perhaps it would be better to buy a house that is truly mobile. Is that possible?
Ruling out the use of a recreational vehicle because they are two small, I thought there must be examples of truly mobile homes somewhere in the world. I had heard of "container homes" built from refurbished shipping containers. There are pros and cons to the "container home" movement. And as you might have guessed they are not truly mobile. People are planting these things in place and leaving them be. There is also an artisanal feel to many of these container homes. I don't to live in a work of art. I want to live in a home that meets all my needs and whims at a low cost.
But it seems that "container homes" are not the only modular options on the market. There are also "containerized homes". What is the difference? It seems the "containerized homes" are more Spartan (and less expensive). These containerized homes are used to house temporary construction workers and military camps. More than one company caters to the temporary housing market with these movable, modular homes. I guess Sea Box is most familiar to military types. If you have a veteran in the family, he or she may be able to tell you what it is like to live in containerized housing.
You can rent some types of containerized home units for as little as $100 per month. Just buy a plot of land somewhere for a few thousand dollars and then have the containerized modules dropped off. For less than $1000 a month you can live in a house-sized home while you build the real thing.
Now, what if you want to live in containerized housing permanently? That's not my idea of a TARDIS but I guess if you choose this option you could move your home every few years. It will be less expensive than moving a stationary house.
But if you are leasing the modules then you don't own your own home. At some point you have to give them back. Do you replace them with newer modules? Should you just build a house that fits within your budget? Can you live the Doctor Who migratory lifestyle?
I guess if you want your own TARDIS you should invest in a recreational vehicle. But it would be lovely if they made one that rearranges itself inside so you can make better use of the living space. I don't like how cramped and crowded I feel inside the RVs that my friends have owned and rented.
