I have always wanted to publish a video tour of a shipping container home on this website. But, oddly, after shooting more than 70 Tiny House videos in the last 4 years the opportunity has never happened… until now. Today I’m proud to feature this gorgeous backyard shipping container home owned by a family in Denver, Colorado.
Watch a Video Tour of this Modern Shipping Container Home:
This modern Tiny House was built by Alternative Living Spaces and Container Guys Intl. The home was created from a standard 40-foot shipping container, trimmed down to 33 feet to create 235 square feet of living space. The interior design is modern, bright, and feels very spacious with several large windows and french doors that open up to the private yard.
The single-story design, with wide doorways, is an wonderful example of an ADA accessible Tiny Home.
This shipping container home has sleeping space for four, with two queen beds – one in the main bedroom and the other in the convertible sofa. The kitchen is fully functional with a two-burner electric hot plate, convection oven, apartment-sized refrigerator, coffee machine, and a breakfast bar.
The bathroom is enormous for such a tiny living space, featuring a large shower, flush toilet, and sink with a vanity.
“Shipping container homes aren’t regularly available, so I’m excited to share the space with others.” – Sarsha
Sarsha (the owner) and her family have placed their shipping container home in the backyard of their main house. They use the space to host visiting family and friends, creating a private oasis for their loved ones. When they don’t have family visiting, the shipping container acts as an AirBNB rental, which is an additional source of income for the family.
Legal Backyard Shipping Container Homes & the Additional Dwelling Unit Classification
One way to legally have a backyard shipping container home is to permi the structure as an Additional Dwelling Units (ADU). You will need to check your local jurisdiction to make sure you fulfill all of the local requirements – such as minimum and maximum square footage, foundation requirements, utility hookups, etc.
Click here to see how one Tiny House Community in Portland, Oregon has several Tiny Homes permitted as backyard ADUs.
Please note, some areas of the United States do not allow ADUs, but that can always change. Make sure to check first with your local representatives, such as your local building and code department. If you hire one of the above builders to create your shipping container home, they can help you follow the proper path to legality, if that is your goal.
Would you consider a Shipping Container Home as an Backyard ADU?
*All photos provided with permission from the owners / builders*
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I stumbled onto this post while looking at creative ways people are making small spaces feel truly livable, and your shipping container home breakdown was exactly the kind of practical detail I was hoping to find. The way you framed the trade-offs (cost, build complexity, comfort) really helps make the idea feel doable instead of just “cool in theory.”
One thing I kept thinking about is how container housing scales when it’s used in more remote or temporary setups—especially temporary workforce housing—where comfort matters but the “support” pieces (showers, restrooms, laundry) can make or break day-to-day life. In Arizona, I’ve noticed some setups handle this by pairing living units with separate hygiene modules, like a restroom and shower combination trailer, so the container can stay focused on sleeping and living space. This page is what made me think of it: https://shower-rental.com/arizona/
Curious what your take is: if you were designing this for a remote site, would you try to integrate everything inside the container, or would you keep bathrooms/showers as a separate modular piece for easier maintenance and flexibility?
Happy holidays, and thanks again for sharing the build details.