Imagine living aboard a small two-bedroom house, built on a floating support structure made from giant logs. That's what one couple has been doing for years on Powell Lake in Coastal British Columbia - complete with floating vegetable garden!
This semi-traditional twenty-by-twenty foot home was built on a not so traditional frame made from lashing giant local logs together with steel cable. The first floor contains most of the living space, with two small bedrooms and a great room. The second floor is comprised completely of a sleeping loft for guests.
Outside is a wrap around dock, a boat dock, wood shed, and vegetable garden. Power comes from primarily green sources including solar and wind, and propane used for cooking, refrigeration and lighting. See many more details, including how the whole home was constructed, at Powell River Books.
Via Dornob.
(Images by Margy Lutz)
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What are they going to do when the logs… rot? I love the concept though, especially the floating gardens. Floating Island International has recycled PET foam islands for backyard ponds and water restoration projects that are to be planted and used to filter and clean the water like a marsh would. They're just so beautiful, and the idea of a floating garden just reminds me of the little courtyard gardens I remember seeing in Venice, even though those gardens were technically on dry land.
Hello - Thank you for your interest in my float cabin. The logs don't rot, but over time they can become waterlogged. In the "olden days" they would shove a new log underneath the float to raise it back up. Now we use 55 gallon barrels or large food grade cubes to provide extra flotation. One the logs are above the water line they tend to dry out and become more buoyant. - Margy
I'm not sure I understand why this in the Green section of AT. The shade is going to create a serious dead zone in that part of the water, and it puts a home where there was an untouched ecosystem previously. Very damaging. Buy an already existing home on land and protect the property, if you want to do minimal environmental damage.
The cabins have been on our lake since the early 1900s. The structure provides a protected habitat for small fish, frogs, snakes, mice and other critters. We watch trout glide by in and out from the cabin deck. We did buy an existing home and are protecting both the beauty and environment around it, both on land and in the water. We may not be perfect, but better than most. - Margy
When are you going on vacation? Do you need a house sitter? : )
Living here is an every day vacation. I love the seasons and to watch the changes they bring. Spring is my favourite - quiet except for all the returning birds. - Margy
too cool!
I'm sure you do your best to protect the area, but I'm sorry - you can't tell me that the cabin does better at protecting wildlife species than would the lake if humans had not built habitat there. I'm not saying the cabin is by default much more harmful than a land cabin, but it's not Green, either.
I never claimed that it was Green. It's just my home.
Not you, Margy. I was being critical (as usual, sorry, guys) of AT posting this on the Green section. Seriously - I'm not trying to be a jerk. I'm simply very concerned about what people percieve as green these days. Your efforts to protect the ecology around your home have probably made a huge difference. ANY home labelled as "Green" would get criticism from me, because the label "Green" implies that it's okay for the environment, that it's at least somewhat inert. It promises everything and delivers nothing. On the water? Not Green either, so it shouldn't be in this section. In the Home Design section? Sure, I'd buy that. It is a beautiful place.