REVEALING our design for the FIRST TIME! *New Airbnb Cabin*

[@NorthofNowhere.]

what do you guys think of the design?

[@luisriverajr6292]

Love it!

[@swanofnutella4734]

Super awesome. I love that there is laundry and bathroom as soon as you walk in. That's an 'arriving home from weather'-smart feature. I love that the living area has the elevated views, the cost of that, which I don't love is the living area is also above two bedrooms. Which means everybody has to go to sleep at the same time. It's been my experience during family reunions etc, that people have different habits and schedules. If this has the intention of being a multi-family rental it will NOT be ideal in that regard. Otherwise, I love it.

[@rgbuckl]

LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!! Much better than an "A-Frame," which although can be a beautiful structure, you lose so much livable square footage. Subscribed! I can't wait to see how this comes together. I also totally agree about cutting down the LEAST amount of trees as possible!

[@Justyburger]

I'd watched the other video's before this one. I really like the design a lot and I've been searching for tall compact home designs for years. A lot of my focus has been on modern Japanese designs. One house that really inspired me was called The Shirokane House, which is featured on Arch Daily. In Japan, there are a lot of long thin tall houses, but not many that have more of a square footprint. There's also an interesting one in Sydney, made from concrete over 5 floors with a garage on the bottom. In all the designs we looked at, garages on the bottom complicate the build and use up valuable living space, so we have departed from that design. What we have now come up with is actually similar to yours but with a smaller footprint of about 23 sqm (247 sq ft). There will be three floors at 23 sqm and then a smaller 4th floor flexible area, which can sleep 3 people and hold storage. We've designed it the opposite to yours, which means the kitchen and dining on the bottom. To fit everything in, I chose a 6 person American Diner style eating area and a similar kitchen to yours. The 2nd level is bathroom, a sauna and a laundry with storage. The 3rd level is a partially hidden master bedroom with a King bed and a built in wardrobe. There is also a small lounge and a box seat area that sticks out by 600mm (2ft). Off of the lounge is a 1m wide office nook and a ladder that climbs up to the flexible space on the 4th floor. The lounge wall height is nearly 6m high (20ft), so I intend to build in a climbing wall. The building height will max out at 11.5m (38ft). The total usable floor area will be around 70 sqm (about 750 sq ft). It will be clad with colored steel. So that's our design. The only thing I could add to yours is that I would create a large door which accesses the balcony, so that you can keep the door open in the summer and have more of an outdoor feel. I'm also not 100% sold on that additional metal balcony, even though it actually doesn't look too bad. The roof garden would be my preferred choice, but I am guessing it became a bit cost prohibitive and it's trickier to get water tight. You'd have to butenyl the whole roof and have a hip height wall all the way around. It's also not as easy to access the roof via a ladder. You will have thought about all the pros and cons no doubt. The bunk room is very interesting. 4 lots of queen bunks is quite a fit-out. I particularly like Japanese capsule beds and have thought of many designs where they can snugly fit into different spaces. Pod beds they are often called. I'm also a big fan of loft beds, but if they are your main bed, you don't want to be using ladders all the time. That's why with our design, we put the kids flexi space up the ladder. You probably thought about the inclusion of an elevator, but they waste such a lot of space, as do stairs. I made our stairs only 850mm wide (less than 3 ft), but then all of our furniture will be built in. Nothing big will go up and down the stairs. We also have to contend with earthquake risk, so the engineering and foundations are going to be a bit costly. Tall thin designs are not cheap even if the floor area is quite small. Looking forward to seeing the progress.

[@jpalarchio]

Perfect spot, have spent so many weekends up that way and on Torch Lake. Definitely thought this would be an A-Frame but wow this looks amazing! Random and selfish thought... Not sure what the added expense would be but I would love to see one or (stretch goal) two camp sites on the property. Maybe a future addition but basically full hookup (50a electrical, water and sewer) with a level gravel spot. Would really make this a great family reunion destination and there are so many heading up that way (like us) with travel trailers. Would love to be able to stay on a property like that with our camper and have parents and others in your tower.

[@NorthofNowhere.]

thanks Joe! Funny that you mention that because we have discussed it. My parents actually camped out there this weekend, but just rustic/tent camping. We will definitely will put that down on the list of potential ideas. We have another surprise + announcement about the land and our plans coming soon!

[@seelafever]

I realize this is a 11 month old post.... I'm really enjoying your videos. They are very professional. I really like the many unique aspects of the property and house design. I'm still trying to get over the kitchen space on the top floor. Taking groceries and supplies up stairs seems like a pain. Additionally the space you use the most is the farthest away from the front door and your vehicle. I guess at least you don't have to take luggage up many stairs. It might grow on me. I get the fact that the view is the inspiration for the design and would definitely want living space up there. I look forward to seeing the upcoming videos.

[@NorthofNowhere.]

thank you! We wrestled with your points about groceries and luggage as well when designing it, but ultimately, it's supposed to be a unique stay that you cannot experience anywhere else. There will always be pros and cons, but the views and layout at the top will make up for the additional effort to get up there.

[@seelafever]

@@NorthofNowhere. Right on! I do think so much of it comes down to the purpose and use of the architecture. For your purpose I think it's perfect. After pondering for a bit I realize that my wife and I are not the target audience. We mostly travel in a campervan and when traveling in our Jeep or Car we only use ABnB for a place to stay a few nights as a hub or to get to the next location/adventure. A lot of folks spend more time hanging out with their family/friends and enjoying the experience of being together at a location like yours. Dumbwaiter or getting the kids to carry stuff would be the ticket for me :) Good luck!

[@Satronaut-pw3ij]

This whole build looks very well thought out and slick.

[@NorthofNowhere.]

thank you!

[@hoel54]

How does the roof mitigate heavy snowfall? What is the drainage like? Does your area get a ton of off-season rainfall? Just curious because I’ve had trouble with builds that don’t take drainage or snowfall weight into account on the roof.

[@NorthofNowhere.]

we do not get a ton of off-season rainfall, but enough to think about it. The roof appears flat, but it actually has a 1/12 pitch that slopes to a box drain at the top.I anticipate that we will have to go up there a couple times a year just to check on it and make sure the box drain doesn't get clogged. Our soil has extremely high sand content, so drainage shouldn't be an issue.

[@eonstot]

Congratulations, guys. Love the bold design and the thought you’ve put into it. Will be up with some friends near Torch Lake in the early fall and will be thinking of you guys!

[@NorthofNowhere.]

thanks Evan! You'll have to come check it out when it's finished!

[@mickeyluviano8562]

i love this! I purchased 5acres in the Smokey mountains. North Carolina . i think i will do something similar to this! thnk you for the inspo

[@NorthofNowhere.]

Good luck!

[@Nbvgfbnvcjkubvcf]

I'm building an a-frame on 10 acres in cheboygan, mostly for my family but maybe for airbnb a little bit too. Did you guys find any good places to get premade plans in your search?

[@NorthofNowhere.]

congratulations! We had an architect help us with ours, but some of it was inspired by the plans available from everywhere.co

[@artworthi]

Anyway you would consider sharing this plan? I wanted to also build an a frame but based on your breakdown, this is far more affordable

[@NorthofNowhere.]

possibly at some point in the future, but not currently. Also keep in mind that this pricing for the A-frame was specific to our design, which truthfully was a little over-engineered because of the elevated look and being in a northern climate.

[@ralphlattig6693]

Beautiful ❤

[@YaroslavTkach-b9w]

Why did you guys decide against the rooftop area?

[@NorthofNowhere.]

it'd be closed 5-6 months of the year here in northern michigan and it allowed us to use taller ceilings on the interior.

[@jubbakilla]

I would actually put a movie room/tv room/rec room in the basement given the number of guest you plan to entertain. If I were visiting your property, a movie room with my family would be a nice touch. Just my suggestion/thoughts….

[@NorthofNowhere.]

that is the plan! a little movie/game room down there. Hoping to finish that at some point this year!

[@jubbakilla]

BTW, My wife is a CPA also and when I downloaded your spreadsheet for the build process/budget, she saw it and was highly impressed. We are currently using it for our build in VA. Thanks again for making that available. More videos of your build please….lol…

[@SeattleCoorain]

Christopher Alexander would like your rooms with light from multiple sides.... check (book - A Pattern Language). Best feature is that you have designed the space yourself with help of an architect to make sure the details work together. It's your own design and passion, therefore worthy of the time you will be devoting to the project. Personal taste - windows are a bit narrow except near the dining table. That's OK as your choice, however one of the "tower" cabins you admire has many wide floor to ceiling windows to celebrate the views. You can use movable insulation to cover the window inside surface for energy efficiency, so big windows do not have to be energy sinks. I feel your pain seeing the floor space eaten up by multiple stacked stairways to each level, which is a drawback of tower focused home designs. One of my earlier truncated A-frame designs was three story, tall and short but not as efficient as a longer two story. Two stories let me move the truncated A-frame end walls further apart which is more cost efficient usually. Originally designed the same stairway as yours: up to platform at halfway point then 180degs back up to next floor. This is compact in linear distance out, but twice as wide. For that reason I went back to a straight stairway from 1st --> 2nd floors allowing a narrower footprint at the expense of a modest bit longer. Designs will find a different balance based on your own specific floor layout. With multiple floors you probably need a compact stacked stairway. Best of luck on your build.

[@NorthofNowhere.]

thanks for the input and the thoughtful comment! keeping the window somewhat rectangular was intention to accentuate the verticality of the tower. Plus, it's honestly a lot cheaper than doing floor-to-ceiling, although we would love to do that. We also went back and forth on the linear vs. switchback, and ultimately went switchback with our layout

[@vm.x]

How many living and total square feet is it? How much per living/total square foot?

[@NorthofNowhere.]

it is 1500 sqft, not including the basement. With basement included, it is 1970 sqft.

[@theresiamerglewski5845]

I just found your channel and binged a few posts so far boy you guys take a lot of heat for being “rich” and building rentals 🫤 how lame can people get? 🙄 Anyway we are long time from Michigan and just last year bought our retirement home in between west branch and prudentville exit 222 originally from the Waterford/white lake area really wish we could of went farther north but our kids would have never came to see us. 😬 Can’t wait to follow along and see how that A-frame turns out my husband seen that one a few years back. ☺️

[@NorthofNowhere.]

it's mostly positive. Just a few grumpy people. I'm sure you guys would love up here! Can't wait to share the progress of that one!

[@gsxr600rafii]

I really think the rooftop would be so much better

[@NorthofNowhere.]

ahhh! we wanted to so bad, but it's kind of freaky how high you are on that third level. Imaging potential guests drinking up there scared us out of it.

[@gsxr600rafii]

@@NorthofNowhere. That's a VERY good point. I know your build is for guests. But I just imagine living in it myself, and that would be a fantastic view. But that's a good decision.

[@erikjohnson9931]

Torch Lake - Salt and Shark free so its much better than the caribbean!

[@NorthofNowhere.]

agreed!

[@andrewfromremotetribe]

please write down the name of the architects

[@NorthofNowhere.]

beag + haus!

[@sailingelectricgitana1286]

Older guests, retirees, over-weight, etc. will have difficulty with the stairs. You are limiting your target demographic.

[@NorthofNowhere.]

we thought about this a lot and realize that it will not be for everyone. we are working on another cabin that will be more accessible.