Monan had dreamt of building his own home for a while, but lack of funds meant he would have never been able to afford having craftmen build the house of his dreams exactly as he imagined it. So, he took matters into his own hands, literally. Working part time and during the evenings for two years, Monan built the modules for the house off site in an old linen factory and then transported the finished structures to the construction site. He estimates that the two-year project involved a total of 4,000 working hours and he was able to do most of the work himself using repurposed materials when possible.
In fact, many of the building materials found within the 120 square meter home were sourced locally. The stairs leading up to the second floor were constructed using inexpensive wire from a local hardware store and steel beams found at an old theater. There is no plasterwork to be found, and most of the walls are constructed of re-used birch veneer that the 37-year-old molded and laminated himself. Only the hull of the kitchen is brand new. The house is furnished with mainly secondhand furniture and Monan even cast the outdoor hot tub himself.
In addition to the tremendous manpower required to build this team house, the inconvenient plot of land posed serious challenges as well. The house is placed on a very narrow and steep slope that required quite a bit of creativity when it came to construction designs, “I have made it as difficult for myself as I could. I’ve always had a dream to build a house hovering over an edge. I really wanted to bring the house to the very edge with a true feeling of floating, but when I started the surveying, I found that that sensation was far beyond my own plot limit, so I had to leave the house a little further in. The house stands firmly and securely on steel pillars attached to the mountain.”
We hope this incredible DIY project inspires you in the same way as it has us?
+Trond Henning Monan
Via FVN
