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This Tiny Container Home on Wheels Is Packed With Art and Ingenious Features

For the casual observer, tiny living could be just a fad or, at best, a temporary gimmick for fun and profit. For the people who swear by tiny living, it can be a life-saver – like it happened with Sally and her tiny container home she calls SS Freedom.
SS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny house 15 photos
Photo: Alternative Living Spaces (Composite)
SS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny houseSS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny houseSS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny houseSS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny houseSS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny houseSS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny houseSS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny houseSS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny houseSS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny houseSS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny houseSS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny houseSS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny houseSS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny houseSS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny house
Container homes have started gaining popularity at about the same time as tiny homes, and the reasons for that are plain to see: they have very short conversion timelines, are highly durable and movable with the right equipment, compact and easy maintenance, and comparatively affordable.

SS Freedom is all these things, but it’s also something not many other container homes can boast of. It is highly mobile because it sits on a trailer, so it’s technically a tiny home shaped out of a container. Talk about not being able to have your cake and eat it: retiree Sally can, with her 2-in-1 home.

SS Freedom is a 20-foot (6-meter) container converted by Las Vegas-based Alternative Living Spaces, which offers a variety of alternative living solutions based on shipping containers. This one is actually their smallest, most affordable model and, because of it, it’s a wonderful example of the kind of value it brings. Because SS Freedom is absolutely gorgeous, and we’re not using the term lightly.

SS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny house
Photo: YouTube / Tiny House Expedition
Sally has been living inside this tiny container home for more than two years now. Though it’s only 160 square feet (14.8 square meters), it has everything she needs, including a comfortable bedroom, a fully-equipped kitchen, a proper bathroom, and storage. More importantly, like most tinies we cover here, SS Freedom means Sally can live relatively debt-free and for less money than she needed back when she would call a 3-bedroom 2-car-garage house her home.

SS Freedom gets its name from that. Sally says it has brought her financial freedom in her retirement age, because she only needs $850 a month, including land rent and utilities, to make do, and she doesn't even have to consider assisted living or moving in with a relative. But the name also references the feeling of safety this tiny has finally afforded Sally. As an assault survivor, Sally had to move out of the home that failed to protect her, and eventually out of state to finally be able to feel safe indoors again.

Like all container homes, this one has a rather basic layout. After all, there’s only so much creativity you can bring into a metal box in this regards, but SS Freedom compensates with very creative features that add even more personality to the place. There’s a permanently attached front deck, and another deck on the rooftop. The latter is Sally’s favorite, as it’s roomy enough to host dinner parties or even to put in a small pool for herself during the hot Nevada days.

SS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny house
Photo: YouTube / Tiny House Expedition
You enter directly into the living room, which is also bedroom, dinette and office. You might miss the sleeping functionality of the area because the Murphy bed is very well integrated into the wall, and disguised as a regular sofa during the day. There’s a large-screen TV and drop-down butcher-block table on the opposite wall.

The kitchen is next to the custom Murphy bed, opposite a washer-dryer-integrating wardrobe with some functionality as a pantry. Sally has a two-burner induction cooktop and a microwave stove, a residential-size fridge, and plenty of cabinetry for storage. The wardrobe is also custom, and with in-built modularity, allowing Sally to add extra shelving if she needs it.

The bathroom is at the rear, and holds a flushing toilet and a sink with vanity and backit LED mirror. The shower is full-size, with corrugated metal walls for easy maintenance and as the only tie-in to the origin of the home. Think of it as of a reminder that this is, after all, a shipping container.

The most impressive thing about SS Freedom, after the way in which it integrates clever features to create a more personalized space, is the way in which Sally has been able to turn it into an actual home. The place is packed with art, in the most literal sense – you even find tiny collectibles and trinkets on the countertop in the kitchen, and scattered all over the place. Sally brought with her all her family photos and the art that she had in her old house, including her mantras and photos of her favorite artists.

SS Freedom started out as a shipping container, is now a proper tiny house
Photo: YouTube / Tiny House Expedition
Imagine any grandmother’s house, with an accumulation of memorabilia and apparently useless stuff, cluttering the place. The SS Freedom is just like that, with the major difference that everything is curated on considerations of space. As such, these knickknacks don’t feel like mindless, overwhelming clutter, but add to the homey feel of the place and, just as importantly, help Sally tell her brave yet heartbreaking story.

It’s not that often that a retired woman serves heavy doses of tiny living inspiration, but here are Sally and her SS Freedom doing that.



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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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