Budget Breakdown: A Seattle Family Builds a Rugged Cabin on a Remote Island for $41K
Working with salvaged and donated materials (and without ferry service), the Stinns assemble a dreamy getaway piece by piece.
Working with salvaged and donated materials (and without ferry service), the Stinns assemble a dreamy getaway piece by piece.
The first time architect Carsten Stinn and his wife, Linda, set foot on Washington’s tiny Obstruction Island, it took them 30 minutes to trek from the shore to the plot where they would eventually build a cabin. "No one had ever done anything on the site," Carsten says. "Trees had fallen left and right, there was debris everywhere, and there was no ferry service. In our family, we’re all doers, so we looked around and realized that the property was a diamond in the rough."
The cabin is set more than 200 feet back from the shoreline, so as to not disturb views from the water.
Photo: Sean Airhart
Architect Carsten Stinn wanted to keep the property as untouched as possible, only carving out roads or removing fallen trees when necessary. Since starting on the project in 2017, he and his family have planted more than 80 trees around the acreage.
Photo: Sean Airhart
Located between Orcas and Blakeley islands in Washington’s San Juan archipelago, Obstruction Island clocks in at a mere 218 acres and has a permanent population of 14 residents. Many would find the isolation a turnoff, but for the Stinn family, it was exactly what they wanted.
| $15,650 Site Preparation | $300 Foundation | $5,700 Structural / Framing |
| $14,700 Lumber | $1,148 Windows | $1,160 Wood Stove |
| $1,500 Electrical | $939 Plumbing | $320 Miscellaneous |
| Grand Total: $41,417 | ||
The siding—made from yellow Alaskan cedar boards and finished with a shou sugi ban treatment—is highly resistant to rot, insects, and fire.
Photo: Sean Airhart
See the full story on Dwell.com: Budget Breakdown: A Seattle Family Builds a Rugged Cabin on a Remote Island for $41K
Related stories:
