- The Carters purchased a grain silo and built a 500-square-foot tiny home in Hocking Hills, Ohio.
- They received help from a local Amish community during the process, which took almost one year.
An Ohio couple transformed a grain silo into a 500-square-foot tiny home with help from the local Amish community.
Matt and Shelley Carter built The Silo Cottage — their third and newest tiny home — in the Hocking Hills region, which serves as the namesake for the Hocking Hills Cottage Company. The Silo Cottage is a cozy one-bedroom, one-bathroom home with 25-foot ceilings.
"Beautiful, clean, thoughtfully curated, everything you could ever need!" one Airbnb guest wrote in the comment section of the listing this month. "The Silo Cottage is incredible, Shelley and Matt have created a comfortable, inviting experience."
Matt, 36, and Shelley, 43, spoke to Insider in July about how they tackled the $100,000 build.
The couple built the tiny home themselves but needed help dismantling and moving the massive structure
The Carters began constructing the cottage in July 2021 and completed the home by September 2022. Shelley said they found an available grain silo a few hours north in Ashland County, where some farmers invest in grain crops.
Grain silos are large, so transporting one is a daunting task — especially if it needs to be moved several miles. Matt and Shelley said a few people, including their parents and a family friend, lent a hand. They also received help from Amish community members who dismantled the hulking structure.
"We had some Amish people take it down for us in Ashland," Shelley said. "Then we picked it up, brought it down, and put it up by ourselves."
Once Matt and Shelley reassembled the silo, they got to work.
Matt and Shelley said building The Silo Cottage was challenging, but they ultimately enjoyed the process
The Carters completed three builds with Hocking Hills Cottage Company, including two shipping container homes. Matt is a contractor, but he told Insider that The Silo Cottage was by far the hardest renovation.
"I regretted it about halfway through because of how much work it was to build in circles," Matt joked.
He added: "You think you know numbers until you start going in circles, and it makes a difference. It definitely took a toll on my mind. I actually built the walls once, tore them down, and then rebuilt them a different way, just to make it easy."
Still, Shelley said the experience was one they loved. They've yet to rely on a construction company for assistance.
"We just really enjoy doing this type of work," Shelley said.
Read the full story here.