Dam Camp Container Home

Elements

6 Container(s)

Size

1760 Foot²

Age

Built In 2016

Levels

1 Floor(s)
Address: 9035 FM 725, McQueeney, Texas, United States
Project Type(s): Single Family Residential
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 4

Note: Map location may not be exact. Click to open in Google Maps.

Dam Camp Container Home

Description

The Dam Camp Container Home may have a tongue-in-cheek name, but its design is no joke. This incredible property is actually two separate container homes that are built next to each other and interconnected. 

If you’re wondering where the name Dam Camp comes from, the answer is pretty simple. The three acre property is right next to a lake dam on the Guadalupe River, so the name of the property wasn’t too hard to think. It’s basically a container home version of the Hoover Dam scene from National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation! This section of the Guadalupe River is actually a series of long cascading lakes. So while the dam you see near the property is for Lake McQueeny, the property itself sits on Lake Placid, whose dam is further downstream.

With about 800 feet of waterfront, the property has incredible access to the lake via a sand beach for all kinds of recreational pursuits like stand up paddleboarding and kayaking. And if you prefer to stay on land, they have a covered pavilion, sand volleyball court, BBQ area, picnic tables, fish cleaning table, outdoor shower, boat access, and horseshoe pit.

But as nice as the amenities of the property are, you’re here to learn about the Dam Camp’s container houses. So let’s disect them.

Due to the threat of river flooding, many houses in the area are built on stilts. Some storage areas are contained on the ground floor along with great shady spots for relaxing, while the living quarters are above. The Dam Camp took this approach.

Engineers designed an elaborate concrete foundation and steel columns and beams that tie together and hold up all the containers. This setup is arguably a bit overkill, as it isn’t using much of the containers’ natural structural strength. But since so much of the container walls were cut out, we can understand why the designers took this approach.

On top of this steel skeleton, they placed five shipping containers. There’s an additional sixth container that was oriented vertically as well, but more on that in a bit.

There’s one staircase that takes you from the ground level up to the main floor of the container homes. And while the two container homes have no shared walls, they do sit on the same steel structure and use the same stairs. So, you could arguably call it one container home with two wings, or two container homes with one staircase. Either way, it’s very cool.

Both units of the home are built differently, yet both are close in size. Unit A is built from two parallel 40 foot containers separated by approximately eight feet, with the middle portion finished out and topped by a sloped roof with clerestory windows. It is a two-bedroom, two-bathroom container home set up to sleep six, thanks to one of the bedrooms having two bunk beds. Thanks to the design that ads the raised ceiling in the opening between two parallel containers, Unit A feels quite open and airy.

Unit B is built from two parallel 40-foot containers that are adjacent to each other, joined by an additional 20-foot container that’s parallel to them as well. This unit also has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. However, thanks to a larger bunk room, it can sleep 9 guests total. 

Both units have a similar aesthetic and interior design. The interiors are light, modern, and luxurious, with subtle touches on the inside (like sliding utility room doors, for instance) that hint at the usage of shipping containers. They are surprisingly open in their public spaces thanks to the cutout areas between containers, and make superb usage of windows and the elevated decks overlooking the river.

The build process was a multi-year affair that involved cleaning up the overgrown lot and demolishing an old building. Adjacent homes were renovated and sold, then the Dam Camp was built with shipping containers as the showpiece.

Since none of the containers were stacked on top of each other, building the steel beams and columns underneath was arguably the most difficult part of the project. But the strength of this frame meant that they could cut out large sections of the interior walls of the container without too much worry.

That sixth container that is upright required a specially designed deep foundation to deal with both the concentrated weight and the uplift forces that are imparted to the container when the wind tries to blow the container over. After all, a 40-foot shipping container turned upright is basically a large sail, and it can generate tremendous forces during high winds.

The purpose of this sixth container is twofold. First, it is almost like a large landmark, making the property very distinctive and easy to find. Having the cut-out Dam Camp sign mounted at the top of the tower certainly helps. Second, this container was originally planned to be used as an elevator shaft, but as far as we know, that work never occurred and it’s empty as of now.

As you may have guessed by our language regarding ‘units’, the Dam Camp was originally used as a short-term rental. It offered a chance for two separate groups, or one large group, to have a huge home right on the river/lake with tons of outdoor space to enjoy.

However, the Dam Camp container rentals were sold and are no longer available for short-term rentals. Still, the Dam Camp is a permanent fixture of the community and is hopefully being enjoyed by its current owners. And it stands as a testament of ingenuity and an example of progress for container fans everywhere.

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Comments

2 Responses

  1. Inquiring about a few of your container homes. If possible I’d like to be connected to any real estate agents or companies that you partner with? Thank you.

    1. Send us a message via the Contact Us page and let us know where you’re located. We’ll be happy to help.

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