Rusty’s and Chris’ two-bedroom home in Seattle’s Madison Valley, built in 1920, does not accommodate guests very well.
“It’s only 700-square-feet, with two small bedrooms, so it’s a little hard to have company,” said Rusty, who purchased the home 14 years ago. “Whenever we remodel, it’s such a pain to have to live in there and remodel at the same time.” Continue reading
PORTLAND — Stepping into Marc and Jeanine’s Modern-Shed Airbnb, you will immediately feel like you’ve found a little nook of heaven.
The cozy shed, which the couple have named the Mallory Tiny Home, after the street they live on, is secluded and private, with stylish decor and a loft bedroom that practically beckons you to turn in and recharge from a busy day of sightseeing.
“People find it really beautiful,” says Jeanine, a spiritual healer who sometimes brings clients to the shed to meditate. “Everyone says there’s just enough space. They’re always impressed with how much space there is or how warm or cool it is. It’s just enough.”
As the rise of AirBnBs and other vacation rental sites like HomeAway and VRBO can attest, when people take a vacay, more and more they want to stay at a home away from home.
We have several Modern-Shed customers who have capitalized on this trend.
In San Jose, Flora and Jeffrey initially built a Modern-Shed guest room to accommodate Flora’s sister, Fauna, who was staying in the area for college, but when Fauna graduated two years later, the couple started making serious money when they turned their shed into an AirBnB.
“I am just extremely happy with it,” says Flora, whose shed sees mostly business travelers. “I’m booked every day … Totally I was not expecting this many bookings … These guests, they come every day, even during the week, they’re here for a day and gone. It’s convenient for me and them … (Now) I’m a stay-at-home mom and a full-time AirBnB host.”
Other Modern-Shed owners rent or book their sheds for guests more interested in leisure.
Marc and Jeanine’s Modern-Shed AirBnB in fast-growing Portland offers exclusive access to the shed and an herb garden, with guests complimenting the shed’s “cozy” factor and noting that it’s “a gorgeous little oasis in Portland,” “central to a lot of restaurants and stores.”
Meanwhile, Holly’s twin Modern-Shed cabins at Blue Lake Springs near the Sierra Nevadas in California complement a traditional cabin and offer large families a quiet respite from the busy, city life.
“They are really cute,” Holly says. “My girls love sleeping in the sheds even though we didn’t plan them to be sleeping quarters … I love how the sheds are really multi-functional. People can use them how they want and can say ‘Hey, this is my space.’”
Many more of our customers simply love having that extra space when family comes over, which is especially important to take into account as the holiday season approaches. Continue reading
Now that winter is just around the corner, it’s a good time to talk about how Modern-Shed keeps our customers warm … and, uh, well, cool as well for those living in the hot climates.
We offer all Modern-Sheds with a variety of insulation options best suited to the customer’s needs, desires and permitting requirements.
Above your head: All our standard smaller sheds are priced with a standard R30 rigid foam insulation package in the pre-fabricated roof system. This can be upgraded to R40 and (coming soon) R50 to accommodate extreme cold and heat, as well as to new energy codes that come up. To accommodate electrical needs within the panelized pre-fabricated roof system, one option is an electrical framing package that includes one wiring “chase” in one of the roof panels.
For larger structures that require higher level building permits to accommodate on-site electrical work and on-site building inspections by the local building departments, we offer a credit for an insulation delete option so the customer can use a spray-foam insulation once the inspection and electrical work is complete. We can accommodate any rafter size for the necessary insulation value required by each jurisdiction.
WEST SEATTLE — As many of our customers know, Modern-Sheds sometimes multiply.
Several of our customers have double sheds, from the yoga studio and home office in Alameda to the twin cabins in Blue Lake Springs. One family in Kirkland, Wash., even has four sheds on their property, all serving a unique need.
Husband and wife Fred and Susan are no strangers to the multiplying Modern-Shed, having purchased a shed for Fred’s sister, Jane, in Santa Cruz, and then buying one of their own to complement their West Seattle home.
