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Container Home Under Construction Draws Eyes In Royal Oak

ROYAL OAK (WWJ) - It's certainly a head-turner.

A home under construction — on Rochester Road, just north of 12 Mile in Royal Oak — is getting more than its share of attention because of the material that's being used to build it.

"Believe it or not, this will be a 2,100-square-foot house. Three bedroom, two-and-a-half bath, with a complete open concept," said builder Nilesh Patel of the structure, which currently appears to be a pile of red metal shipping containers.

"We wanted to use the elements like the shipping containers, but we didn't want to make it so abstract that people were like, 'Oh, wow; what is that?'" he said.

Patel admits that, right now, it takes some imagination to visualize the final product.

Displayed on a sign out front, an architectural rendering helps.

shipping container house
Rendering (Credit: Designhaus Architects, Rochester)

"We are the first ones in Michigan to actually create a house that's for a traditional family out of recycled shipping containers," he told WWJ Newsradio 950's Marie Osborne, adding that the home promises to be more energy-efficient than a typical home.

He said homes much like it are already being built on the west coast.

"What can we do to give homeowners something that's really efficient, that uses a sustainable material that's available readily?" Patel said. "There has to be a better way of building the traditional home in the modern day, with all this technology and all the sustainable materials out there."

As for the price tag, Patel said the selling price will be what the market will bear.

To learn more about the home, visit www.modecodevelopment.com.

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