My House: A Roaming Couple Settle Down by DIYing a Tiny Cabin for Less Than $10K

After a jaunt in Los Angeles making leather goods with their company, CUERO&MØR, Eugenia Diaz and Pepe Romero decided it was time to head back to Europe. When the Spanish couple returned in 2019, they converted a van into a camper to roam freely, but knew they’d eventually want to settle down. The next step in their journey? Designing and building a tiny home on their own piece of land. After three months of searching, they settled on a little more than an acre in the Alentejo region of Portugal and got to work.

The gable cabin they designed and built themselves is tiny by every measure—roughly 193 square feet on the ground floor. But as compact as it is, every space has a use: floor-to-ceiling cabinets store household items and clothing; a breakfast table pulls out from the wall; the cooking area features a full stove; and a loft above the kitchen houses a king-size bed. To bring in light, they used polycarbonate panels to create large front doors and paneling in the loft that frames a window.

With occasional help from neighbors, Eugenia and Pepe built the cabin in approximately 120 days, performing tasks from installing a raised steel platform and frame on concrete footings, to attaching black metal cladding, to installing cabinetry and a woodburning stove. They estimate the cost of materials at approximately $5,250, with an additional $4,500 going toward a solar power system. The couple captured the entire process and posted it to a YouTube channel they created in order to share what they learned.

They also erected a 172-square-foot workshop that gives them space for creative projects, such as ceramics and woodworking. Eugenia’s ambitious garden, which she chronicles on her own YouTube channel, provides her and Pepe with the majority of their food. They often get fruit from neighbors (who have more mature trees) and meat via a local farm. Next, they plan to build a chicken coop and another dwelling on the land, and expand the existing garden.

Since posting the video of their journey, it’s become clear that others share their vision for an alternative lifestyle. At the time of this writing, their channel has more than 140,000 subscribers. For those interested in replicating what Eugenia and Pepe have built, they sell instructions for the cabin and even offer in-person visits. Here, we talk to the couple about their design process, the challenges they faced, and what day-to-day life looks like living in a tiny home in rural Portugal.

Dwell: The cabin, workshop, and garden are situated in Alentejo, between Lisbon and Évora. How did you learn about this area? When did you first visit it?

Eugenia: In 2016 we were living in Southern Spain, and every two months, we’d visit a shoe factory we were collaborating with in Northern Portugal. During that time, we got to see pretty much the whole country. Alentejo is situated right in the middle, and was the best of both worlds: warm enough to be able to grow your food during winter, but not too populated.

What were your requirements when looking for a place to build?

Eugenia: We were looking for a piece of land big enough to feel isolated, and to also be able to grow our own food, so about 1.25 acres. The goal was to be self-sufficient in terms of food and energy. We ended up finding a parcel that was separated in two by a dirt road. The upper part is a little smaller than the lower part. We built the Modern House Cabin, the workshop, and the garden on the upper part and realized that you really don’t need much space to grow all your own food.