When Vincent and Alexis set out to build their dream home, they weren't just looking for any modern cabin—they wanted something that felt intentional, beautifully designed, and structurally sound enough to last generations. Their journey began with a piece of rural land in Dansville, NY and a bold decision to take on the challenge of building their own home using DEN's Barnhouse Plus cabin plans. With no prior general contracting experience, they became DIY builders, managing their own subs, budgets, and timelines to bring their modern cabin floor plan to life.
What makes this story unique isn't just the outcome—a stunning Scandinavian-inspired cabin nestled in the Finger Lakes region—but the process. Vincent and Alexis opted out of hiring a general contractor and took full ownership of the build. Using detailed cabin floor plans from DEN, they orchestrated a smooth and cost-effective construction process that balanced aesthetic design, structural efficiency, and budget control. Their approach reflects a growing trend among owner-builders who want more control and deeper involvement in their homebuilding experience.
In this article, we explore how Vincent and Alexis leveraged modern cabin plans to manage everything from foundation work to finish carpentry. Along the way, they discovered smart cost-saving opportunities—like working with Amish tradespeople and incorporating insulation strategies that pushed their home toward near-passive standards. Whether you're dreaming of your own modern barnhouse, researching cabin building costs, or planning a short-term rental investment property, their journey offers real insight, practical lessons, and plenty of design inspiration.
You can find the Story Road House on Airbnb, and follow along on Instagram @storyroadhouse.
How a Stay in a Tiny House Prompted Vincent & Alexis to Find Land in the Finger Lakes
Mike: Let's start with some background. Can you tell us who you are, and which DEN design you ultimately ended up building and where?
Alexis: Yeah, I'm Alexis and this is Vincent. I'm a writer and Vincent is an entrepreneur. The story started because we were traveling in the Finger Lakes and we stayed at a tiny house. On the way, Vincent was just looking at different pieces of land that were available and we happened to stop at this one place in Dansville, New York, which is a really rural part.
Finding Land: How Vincent & Alexis Discovered Their Future Cabin Site
Alexis: We found this piece of land — 1.8 acres, a forest, and a pond. We walked out to the pond, saw the trees, and we were both like, "this is so beautiful, we want this, we want to live here." We're from Buffalo, New York — this rusted industrial city that's so cool with awesome breweries and we love it here — but we didn't have the forest in our life. So we looked at the land and it was $25,000.
Vincent: The land was really inexpensive, but it was entirely undeveloped — no cleared area at all. We had to start by putting in a driveway just to be able to get in.
Land Development Challenges: Unexpected Costs, Well Drilling & Site Prep
Vincent: The land itself was really inexpensive — I think we paid $18,000 for it, which looking back was less than the well we had to put in. We were very innocent. We thought, "at this price, what could go wrong?" So we bought the land and figured we'd work out what to do with it after.
Alexis: And we were really... in the listing it said there was a well on the land. We thought, "oh, that's perfect — this is going to be so easy to put in all the utilities." It wasn't until way later, when we were actually drilling, that the first well didn't work. So we had to go down — how many feet?
Vincent: 400 feet.
Alexis: 400 feet down to finally find water. The land was $18,000. The well ended up being $20,000. That gives you an idea. We bought the land pretty carefree — "worst case we'll go camping there." But once you start spending on infrastructure, it changes the math on everything else.
Choosing the Right Cabin Plans: How They Found DEN and Picked the Barnhouse Plus
Alexis: We found DEN through someone we connected with in Dansville who said, "there's this website with all these cabins and houses — kind of Scandinavian looking." We looked at DEN and were like, "this is beautiful, this is so perfect." We were immediately drawn in.
Vincent: Exactly the type of design we love. Me being from France, it felt more European. So we started looking at all the different designs and decided to go with the Barnhouse Plus.
Alexis: We were pretty conflicted for a while — we didn't know exactly which one.
Vincent: Initially we liked the Alpine. But then we thought it would be good to have everything on one floor. Being in a forest, we felt we didn't really need to go up — the forest was basically the decor. And for practical reasons: climbing 15 feet on a ladder is a lot less intimidating than 30 feet. We had decided to build some of it ourselves, so that mattered.
From Corporate to Cabin Building: How Vincent's Skills Shaped the Project
Mike: Before the interview, Alexis, you were saying that Vincent worked in corporate — and that this project represents a career pivot of sorts. How did those corporate skills transfer to organizing a build like this?
Vincent: I'm an engineer, and I'd been working in the food industry for a while before moving into purchasing — first as a buyer, then as a purchasing manager. Meeting with suppliers, negotiating, doing bids: that was all really familiar ground. The organization skills, the Excel spreadsheets — all of that was directly helpful during the build.
After 10 years of that, during the pandemic we started developing our real estate business in Buffalo — buying properties and renting them — and construction skills developed during that time too. At some point I decided to do real estate full time. Managing rentals first, then buying land and developing it. I think the rental experience, combined with the corporate background in budgeting and negotiation, was really what made this possible.
Managing the Build: Sweat Equity, Spreadsheets & DEN's Planning Tools
Alexis: Just to add — because I know someone might be watching this thinking about buying a DEN plan and wondering what skills you need: Vincent's ability to make elaborate spreadsheets for everything we were buying, and then go to the property and do manual labor, was a really good mix. Budget management, contractor negotiation, and sweat equity — it just worked out really well together.
I would help out as much as I could, but another thing throughout this project is that we got pregnant with our daughter. So I was out there in Carhartts trying to help Vincent while pregnant. Then we had our daughter and lived in a trailer on the land. A lot has changed since we first bought the plans.
Vincent: Yeah — it was really two jobs. The on-site job, and then the office work that looked more like my corporate world: two or three days working at the property with my cart, then coming back to do bids, make phone calls, and use the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet DEN provides is actually pretty detailed. I took that, started customizing it with the cost information I gathered during the build, and used it to keep the budget on track throughout. That spreadsheet now looks very different than it did at the beginning — but it was really helpful to have that foundation.
Acting as GC: Learning to Build with Cabin Plans
Mike: How did the DEN plans help you communicate the project vision to trades and vendors?
Vincent: So that part was a bit of a challenge — it's not something we'd done before. The first thing I did was spend a few days just going through every single piece of the plans, because we decided I would be the general contractor. I was familiar with renovation, but everything from foundation to framing to roofing was new to me. We really just drilled down: YouTube, Google, every question I had, until I understood every detail. Acting as GC was a learning curve — asking your contractor about something you've never done before is not always easy. But it taught us a lot. I would say it's not for everyone.
Building with Amish Roofers: Bridging Tradition and Modern Design
Alexis: We hired the Amish for the roof — because the project is in Amish country, we just started chatting with people. We carried those plans everywhere we went: "this is what we're trying to do." People would say, "go down this road and talk to Joe." It was a fascinating culture gap between the Amish way of life and our very progressive, modern Scandinavian cabin plan. But it worked out so well. They did the roof and the skylights.
Vincent: We printed our full set of plans. Because you can't really talk on the phone with the Amish, we'd just show up and show them the drawings. The plans are really detailed, and the information that comes in the package beyond the drawings — the wall construction specs, all of that — was incredibly helpful for those conversations.
Customizing Cabin Plans: Adding a Basement for Extra Space & ROI
Vincent: We also modified the plan to add a full basement. We did a call with DEN, worked through what we needed, and got the plans updated. The ability to customize was very important to us.
Alexis: And that ended up being a really good decision. We did it mostly for insulation — keeping the floor warm and having an open space underneath. But now our next project is finishing the basement into livable space for short-term rentals.
Vincent: The footprint is about 1,000 sq ft, and the cost per sq ft for new construction is fairly high. But we insulated the slab and walls in the basement, so now we have a space that's roughly as big as the main floor — and we can finish it in a phase two for a much lower cost per sq ft. Even though new construction is expensive, when you average everything out with a basement finish, it really helps on return on investment and lowers your overall cost per sq ft across the whole structure.
Turning Their Modern Cabin into a Short-Term Rental on Airbnb
Mike: Are you adding short-term rental amenities — sauna, movie room, hot tub? What does the property experience look like?
Alexis: We added a hot tub. We went with Vibe Vacation Rental in the Finger Lakes as our property management company, and the feeling when our guy Josh came into the house was incredible. He said, "this could not be better for short-term rental. This is a couple's getaway." He noted that having two bathrooms is a huge plus. We're right near a wedding venue and hoping wedding guests will come stay. We're also thinking about adding a sauna — we love the whole hygge, Scandinavian coziness vibe. We don't want it to be an amusement park, but yeah.
"This could not be better for short-term rental. This is a couple's getaway — and the design is exactly what guests are looking for." — Josh, Vibe Vacation Rental
Vincent: When Josh saw the house, he said: "you're doing it exactly the way you should for Airbnb — experiences are what guests look for." The Scandinavian feel in the woods is just beautiful, and that's what people will seek out. We started receiving quite a few reservations, so we're optimistic. Every time we get an email for a new reservation, we're like, "yes, it's working."
Real ROI: Managed Short-Term Rental & What the Numbers Look Like
Vincent: One concern we had was finding the right people to manage it. There's not a lot of Airbnb in our area, and a lot of what exists is just someone's regular house on the platform — not really an experience or a weekend getaway. We were lucky to find Vibe. They have people for maintenance, cleaning, everything, close to us. That was a huge relief because we're almost two hours away — managing it directly wasn't something we wanted to do.
They list on Airbnb and VRBO and provide regular reporting — data on seasonality, pricing strategy, all of it. That has been incredibly helpful. And we have five reservations already with no reviews yet, starting March 1st — all weekends in March, a slow season — already booked.
Budgeting for a Modern Cabin Build: What Aligned With Expectations
Mike: How did you approach budgeting? Were you on budget? Did the numbers align with expectations?
Vincent: When we bought the land and started looking at DEN, there was a cost calculator. When you buy the package, you get a much more detailed breakdown. Obviously it depends on where you build and what site prep is required. The big variable for us was land improvement — if you already have a cleared area with a septic, a well, and electric, your costs are going to look very different.
For the house itself, I think we were pretty good with budget against DEN's estimate. If you take the cost per sq ft estimate provided, you're probably going to land in the ballpark. The big advice is to really look at the costs outside the house itself — septic, driveway, electric, well — because those can be substantial.
Cost-Saving Tips: DIY Work, Budget Hacks & What to Know Before You Build
Vincent: My spreadsheet was essentially my worst-case scenario. Instead of buying supplies for $3,000, if you find the equivalent for $500 on Facebook Marketplace, you beat your spreadsheet — and that dopamine hit carries you through. If you do that on enough line items, you can meaningfully reduce total costs. But it really depends on how much involvement you want to put in.
Alexis: We were on Facebook Marketplace constantly. We have connections now with a hardware store where we get cheaper wood. We were always driving around looking for better deals. And the Amish tradespeople were both exceptional quality and more affordable than what we would have paid otherwise.
If someone is just starting out: if you can find land with utilities already on it, that would be huge. That was the biggest surprise for us.
Modern Cabin Cost Per Square Foot: Building for $300–$400/sq ft in New York
Mike: If you feel comfortable — from the foundation up, what was your cost per sq ft?
Vincent: If we remove the cost of infrastructure and furnishing, I'd estimate we were around $300,000 for roughly 1,000 sq ft of living space — so about $300/sq ft. If you add back in roughly $100,000 of sweat equity — being our own GC and doing a lot of the work ourselves — you'd be closer to $400/sq ft. And that includes a full basement and a very high level of insulation.
Mike: That's impressive. We built a spec home in the Hudson Valley using a traditional GC managing the entire project, and our cost was around $500/sq ft. The fact that you beat the New York average and suppressed costs to $300 with that much insulation quality is remarkable.
Exterior Materials: Pine Tar Siding and the Power of Natural Finishes
Vincent: The siding is one of the decisions we were most proud of. We bought the wood from the Amish, used a pine tar and linseed oil mix, and did the work ourselves. At the end, we spent $2,000 on wood and $500 on pine tar. It looks beautiful, it's a completely natural product — pine tar is what the Vikings used to waterproof their boats — and it probably cost a third of what Hardy board or LP Siding would have.
Alexis: My dad came up, my mom watched our daughter, and Vincent, my dad, and I stained the whole thing in a day. And we got to meet Danny Hershberger, the Amish woodworker who milled the boards. These moments became stories. We call our property "Story Road" — and we're literally on Story Road — so all of these things that we did just created little stories for us that we'd love to share with anyone who stays there.
Design Inspiration: How Vincent & Alexis Personalized Their Barnhouse
Vincent: We got a lot of inspiration from an Airbnb stay in France — big windows, a flat vegetable roof, art everywhere. We built our own furniture that echoed what was in that home exchange. Alexis does the painting, so we have her art on the walls. We tried to make it not the corporate, standardized Airbnb — we put our soul into it and hoped that people would appreciate the custom furniture and custom art.
Alexis: The DEN community on Instagram was also really helpful during the build. You see other DEN houses at the same stage of construction, going through the same questions. You send them a message — "how did you solve that?" — and you get an answer. And then people ask you the same thing and you help them. That back-and-forth was really meaningful.
Vincent: When we go there, we're really amazed. You sit in the living room, warm and cozy, with a wall of glass in front of you looking out at the forest and the snow. And then you have the memory of putting those 300-pound windows in, almost dropping one, a neighbor randomly showing up to help us lift it into place. It's not always an easy process, but when you look at the result, it's really beautiful.
Advice for Future Builders: What Vincent & Alexis Recommend
Vincent: Spend real time on the land decision before anything else. Make sure that if utilities aren't there, you have a good sense of what it will cost to develop the site. That was our biggest surprise.
With DEN, the modification process was something that went really well. You get to talk to someone about your project, get the plans updated to make more sense for your situation, and have something that's actually yours. The ability to customize rather than being stuck with a fixed plan was important.
Alexis: DEN felt really accessible. It wasn't "here are the plans, good luck." But I would also say: don't be too dreamy. When you look at the DEN site, everything is gorgeous and it looks easy. Know what you're good at. Vincent is consistent — every day he'd have a small project and just work through it. I helped where I could in the later stages, with furnishing and the marketing side of things. Know your skill sets and play to them.
Vincent: And if you're going to be your own GC: spend time up front going through every single piece of the plans. There is a lot of information in there. Trying to understand every square inch of your house before you break ground is really going to help you during the process. There's a lot in the package — use it.
Alexis: Insulation and energy consumption were really important to us because we felt like we were building a new house in a forest and taking down some trees to do it. When we finally finished the insulation and did the blower door test, the inspector said we were so close to passive — he showed us the number and was genuinely impressed. That was really satisfying. Trying to be as responsible as we possibly could about it was part of the whole thing. We have a hot tub. But still.
Vincent: All this time you spend before you close the walls, working on every single detail to make it tight — it pays off. You pay less in utilities, it's more comfortable, and it's better for the planet. The code requirement is what it is, but you can do much better than the minimum, and it shows over the life of the home.
Build your own modern barnhouse — the same plans Vincent & Alexis used at Story Road House.
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