Remember Jesse? The 17-year-old who was living in a tent (on purpose) and decided to build his own cabin from reclaimed materials? Well, it’s been five years since Florb’s last interview with Jesse, and guess what — Jesse is still living in his DIY cabin, now with girlfriend Jayne.
They’ve made plenty of adjustments to the cabin to make it couple-friendly, but they’ve also taken advantage of the land they’re on by building a screen house, sauna and pizza oven to expand their living space. It’s quite the awesome off-grid set up!
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Their Off-Grid Set-Up with Cabin, Sauna & Screen House

Images by FLORB/YouTube
Jesse says Jayne has brought organization to their home.

Images by FLORB/YouTube
Most of their main cabin is dedicated to kitchen space for cooking.

Images by FLORB/YouTube
Jesse’s outdoor oven got an upgrade!

Images by FLORB/YouTube
Jayne shows off their bug-free outdoor room.

Images by FLORB/YouTube
Flashback to Jesse when he was 17.

Images by FLORB/YouTube
Constructing the cabin.

Images by FLORB/YouTube
Their “screen house” from the outside.

Images by FLORB/YouTube
Here’s the sauna they built.

Images by FLORB/YouTube
VIDEO: Update: The Teenager who Built His Own Tiny House
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Natalie C. McKee
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was the outside bake oven prefab or home built?
Home built, it’s among the information provided in the video tour…
What’s the function/purpose of the screen house? And no, I don’t watch the videos because I have a hearing loss.
Most youtube videos do have the option to enable CC so you can read what they’re saying, you can even leave it on by default the same as autoplay, which it’s right next to along with the settings button…
Anyway, it’s a summer guest-tent house. They used to have a Yurt but found that hard to maintain and this sheds snow better. While having more natural light, still provides shelter for friends and guest who stay over, especially during bug season, provides good view of the surrounding forest, and she also uses it as her yoga studio.
Except for the panels and little solar setup, they made it themselves with reclaimed and wood they milled themselves, the same as most of the structures on the property…
wondering what their water source is and what they do to earn $ – rustic living at its finest!
Off-grid, so they have a hand pump well, nearby stream, and rain barrels they use during the warmer months. While they don’t specifically say but it appear they have various jobs, and she did mention working for an organic farmer in one of their posts. Along with milling lumber, making maple syrup, cranberry harvesting, and general gardening… So they likely do some bartering with others in the area…
I’m 57 , I’ve wanted to do exactly what they’re doing since I was a teenager. I knew it would work just fine . The issue I have with most of these folks is the lack of gainful employment. You need health insurance, an emergency fund , a retirement fund and other essentials. I wanted to live this way as a means to avoid becoming a slave to the system rather than a means to avoid participating altogether. Work hard a few years ,live cheap and be a free man the rest of my life . With a ton of cash working for me behind the curtain. All I ever got was discouraging remarks to the idea . I never have taken the leap to make it happen. However, my five year old townhouse is paid for, I’m debt free, have an emergency fund , health and life insurance and a sizable retirement account. I made it happen, just took the other trail .
Darrell, wait no longer. You have all it takes to get away and enjoy the rest of your life in the way you want. My husband and I retired at 59 when so many said that we were too young to retire. Three years later Jerry was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer (2 years later and he is doing great). You have a great opportunity to do what you want so don’t wait.
Git to goin’ now. Hear? 😊
Wow! I had forgotten it was like post and beam construction. Pretty cool! It’s nice to be able to build whatever you need and live off the land a bit. I know it’s hard sometimes, but living through the winter gets you to spring, right?
First, is that a real live buck with a beauty of a rack behind and to the right of the sauna?
Love everything about the home, outdoor room (which looks like it could withstand an earthquake and tornado all at once), and sauna. The home looks so cozy and rustic.