The unexpected building Maine residents are turning into 'affordable' tiny homes right in nature
The disused car, which once formed part of a Maine Central Railroad train, has been lovingly transformed into a cozy home.
The one-bedroom, one-bathroom, property is located in the idyllic countryside of Maine's Madrid Township.
The cabin, advertised for $129,000, comes with one acre of secluded woodland near the Sugarloaf and Saddleback Mountains, which are perfect for hiking and skiing.
The average Maine home value is currently $412,212, according to Zillow data. Properties currently listed for sale in the Saddleback area range from a $400,000 one-bedroom apartment to a $1.3 million 4-bedroom family home.
As home prices have doubled since the pandemic and mortgage rates are currently pricing out many buyers, new and converted tiny homes have sprung up as an affordable option.
The kitchen includes amenities such as a refrigerator, microwave and gas range. The bathroom has a toilet, shower and sink.
Despite the 360-square-foot space, the cabin sleeps five people with two beds and a a third hammock bed hanging from the ceiling.
Among the period features that have been kept intact are an antique steering wheel and observation seats raised above the rest of the carriage.
The pinky-orange exterior with the artwork of the railway has also been preserved.
The property also comes with a garage, convenient for storing a barbecue, outdoor furniture and maintenance equipment.
The home comes fully furnished with its own unique vintage interior.
The cabin's two porches overlook the property and are within earshot of the 'babbling brook' nearby.
The property is currently the number one home on Realtor.com's weekly 'most popular homes' list.
South Carolina-based YouTube star Chay Denne, 24, recently converted a 40ft school bus into a livable space for his family.
The total cost was $57,000, which included $7,000 on the retired vehicle and the rest on the refit.
Maine is known for its outdoor recreation including skiing and hiking
South Carolina-based YouTube star Chay Denne converted a 40ft school bus into a tiny home for his family
Another South Carolina family also bought a $68,000 shed and turned it into their dream home.
The couple purchased a 16-by-48-foot shed and a parcel of land in the state and began constructing into a livable home for them and their four children.
Amazon is a popular place to buy new tiny homes - and they are often less than the price of a used car.
In October, the e-commerce site was selling a two-bedroom mobile home - with an open-plan living room and kitchen, and bathroom including a toilet and shower - for $19,000.
It was also equipped with plumbing and electricity, as well as a water heater.
The retail giant is also selling a one-bedroom Expandable Container Villa for $49,899.
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Times
9 hours ago
- Times
A pink Suffolk cottage or a Scottish artist's residence for £450,000?
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EPC D (potential C) — on a scale of A (best) to G (worst)Upside Period splendour on the outside and well refurbished Directly on a main road, with oil-fired £450,000Contact Set within a handsome Georgian building in Carlisle that used to be a nunnery, this mid-terrace has tall ceilings, large proportions and more than 3,400 sq ft of space. Enter 6 Chapel Brow via a hallway tiled in limestone with decorative plasterwork, and kick back in two reception rooms with fireplaces (one of them has a secret floor hatch to the cellar). There's a kitchen/diner with views over the communal gardens. The second floor is home to four double bedrooms, each with its own en suite bathroom, and you can see the Scottish border from some of the bedrooms. Carlisle railway station is a 12-minute drive or a 30-minute bus ride away, with a 90-minute direct train to Newcastle, while the Lake District National Park is a 40-minute drive away. 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The Independent
2 days ago
- The Independent
Domes Noruz Kassandra, Halkidiki, Greece, review
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Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Britain's Beverly Hills: Interactive star map reveals how the Cotswolds is PACKED with A-listers from Kate Moss to Clarkson... but which town is the next big thing?
Once a sleepy haven of rolling hills and honey-coloured stone villages, the Cotswolds has become the ultimate millionaires' playground. Celebrities have arrived in their droves, with everyone from the Beckhams and Simon Cowell to US chat show host Ellen DeGeneres now calling it home. This influx of superstars has seen property prices soar - with a simple three-bedroom house in the OX7 postcode now fetching at least £2.5million. The question on everyone's lips is where in the Cotswolds is the next prime time piece of real estate. James Walker is a regional chief in Knight Frank's country department. He told the Daily Mail: 'The ''Golden Triangle'' of the prime Cotswolds as defined by some is roughly located between Burford, Stow on the Wold and Chipping Norton. 'There is little to persuade those well-heeled buyers wishing to reside in these areas that there is much of interest beyond this comfort zone of first-class property and countryside. 'That is until you actually look beyond… the highly attractive and conveniently accessible Cheltenham villages are fast becoming of significant interest to many potential buyers looking more broadly in the Cotswolds and inspired by the draw of Cheltenham's cultural scene; the dual carriageway extension of the main route through the Cotswolds, ''the Missing Link'' (A417), will ensure that access is vastly improved, taking traffic away from the rat-runs and surrounding villages. 'Recently, there has been an unusual number of prime property available both privately and in the open market in the highly desirable Tetbury and surroundings. 'The popular villages of the south Cotswolds accessed via the A433 from Cirencester to Tetbury and on to Bath are increasingly drawing the attention of the market. 'Pretty countryside, bustling market towns and Kemble station are attributes which contribute to the appeal of the area. 'Once regarded as understated, the south Cotswolds is really on the map and continues to surprise and impress!' With the rich and famous continuing to flock to the Cotswolds, the next time you're there for a stroll, you just may well bump into a few... Charles and Camilla - Tetbury Highgrove was acquired by King Charles in 1980, when it consisted of the bare necessities, including a kitchen garden, an overgrown copse, some pastureland and a few hollow oaks. A series of interlinked gardens was created over the following 40 years by Charles, 76, using sustainable methods where possible. Highgrove's garden is now open to the public between April and September every year, welcoming 35,000 visitors. The Orchard Room restaurant is open to guests who sign up for garden tours, with dishes prepared by in-house Highgrove chefs. Queen Camilla, 78, also retains nearby Grade II-listed Ray Mill House, bought in 1996 for £850,000, with the proceeds of her divorce from Andrew Parker Bowles. Sources said she uses the home to get away from Highgrove when it is teeming with tourists. One insider told newspaper columnist Adam Helliker: 'At Rey Mill she can sit down with a big G&T, kick off her shoes and watch Coronation Street, which Charles loathes. 'She also doesn't have to bother about how the place looks - Charles is so fussy about tidiness, while she leaves her stuff all over the place. She doesn't need her cushions plumped all the time.' Jeremy Clarkson – Chipping Norton Jeremy Clarkson's £12.5million Cotswold mansion is the ultimate rural retreat. The former Top Gear and Grand Tour star shares the six-bedroom home with partner Lisa Hogan, 51, on his 1,000-acre Diddly Squat Farm near Chipping Norton. Clarkson, 65, famously blew up his previous £4million cottage for a Grand Tour stunt - but subsequently battled jobsworth planners to open Diddly Squat Farm farmshop and restaurant. He previously ranted about his life going down the pan due to the extravagant new-build. He said: 'I've often said that nothing in life is as awful as trying on trousers. It's the lowest point in a man's life. Except it isn't. 'Being dragged to London to spend a day choosing what sort of flush handle you'd like on your lavatory is worse.' Last year, Clarkson purchased The Windmill pub in Asthall, near Burford, for a reported £1m. Posh and Becks - Great Tew While the Beckhams' property empire spans a London townhouse, a Dubai beach pad, and a Miami penthouse, the superstar couple are said to prefer life hunkered down at their stunning Cotswolds retreat. Their Grade II-listed farmhouse was transformed into a sprawling country mansion when they snapped it up in December 2016 for £6.15million. Inside, the home blends rustic charm with luxury, boasting exposed brick walls, huge open fireplaces, and wooden beams across low ceilings. The estate also boasts a football pitch, a bee farm and a traditional Estonian sauna. The estate has hosted star-studded celebrations, including the backdrop for son Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz's engagement photos. Alex James – Kingham Blur bassist-turned-cheesemaker Alex James has made Kingham in the Cotswolds his home - and quite literally 'lives in a house, a very big house in the country'. The 56-year-old owns a stunning six-bedroom 17th-century farmhouse surrounded by rolling countryside and 200 acres of farmland. James shared the honey-stoned farmhouse with his wife Claire and their five children, but also invites thousands each year to the site of his annual Big Feastival food and music festival. Speaking to Hello last year, James said: 'The farm was completely derelict, and we worked hard, throwing everything into it. 'God bless Claire. She thought she was getting a rock star, but she was getting a s*** farmer instead.' Calvin Harris and Vick Hope - Moreton-in-Marsh DJ Calvin Harris and presenter Vick Hope found their Cotswolds escape in 2019, paying £3.9million for a stylish property in the picturesque market town of Moreton-in-Marsh. Harris, 41, won praise from locals after demolishing an 'ugly' post-war property to build a grand Cotswold country house in its place. He and Hope, 35, hired Ben Pentreath, one of the Royal Family's trusted architects, to design a home fit for a king. Set on 10 acres on the outskirts of the desirable Gloucestershire village, the property boasts a vineyard, swimming pool, tennis court, and landscaped gardens. Yet not everyone was happy with the arrival of the One Kiss DJ, real name Adam Wiles. Local Ken Mercer previously told the Daily Mail of his mixed feelings about another multimillionaire star relocating to the desirable spot. The retired Norfolk holiday cottage boss said: 'Another big celebrity name coming to The Cotswolds who can afford to buy a massive plot of land which could house 20 homes for ordinary people.' He added: 'I can't imagine Calvin will mix with local villagers when he moves here.' Simon Cowell - Chipping Norton Music mogul Simon Cowell purchased a luxurious £8million farmhouse in the Chipping Norton area in 2021, settling into eight acres of rolling Cotswolds countryside. The Daily Mail revealed how the 65-year-old plans for a new 793 sq ft 'party barn' to entertain friends and family. The extension, described by his agents as 'minor in scale,' is roughly the size of an average new-build home in the UK and will double as a games room for Cowell's two sons. Simon Cowell officially bid farewell to London after leaving the capital 'because he no longer feels safe', selling his £45million home in Holland Park (pictured) Cowell moved to an estate with fiancée Lauren Silverman following a spate of break-ins at their former £45million Holland Park home. Perched on a hilltop, the property already boasts a wild swimming pond, indoor pool, and sweeping countryside views. Cowell joined neighbours, including Kate Moss and Princess Beatrice, in the fashionable rural enclave. Ellen DeGeneres & Portia Rossi - Burford Former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, 67, left the US just before Donald Trump's election victory, disillusioned with life in America. She and partner Portia de Rossi, 52, first purchased a property in Cheltenham, which they described as a 'part-time house,' before snapping up Kitesbridge Farm in 2024 for around $20million. The couple then moved into a bespoke 10,000-square-foot home nearby named Hiaven, which they purchased for $26million. DeGeneres, 67, revealed last month at an event in Cheltenham that she was selling Kitesbridge Farm. She said: 'We decided we needed a different house, and now we are selling that house. 'So if anyone wants a house, it's a beautiful stone farmhouse. 'To clarify, I'm not selling the new one we now live in. I'm selling the old stone farmhouse.' Kate Moss - Little Faringdon Supermodel Kate Moss has called the Cotswolds home for over two decades, owning a 10-bedroom Grade II-listed manor in Little Faringdon. She purchased the property in the early 2000s for £2million and quit London permanently in 2021 for life in rural Oxfordshire. The manor features deep red living rooms, wood-panelled walls, stone floors and bold artworks. Outside, the gardens include a pond, statues and vibrant flower displays. The former city-loving hedonist, 51, has embraced country life, previously telling The Times: 'You do things you could never do in the city - sleeping outside, cooking on a fire, all of those things that, growing up in Croydon, I didn't have. 'It's like having another childhood or being in the Famous Five. It's those simple things that make your life proper, isn't it?' Richard Hammond - Bollitree Castle Richard Hammond's Cotswolds home is a Grade II-listed mock castle in Weston-under-Penyard. The Top Gear and The Grand Tour presenter, 55, snapped up Bollitree Castle in 2008 for a reported £2million. Set on 20 acres, the property boasts six bedrooms, a swimming pool and 20 acres of land. A swimming pool (pictured) is currently housed in the barn where Hammond lives Richard Hammond reportedly stayed in his beloved barn on his sprawling £7million Bollitree Castle estate in the wake of his split from estranged wife Mindy Richard has a huge motor collection and said he was keen to rip up a swimming pool he didn't use in the barn to show off more The couple's eldest daughter Isabella, 24, still lives on the estate, working with her father, while younger daughter Willow, 22, lives in Gloucestershire However, Hammond was reportedly banished to the barn in the wake of his split from estranged wife Mindy, 60. The car fanatic spent 15 years restoring the listed granary barn into his dream 'clubhouse'. The couple's eldest daughter, Isabella, 24, still lives on the estate, working with her father, while younger daughter Willow, 22, lives in Gloucestershire.
