Contemporary shipping container homes sprout up in older suburbs

Its two-story, modern design stands out in the older neighborhood of many ranches and bungalows.

Inside the front door, a floating staircase tailored from wood and steel leads up to the living room, dining room and kitchen (the bedrooms and laundry are on the first floor).

Floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors at one end of the second-story’s open floor plan lead onto a balcony that overlooks the backyard. The kitchen features tiled backsplashes and a custom-made island made of reclaimed wood.

It's a home built for entertaining guests.

The features in this contemporary house, which hit the market this month, can be found in many of suburban Detroit's newer high-end homes. But the construction of the home might surprise you.

The newly completed house in Ferndale is made of 5½ shipping containers — the rectangular, corrugated steel boxes that can hop from a freighter to a freight train to the back of a tractor-trailer.

It carries a price tag of $450,000. A garage is optional. Zillow.com estimates the median value of houses in that ZIP code at $178,600.

The house at 3271 Inman St. is part of what appears to be the latest new-housing trend but the two partners think their project stands out from the other shipping container homes popping up in metro Detroit.

“Our goal is to set the standard in quality in this type of construction. You have no idea it’s made out of shipping containers,” said Stephanie Coyle, co-founder of Forever Home, who partnered with Dee Tignanelli, owner of Alpha to Omega Properties LLC, to build the house — their first made from shipping containers.

“It’s more standard-looking to appeal to more of the masses,” Tignanelli, of Rochester, said as she sat inside the 1,808-square-foot home near Harding Park.

Coyle said she hopes their house will "remove the stigma that can sometimes be attached" to such homes, which are found throughout the world, but are a new concept to many here.

"It’s just a different way to build a home,” said Coyle, who lives in Ferndale. “Show people this type of construction can be beautiful, and let’s show you it can actually look and blend into a community.”

Shipping containers have been used for residential and commercial projects around the city of Detroit, including 21 containers used to construct the Detroit Shipping Co. restaurant collective in Midtown.

A few years ago, what is believed to be the first residential house in Michigan made from shipping containers was constructed on Rochester Road in Royal Oak.

Now, there are a few more shipping container homes available in the suburbs, with others expected to sprout up in the some of the region's older, established residential neighborhoods, particularly along the Woodward corridor.

Scott Worthington, Ferndale building official, said the city has a handful of homes made from shipping containers that are either completed or in some stage of construction, which he said is "more specialized."

Dan Boroja, builder and chief operating officer with ModEco Development in Romeo, said his firm built the home on Rochester Road in Royal Oak several years ago. The home, made of seven shipping containers, sold in 2016 for $429,900, according to realtor.com.

Boroja said the firm is working on three house projects in Ferndale and two in Royal Oak, a project in Detroit's Corktown (businesses on the bottom, residences on the top) and is talking with officials in Hazel Park. He said someone also is interested in building a shipping container home in Washington Township.

He said a shipping container home at 857 Camden in Ferndale hit the market this month. An online price shows that home, made from four shipping containers and having an industrial flair, listed at $399,900.

Coyle said shipping container homes can be made on large and small scales, can fill an affordable housing gap, in-fill vacant spaces and be built in communities struggling for development.

Their features and craftsmanship can vary widely, just like for a traditional home, from ceiling height to whether they have a finished look complete with fixtures and other extras to a more industrial look with exposed duct work.

J. Michael Kirk, a principal with the Detroit studio of Neumann/Smith Architecture, said shipping containers are pretty versatile and “are a pretty good component to do housing from.”

“It’s a unique housing form,” Kirk said, adding that there has been talk of these types of homes for 15 to 20 years.

He said he hasn’t heard of a lot of shipping container homes being built in the suburbs, which could be a “tough sell with approvals and everything.” He said communities have zoning ordinances and planning departments that review proposals for, among other things, compatibility in a neighborhood.

Kirk said these types of homes probably would work in transitional neighborhoods — those situated between industrial use and single-family residential use.

He said that he believes the quality is equal to or superior to wood-frame construction and with spray insulation, studs and drywall, they can look like a traditional residential unit.

Those who build structures from shipping containers say they are a stronger and more durable construction (maybe even rodent-proof), more energy efficient and more sustainable.

Coyle estimates dozens of trees were saved with the structure of the Inman house being made of waterproof steel instead of wood.

In one of the three bedrooms, Coyle said, they did a small build-out to show that traditional construction can pair with shipping containers. And she believes the house is the first of its kind in Michigan to have a full poured basement for storage or other uses.

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Worthington said that there can be neighbor concerns with shipping container homes, but they often come when the home is in the “rough stages.” A neighbor may ask “what’s that Dumpster doing out there?” he said when the containers first arrive, but concerns may fade once the house becomes more complete.

Arthur Kraus said he has lived on Inman for decades. The 79-year-old lives just down the street from the new shipping container house.

His section of the street ends near 10 Mile and is close to, but far enough away, from I-696. It has a mix of houses. A brick ranch house for sale on the street is listed at $225,000. Another house has a city historical society plaque on the front.

Kraus said when the container house was first put together, he thought, “My gosh, I have no idea what that is gonna look like."

“I watched how they made that house. It was interesting how they made it,” he said. “I think it’s good. Not everybody liked it, but I liked it.”

More:Detroit eyed for container-based replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Contact Christina Hall: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.