Buff’s Boarding Bungalows

The farm country of the northern Texas Panhandle region probably is not on your list of top vacation spots. For those who find themselves in the area, there are some comfortable container cabins that are worth checking out.

About 9 miles Northwest of Canyon, Texas, and 17 miles Southwest of Amarillo, Texas you’ll find Buff’s Boarding Bungalows and RV Park. It’s a ~10-acre site that husband/wife duo Remmington and Haley purchased and turned into a long-term RV park.

But along with the extra long parking spots for traditional RVs, they also added three shipping container cabins made with 40 ft containers. Each cabin has a similar layout, and all are used exclusively for short-term rentals currently.

Why the name Buff’s? Well, the athletic teams of West Texas A&M University in Canyon are known as the Buffaloes, commonly shortened to Buffs. And since both Remmington and Haley went to school there and some of their clients are students at the school, the name fit.

Before we go into detail about the design of these container cabins, let’s talk more about the location. You may be wondering why a place this remote gets visitors. We can think of two major reasons.

First is proximity to other places to visit. While the area immediately adjacent to Buff’s Boarding Bungalows is just empty farmland, a short trip away are two natural treasures: Palo Duro Canyon State Park and Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Both parks offer huge expanses of nature to enjoy, and visitors are often looking for a unique place to stay as a complement to their trip.

The second is proximity to highways and a strategic location on multi-day road trip routes. Nearby Amarillo sits on both Interstate 27 and Interstate 40, putting it on the path of many Texans traveling to Colorado and New Mexico. Such a trip is often more than can be accomplished in one day, so people looking for a nice place to take a break about midway find the containers at Buff’s Boarding Bungalows a great solution.

The containers themselves are basically treated as equals to the RVs, with a similar orientation and spacing. It makes sense given that a 40-foot shipping container is a similar size to a large RV or motorhome.

But the container cabins are obviously much more permanent than an RV on wheels. And with this permanence comes a bit more security and durability.

When you walk into the container cabins, you enter the linear kitchen. On your left is a barn door that goes into a well-sized bathroom complete with a walk-in shower. On your right is the living room and then through a doorway, the bedroom. 

All the containers use a primarily white color palette including white cabinetry in both the bathroom and kitchen. Accessories and accents bring bursts of color, and together the containers all fit quite airy. That ambiance is certainly helped by two large sets of windows for both the living room and bedroom.

The windows are all on one side of the containers, and thanks to the overall layout of the site, this means that every RV or container has a semi-private yard right in front. It’s open enough to easily socialize with neighbors without feeling like people are looking right into your bedroom from theirs.

But let’s be realistic, if you’re looking for scenic vistas from outside your windows, this probably isn’t the place. Buff’s is in the middle of comparatively barren ground and flat farmland, and there doesn’t appear to be a tree for miles. It’s a great place to stop on your road trip or rest between your hikes. But the location isn’t really a destination in and of itself.

And yet, you still have to love these container homes. And the reviews of Airbnb are pretty emphatic about the positive experience most people have. They are quiet and tucked away, cozy and comfortable, and modern yet affordable.

Simple container cabins like these can be built and furnished pretty affordably, but still end up looking rather nice. With good occupancy rates, you could pay for the cabins in just a few years of renting them out. And with durable container construction, they should last many more years to continue to provide healthy cash flow.

Buff’s also used containers for two other functions. First are the stables and tack rooms for horses, which is an added amenity they offer to people who stay long term. The second is the laundry container, which gives everyone a central place to wash clothes.

Using containers for these unique purposes provides durable buildings that are still moveable if the layout of the RV park and overall plans change. It enables the owners to provide high-quality amenities while still offering some flexibility for the future.