New Orleans Shotgun Container Home

With its huge semi-transparent cube, this hybrid shipping container home is a bit of a departure from a ‘normal’ container house. But we love the way the designers incorporated this airy space along with the containers to create a small home that feels much larger than it is.

The home is set on a 25-foot wide by 125-foot long lot in the Carrollton neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisana. With a building site that narrow, the owners knew they needed a design that was innovative yet still captured the spirit and the constraints of a shotgun house. And given that New Orleans is one of the largest shipping ports in the US, using shipping containers for the narrow build rapidly became a compelling choice.

As you can probably guess by the size and shape of the home, the original owners were a bit at atypical as well. They were actually a landscape architect and a pastry chef, careers that likely indicate the type of c0uple who might attempt a very unique project such as this one!

They met in Marfa, Texas, a tiny desert town known for its art installations and eccentric residents. Both were interning at the Chinati Foundation contemporary art museum there, and the style of the region greatly influenced their New Orleans container home.

A small footprint with high-end features was their goal, and they worked with their designer to iterate a few options. They were close to building a two-story, three-container option (Click here to see the renderings), but ultimately settled on a one-story, two-container home. Due to the risk of flooding in New Orleans, the home was built on a 3.5-foot high concrete foundation.

The two 40-foot containers are parallel to each other, but separated by a few feet and staggered so much that their ends don’t overlap when viewed from the side. One of the containers was actually cut into two pieces: a twelve-foot-long section is used as a backyard shed, while the remaining 28 feet are used in the home.

The end of the 28-foot container section buts up to the 220 square foot translucent cube. The other 40-foot container actually juts into the cube from the other direction, with much of its floor area contained within the cube.

All this cutting and jutting makes it hard to understand the overall size of the home. The 40-foot container is 320 square feet, the 28-foot cut container is 224 square feet, and the translucent cube is 220 square feet. Altogether, that’s 764 square feet. However, since the kitchen in the 40-foot container is actually inside the cube, the net square footage of the home is closer to 720 square feet. This of course is neglecting the size of the container shed in the backyard.

The cube is made from Polygal polycarbonate sheeting, a material often used in greenhouses that lets in light while maintaining privacy. It also has a 14-foot ceiling that makes the open feeling of the space even more dramatic.

As you might expect, the main living area and kitchen of the home as in this central space. The containers, stretching out in opposite directions like fingers, hold the more private areas. One container holds the bathroom and bedroom, while the other is the office/dining area.

The owners wanted to ensure that despite the small footprint of the home, they still had room for some of their favorite possessions. In addition to the 4-ft high storage loft above the kitchen container, they also have tons of shelving to hold their 400 books and an expansive 10-foot-long desk for working.

As we previously mentioned, the owners also knew that since they were giving up floor space, they wanted to use some higher-end materials in the home. The floors and furniture were crafted from finished 2×12 pine boards that look surprisingly elegant up against the white walls. They went with a Carrara marble in the bathroom, while the kitchen includes white granite countertops and a Fisher Paykel five-burner range.

Outside, the small luxuries continue. They added a small plunge pool in the backyard right off the patio (although sadly, not a container pool) and built concrete forms in the front yard to hold planters for fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Although they did work with a professional designer and builder, the original owners actually did much of the work on this container home themselves and with the help of friends. The entire project took them about 1.5 years of weekend and holiday work, but saved them some money despite the high-end materials and finishes they chose to use inside.

Overall, the project cost the owners about $200,000. However, the home was sold to new owners in 2019, where records show it went for $255,000. This is good news for other prospective container home builders, as it shows that these unique homes can and do appreciate just like another type of construction.