Documented builds

Project spotlights

Full project stories with real numbers: what it cost, how long it took, what failed the first winter, and what the owners would do differently.

Off-grid log cabin with rooftop solar array and water tank in high-desert Colorado at sunset

Saguache County, Colorado — 8,100 ft

Four Years Off the Generator: A High-Desert Cabin in Colorado

Dana and Rob Mercer ran a 900-square-foot cabin on gasoline for two seasons. Then they spent one summer building a hybrid solar and storage system that has not needed the generator since October 2022.

Suburban backyard food forest with fruit trees, berry bushes and a small greenhouse in late summer

Addison County, Vermont — Zone 4b

240 Pounds of Fruit From a Quarter Acre: A Vermont Food Forest at Year Four

The Okonkwo family turned a mowed suburban backyard into a three-guild food forest. Four seasons later they harvested 240 pounds of fruit and berries and stopped mowing entirely.

Galvanized rainwater tanks beside a metal-roofed hill country farmhouse at sunset

Blanco County, Texas — 32 in. average rainfall

Three Droughts, No Well: A Rainwater-Only Homestead in the Texas Hill Country

The Alvarez family was quoted $34,000 for a 620-foot well with no water guarantee. They built 30,000 gallons of rainwater storage instead and have not hauled a drop in five years — through two burn bans and a record dry summer.