Building Luxury Cabins: DEN Outdoors Transforms Boutique Resort

Table of Contents w/ timestamps

 

1. Intro & Icebreaker [0:00]

2. Bill’s Background [0:55]

3. Why Bill Chose DEN Plans [2:38]

4. Favorite Aspects of the Alpine 2.1 Design [3:22]

5. Making Modifications to the DEN Plans [5:13]

6. Rental Experience & Guest Feedback [6:40]

7. Advice for First-Time Builders [7:52]

8. Material Costs & Efficiency [9:32]

9. Final Thoughts & Magic Wand [11:19]

10. Closing & Business Plug [12:34]

Podcast Transcript: 

Mike: Bill, uh, first favorite sports team? 

Bill: UGA. University of Georgia. 

Mike: Amazing. Amazing. That's so cool. 

Bill: Well, I went to school there, so… 

Mike: Yeah. Yeah. Perfect.  It's in Athens, Georgia, is it not?

Bill: That's correct. 

Mike: Yes. I've been to Athens, Georgia because I used to date, uh, someone who, um, who joined the swim team there.

She, yeah, she was recruited to UGA. 

Bill: Nice! 

Mike: Yeah. 

Bill: It's a fun town 

Mike: Yeah, it's great. It's great. The home of REM, I take it. Right? 

Bill: I'm old enough to have seen REM before everybody else knew about them. So they was just a local band that we went and saw. And actually I think it didn't cost anything. 

Mike: That is such an amazing flex.

That is so cool. Um, all right, cool. 

2. Bill's Background & Construction Business

 

Mike: So here we go. Tell us who you are and tell us where you know, where you built your DEN, and tell us a little bit about the project, you know, which DEN design did you build? And, you know, tell us a little bit about the business that you're running.

Bill: Well, I have a, um, first of all, I have a contracting company. We build custom homes in Highlands, North Carolina, which is just across the Georgia line, about uh, two hours north of Atlanta, but, um, so this is a second home community. We get lots of people come here for the summer and we also have a real estate license and we were managing some…other people's properties and we decided to build some of our own and what we did, we went online and, um, we were looking for some modern architecture - small cabins - and came across DEN, ordered the 2.1 Alpine Cabin and built one. It worked out very well, we've had good results. Obviously in the wintertime, we don't rent it out as much as we would like, but in the summer it stays packed and people love the design, [and] comment on it. And so we built two more and we have property to build 30 more.

Our plan is to keep building because people like them and they, um, they love the architecture and the style. We frequently have people asking us to build one for them. So it's worked out well. 

Mike: Awesome. Why did you go for a DEN plan? What caught your eye about our designs?

Bill: Well, after looking through them, I first purchased the kind of a preview plan [planning package], looked at it, and it looked simple to build. Where we live, the labor costs are expensive, property is expensive, so building new homes, the, uh, cost per square foot is pretty high. So I was looking for something I was going to build for myself.

I wanted something that was easy to build. Something that is very economical and these fit the bill. 

Mike: Awesome. Is there any specific aspect of the design or floor plan that you particularly like? Like, what is your favorite part of the building?

Bill: I guess the favorite part is the, the exterior is the, it’s: the design is very simple. Um, it's, it, it lends itself to building easy, the lack of eaves on the side, you know, saves money there. We used standing seam on the roof and for the siding, except on the gable ends. So it's going to be maintenance free for a long period of time, which is, it costs a little money up front, but it saves that.

On the first three, we've not done wood on the interior, but, as we've, uh, made changes and modified, the next, the fourth one is - we will probably put a little bit more wood on the interior. The thing I like most about the DEN plans are that, uh, they're simple.

We don't have to use a lot of engineered lumber. The spans are small. Everything's spelled out, I can give it to the framer and he knows what he's doing. It's nothing we have to re-engineer. We don't have to hire an engineer to design a special truss or anything like that, which obviously saves money, so…it's worked out very well. 

Our normal house, our normal house is 5,000 square feet that we build - custom homes - and, uh, they take two years to build. This DEN that we built is a thousand square feet, and we can finish it in four months. So, because they're so well designed and use nominal lumber instead of having to get special engineered trusses or something, which delays the project - it goes quickly. 

Mike: What a soundbite, Bill! Did you execute the plans more or less to the spec or did you make any changes along the way? 

Bill: Oh, yes, we definitely made changes, and, um, the good thing about DEN is that, you know, when I make a change, I build it.

And then I determine if I like the change and then send it back to DEN, work with their team. And then, they modify the changes on my plan, so the next time I don't have to be there as much, I give the plans and the builder…the framer puts it together the way the plans [are]. I change it again, I send it back to DEN....

So every time I make a change now - you know, most people aren't gonna build the house 30 times, but - every time I make a change, I can send it back to DEN and they update the plans. So, you know, hopefully by the fifth one, I'll have this thing figured out and I'll have the exact plan that I want.

So for instance, one of the plans that we built, we added an extra eight feet on the back of the house. Instead of just making a deck, we extended the roof and turned it into a screen porch. So that back area in, you know, nine months out of the year here, with the, with the double door open, the bi-parting door, the back open, you've got another outside room there.

And, um, it was easy to incorporate into the plan because the architecture is so straightforward and simple, it wasn't hard to add on, push the house, you know, add an extra two feet somewhere, add an extra three feet. So it's worked out well. 

6. Rental Experience & Guest Feedback

Mike: So you mentioned that you're renting these out, right? What's been some of the feedback from your guests? 

Bill: They like the simple lines and some of the guests that we rent out to - because we've got it listed on the Airbnb, VRBO, and on Google…and this area up here is obviously in the mountains - but, uh, our average guest is, is not your typical 20 or 30 year old.

They're usually in their 40s or 50s, sometimes in their 70s, and even some of the older people, when they come in, they like the modern architecture, the clean lines, because it is so simple, square, nothing ornate about it, um, it makes cleaning it - that's the main thing that we, we get a lot of, I know this doesn't have anything to do with architecture, but the fact that we've got a lot of drywall, clean lines - it does lend itself to, um, the appearance of, just really clean architecture, but that lends itself to people thinking that it's really clean and we get a lot of remarks on that and a lot of return customers.

Mike: Yeah, that's cool.

Mike: And, you know, you have the benefit of being, you know, a custom home builder, with years of experience, right? What type of advice would you give to someone who is thinking about building a DEN that might not necessarily have the same level of experience that you have?

Like, you know, maybe one of your clients even, is approaching you and is like, ‘Hey, I want to build a house for the first time. You know, like, I'm thinking about building a DEN’, you know, what advice would you have for that person? 

Bill: Well, I mean, normally, if you buy a set of plans, um, off the shelf - like DEN is - you, you do get some detail built into it.

They'll [other home plan companies] give you a typical wall section, but with DEN even though it's not a huge set of plans - of course, it's not a huge building - the structure is spelled out. Even when I took it to get my inspection - and we're in a small county, so I know the building inspector - I go see the building inspector, I give him the plans and he, you know, he looks at me funny, he goes, ‘This is only five sheets of paper’.

I said, it's a small house. He goes, and he flipped through it. He looked at me, he goes, ‘This is a really detailed set of plans’, stamps it, moves on. So, I mean, there's enough detail there that  your usual building inspector is not going to have a problem with it. Which then makes it easier, um, with that much detail, so - I as a builder - I don't have to spend as much time on the job site explaining what's supposed to be happening here because the detail is there in the plans. 

Mike: Awesome. Awesome. In terms of costing the project, how do the plans help you, you know, purchase materials or like, just forecast costs, you know, better than, let's say, either starting from a blank napkin or a lesser set of plans.

Bill: Well, I don't, um, I, I obviously came with the pack - well not obviously - but if…when someone purchases DEN, it does come with a material list. And I have found that that material list is very helpful. I don't use it as much as I would if I was, you know, just starting out because I'll look at a set of plans and I kind of know what it is, because I've been doing it for a while, but it is very helpful for someone starting out to have that list of materials to fall back on.

So that's a big bonus for someone that's just starting out. 

Mike: Right, right. Just in terms of like, you know, let's say like someone sends an email to a builder and it's like, ‘Hey, here's the plans. Here's the material list. And here's where I want to do it’. Like, what more could you want as a builder? 

Bill: Right. I mean, that's, that's, that's what you need.

You can, you can go through there and it's easier to price knowing what the materials are. But even as, even as a builder, I, you know, I'm, I'm ready to order my framing package and I can send that to the supplier and say, ‘Send that to the job site’, and then that means I don't have to do the take off. I don't have to figure out, you know, take the time to do it.

I just let them ship me the material that I need. And because y'all have done all the work in the background, the material list matches up with what the plans are. And so the framer and the supplier have what they need. So it takes a lot of, um, time and effort off my plate. 

Mike: Awesome.

Mike: Awesome. Um, well, Bill, we're almost at time here. Uh, we'll just maybe like, leave this last, you know, last thing open ended. Like, is there anything, uh, if you could wave a magic wand, you know, what would you want or what would you want to change about the process? 

Bill: Um, I don't know that I would change anything.

It's fairly straightforward. You order the plans, you immediately get them. So, you know, there's no downtime waiting for the plans. They're exactly as described. You can look at them online when you need to make changes. The changes can be done online. They happen pretty quickly. The cost is phenomenal.

You know, you can't get a set of plans for most places for what you can get them at DEN and the, uh, the customer service is great. So, um, and the product when it comes out is, um, it's exactly what you, what you're looking for. And it's very customizable too. I mean, you know, you can put wood on the interior, put drywall on the interior, the outside is customizable because it's so…basic. 

And I say basic as a good thing, that you can put wood on the outside, you can put metal on the outside, you could, you know, put stone…It's easy to customize the house and not blow your budget

Mike: Awesome. Also, just give us - before we stop the recording - give us 1 plug. What is the name of the hospitality business that you run? 

Bill: It's called High Camp. High Camp NC. 

Yes. 

Mike: Awesome. And where do we go to see you online? And, you know, where's your website, and what's your Instagram?

Bill: Highcampnc.com And it's High Camp [@highcampnc] on Instagram also. 

Mike: Awesome. Alright.

One Bill's Highcamp cabins (Modern Alpines), from behind

A set of chairs surrounding a camp fire, steps away from two Highcamp DENs

A peek inside one of the Highcamp DENs