Marble – Just as some folks stand out in a crowd, one house just may do the same for one couple.
Perhaps many people would not think of building their home out of steel. Some reasons may be due to the perception of the home being too hot in the summer months or too cold in the winter months.
For Carol and Gary Chapman, they couldn’t be happier with their steel home purchase. They were looking for something different, and price was a big factor in their decision.
They came to Murphy looking for a piece of property so they could began building. Carol wanted an A-frame house and found a company to build the house for them. However, at the time COVID had a larger presence, and materials for building tripled in cost.
She continued her search until she found a company out of Cypress, Texas, called Arched Cabins LLC that builds homes throughout the country and in Canada.
The price was what “sold” Chapman on purchasing the house through them. Their 24-by-34-feet, with about 1,700 square feet of living space, cost about $23,000. The house has two bedrooms, two baths, a living room, kitchen and dining room.
Initially, Chapman wanted something more glamorous than the standard cabin design the company offered. There were also a few features she didn’t want on the inside, so the company left those items to the Chapmans to install and adjusted the home’s price accordingly.
After they purchased their land, a three-person team built the house for them, with Gary assisting. The Chapmans lived in an RV camper on their new property for more than a year until the house was complete, and Ritz Furniture in Murphy was kind enough to store their furniture without charging a fee.
Arched Cabins offers different colors for the homes, so the Chapmans chose Hawaiian blue and added yellow to different areas.
Even though it’s made of steel, the house is no hotter or colder than any other house. Electric and air conditioning costs are about the same as well, Carol said.
“I absolutely love it. We’ve had about 30 couples stop by and ask for information on the house, and at least three have taken steps to get their own,” she said. “There’s a lot of inside room, and because it’s made of steel it’s hurricane proof to about 170 mph.”
Carol woke up one night, looked at the ceiling, she said to herself, “Oh my God, I’m in Noah’s ark.”
It did appear that the ceiling’s design and height somewhat resembled the ark. Perhaps it was an answer to prayer.