Alternative lifestyles...Which would you choose?

[Jamastiene]

26. I have always wanted to buy an acre of land somewhere

away from any city, build a basement first, then put one of those shed type buildings on top of that with a hatch leading down. I was thinking maybe a 12'x14' barn shaped shed with a loft and a skylight. The loft could be the bedroom and the skylight would provide light in the daytime.

Instead of putting it together, as is*, build it up to code as a house, then pick a corner and plumb it for a bathroom. Then, wire it for electricity, preferably solar or wind with battery and generator backup for times when solar and wind are both not working. Also, insulate it with the highest rated insulation you can possibly afford to cut down even more on heating and cooling costs.

With something like that, you could get by with a window A/C if you live in an extremely hot area, or a small pellet stove if you live in a cold area. Or both, if you live in an area that has both hot and cold temperatures.

*I'm going by where I live. The sheds Lowe's sells have the wall studs 24" on center and to make it into a house, that would have to be modified to be 16" on center instead, along with a few other modifications(a major one being don't use that pressed board wood chips and glue garbage, but real plywood for the walls instead), to get it up to building code here. Even better, instead of buying the shed kit, look closely at how they are made, then build one with 2x6 studs instead of 2x4 studs, and use real plywood so the walls don't dissolve in high humidity. With the 2x6 walls instead, when you insulate it, you'll be able to add extra insulation for energy efficiency.

To me, that would not only be a much simpler way to live, but it would be fun building it and I would be able to add on if I wanted and/or save up and get some log cabin siding to make it look nicer. As it stands now, the place I live in would be damned near impossible to do any of this to it. I'm not good working with metal and there isn't insulation available that can withstand the high humidity that the walls and floors here seem to soak up and hold. If I had enough land and the money to do it, I would already be picking a spot in the middle and having a basement built to get ready for when this place finally goes kaput because of the humidity from hell that seems to just be drawn to these walls and floors.