'I left my £500 a month house share and spent £10k turning a caravan into my dream log cabin'

A man has transformed what was once a static caravan into a cosy log cabin - spending just £10,000 on the project. Benn Berkeley, 38, a freelance filmmaker was paying £500 a month to live in a house share but was forced to reconsider his living situation after the pandemic wiped out all of his work projects.

Seizing an opportunity in August 2020, when his brother took over a farm that came with a static caravan, Benn decided to take on the "fixer-upper" despite having no prior building experience.

He began gutting the caravan in September 2020 and in just four months, he managed to turn it into an off-grid log cabin. Benn did all the DIY work except for the electrics and plumbing, which he learned through YouTube tutorials.

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Reflecting on the unexpected turn of events, Benn said: "It wasn't pre-planned, it was forced out of Covid. When COVID happened, I lost all my work. It was a mix of having nothing to do and the opportunity to do up this static home.

"I had zero experience in building and DIY but there was an opportunity to do it up and live in it so I jumped in head first. Everything we learned was through YouTube, it was a really amazing and empowering experience."

Upon taking on the renovation, Benn remarked: "I completely gutted the place out. It is 44ft by 10ft. We had to support one of the walls as it was caving in - the first job was to make it safe."

"We changed the windows and then we realised there was a damp issue so we ripped all of the walls out - it was a completely open space.

"From there we had free reign to do what we wanted, originally it was two bedrooms with a bathroom and kitchen. All of that went, we now have a double bedroom, bathroom, corridor and open plan living and kitchen space."

Before embarking on his home renovation project, Benn had no experience with DIY or building, so he turned to YouTube to acquire the necessary skills. He invested £10k into transforming the static home into his dream log cabin.

Benn stated: "YouTube is such a fantastic resource, every single part of the cabin I learned on the site. From changing a window, removing a door, building a wall or how to build a kitchen. It was all there for me."

Since moving into the cabin, Benn has made the place off-grid. He heats his home with a log burner, uses gas bottles for his oven and his electricity comes from solar panels on the farm.

Benn said: "It is a very simple lifestyle which I think we have lost. There is an element of simplicity when you are living a life like this. I can govern myself a lot more, I am not pressed into working a certain amount of hours a week as I know my outgoings each month."