A look into the shipping container home business

Chester County, Pa. (WTXF) - A new community of homes is booming and we're not talking about your average red brick houses. We are talking about shipping container homes.

Our Bill Rohrer has the story.

William Weston and Carlo Castelanelli are in the business of building houses, but not in way you may be used to. On the inside the house looks like any normal house, but the outside it looks completely different. You see, this house is made out of a recycled shipping container.

For about four months, a standard 20 foot container has been parked at the Great Valley shopping center in Malvern.

Carlo, an architect, presented the container home idea to William a few years ago. The timing was just right.

One home is about 160 square feet, but if that's too small these containers can be placed side-by-side or stacked up to as high as nine. These steel structure make it all possible.

The homes are assembled inside a factory then moved and set up anywhere you can imagine. Plans on the company's website show these containers could be used as shelters in emergency disaster areas.

"We are exploring the possibility of solar panel and water collection system on the roof. We are still trying to work on a system for sewage. We would want something completely off the grid that you can set up any place without any need for public service," William said.

One model starts at 36,000 dollars, so for less than a luxury car it could be yours.

For more information, please click here.