Nordic homestead near Russian border: couple’s no-bank, no-phone life by Kirsten Dirksen on March 8, 2026 At 63° north in the forests of Finnish Karelia (for comparison, Anchorage, Alaska, is 61.2° N), Lasse Nordlund has spent …
He lived on the street. Now turns raw dryland into frugal homestead by Kirsten Dirksen on March 1, 2026 After being laid off with just $6,000 in savings — and having experienced homelessness — John started over. He left …
4-generation family builds container fourplex atop giant missile silo by Kirsten Dirksen on February 22, 2026 After purchasing a Titan II Missile Silo Complex in Arizona—decommissioned in 1983 and buried under concrete and dirt for more …
Engineer’s underground dome home blends into desert like living organism by Kirsten Dirksen on February 15, 2026 In 1983, engineer Greg Reinhart bought a patch of raw land in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert and began carving out a …
They lived 3 years in a basement. Then built their dream backyard home by Kirsten Dirksen on February 10, 2026 For 3 years, Mai Tran and Le Pham lived in a 300-square-foot basement beneath the house they’d just bought in …
Couple buys whole ghost village, tells others to join & fix their own ruin by Kirsten Dirksen on February 1, 2026 On a freezing winter day in northern Spain, we arrived in Bárcena de Bureba, a ghost village in the remote, …
Military couple turns forsaken mountain ruin into off-grid family oasis by Kirsten Dirksen on January 18, 2026 After leaving Navy careers behind—Maartje (18 years) and Clemens (22 years)—this couple packed their lives into 8 suitcases, sold or …
Quitting 9-to-5 to build genius off-grid homestead, permitted & loan-free by Kirsten Dirksen on January 11, 2026 Five years ago, Mathieu Munsch walked away from the “normal” script— rent, bills, loans, a 40-hour workweek (35 in France)— …
Got factory ruin. Now builds Nordic prefab homes with industrial precision by Kirsten Dirksen on December 28, 2025 A few months ago, we visited Vipp and met its founder and owner, Jette Egelund, who gave us a full …
Earned $700/month as mayor in Silicon Valley. A backyard cottage became home by Kirsten Dirksen on December 21, 2025 When Susan Landry became mayor of Campbell, California, she took a pay cut — earning about $700 a month to …
