Inexpensive ways to build a cabin/small home?

[TiaGoyette]

I'm interested in the cheapest way to build a small, livable cabin/house on new land. Nothing too elaborate, but something that might start out as seasonal and that I could add on to for extra space or to make it livable year round. But I'd be happy to start off basic as long as it's cheap but has room to work with.

Unfortunately, everything I can find online seems to be either "Here's a 120 square foot box we're calling a cabin" or "Here's your prefab cabin with floor to ceiling windows, loft, cupola, and elevator, your price is $283,000" with almost nothing in between. I can't believe that there isn't some kind of simple, pre-fab home kits out there for people who just want a decent building without breaking the bank.

I've looked at Arched Cabins, which comes closest to what I'm interested in in terms of price for value, but I was hoping there were options that were a little more conventional looking and/or easier to expand once built.

[Adam Raabe]

Hi Tia,

If you haven't already taken a glance at the Big Enchilada Plans Kit, that's basically the problem it was designed to solve (although it's not a pre-fab kit, just the plans). You'd probably start with the Little House or Builder's Cottage (all included in the kit) and then grow from there, with the Sunroom, Greenhouse & Skylight Plans (also included). You can get as creative as you want as your space/design needs evolve and since all those options come with it, you can do some mental modeling and pre-plan a bit more than you otherwise might be able to.

Here's a link: https://countryplans.com/big-enchilada.html
And here's a link to a few examples of what other folks have done with the plans: https://countryplans.com/gallery.html
(just search the text of the page for "Enchilada", "Builder's Cottage", or "Little House" to find the other links)

Best to ya!
Adam