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Couple Building Dream Home From Grain Bin Near Ludington

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You don’t have to be raised in a barn to find this house interesting.

A couple is building their dream lake house from a grain silo.

The house is near Ludington on the Buttersville Peninsula between Pere Marquette Lake and Lake Michigan.

The unique living structure is being considered a creative and unique idea by some and an eyesore by others.

“It’s just like building with wood,” says house owner Billie Wood, “Anything is possible. You can make of it what you want.”

Billie’s husband, Randy, knows his way around agriculture buildings, he builds grain bins for farmers across the Midwest. But in recent years he was getting asked for more than just storage space.

“Three or four years ago he started to field a lot of calls for people looking to purchase grain bins specifically for this purpose,” says Billie.

People were building homes out of the bins. After some research on the possibilities, the Woods decided that was what they wanted for their new lake house. The design and shape is highly efficient and unique.

“There’s no real place to take a measurement,” says Randy, “It’s hard to find a middle. Kind of a head scratcher but a lot of thinking, a lot of forethought.”

The Woods knew they were going to attract attention of people passing by given this unique house but they assumed since they were on a secluded peninsula, not too much traffic would be going by. Now that more people are talking about it and talking about how much of an “eyesore” it is, they have created a bit of an attraction.

“People are turning around in their driveways, driving through their ditches because they’re looking at our building,” says Billie.

That has caused some complaints from neighbors of it not fitting the neighborhood.

“I wouldn’t judge nobody else’s project or their home,” says Randy, “Especially when there’s nothing complete here to judge.”

Given the shape and materials, the home will be more efficient and cheaper to build than comparable lake houses.

“I had a challenge for them, if they did not like our place they could supply us a set of blueprints and  about $150,000 and the next day I’ll take this building down,” says Randy, “But we didn’t get any takers.”

The Woods hope to have the house complete by Christmas and then the landscaping done as soon as the winter breaks.

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