Jette Egelund turned a factory ruin into the home and HQ of Vipp—proof that durability, not trends, shapes great design. Jette Egelund went from a single pedal bin to Nordic prefab homes—built with industrial precision. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/got-a...) & YT (youtu.be/oxWXMInZm-g)

She earned $700/month as mayor in Silicon Valley. So she moved into a 400 sq-ft backyard cottage. 8 years on, it’s shaped how she thinks about affordable housing, community, and how little space a good life really needs. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/she-e...) & YT (youtu.be/DNoGbBquyt8)

A mother & daughter were paying high prices in the same city, yet barely seeing each other. Then they turned an unused garage into an ADU. Less unused stuff, more connection. Win-win for a young family & a widowed mother. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/turni...) & YT (youtu.be/NAGqSkjdtsI)

Legend says that the philosopher Diogenes lived in a giant clay pot. Elena Zervoudakis took the challenge, converting an earth-sheltered water cistern & ruin into an accessory dwelling (ADU) designed to slow life down🏺⏳ Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/turni...) & YT (youtu.be/rgsGVDwa-y4)

Could prefab work at a scale? Consider Wikkelhouse, a modular home made from lightweight, high-strength wrapped segments that click together, allowing people to add & customize elements—windows, bath, bunks, larger rooms. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/wikke...) & YT (youtu.be/C42Wg2JDRmc)

Evicted ➜ built a troll wonderland 🧌 Thomas Dambo turned a forgotten farm into a creative co-living village made from discarded materials. Trash became a raw material to build unique giant trolls with a story to tell. Video via YT (youtu.be/v4aF_qtwh0Y) & *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/he-bu...)

He restored a stone barn in rural Navarre, Spain—then built a nearly invisible villa into the hillside. A hidden light-filled home. Old stone above, modern light below. A hillside home you can’t see until you step inside. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/he-sa...) & YT (youtu.be/lghNdYf4tqM)

Raising kids in a family homestead... BUT inside a greenhouse🌱🏡 In Sweden, Sylvia & Johan built a Naturhus —a self-sufficient ecosystem wrapped in glass that reutilizes resources & grows food year-round, even grapes 🍇 Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/coupl...) & YT (youtu.be/p5ILdwn0_Fk)

Can abandoned homes in depopulated regions come back to life? Some do—if you’re playing the long game. Johannes, a young priest, rebuilt a stone "rustico" high in the Italian Alps: few savings + work = place reborn 🏞️🏡🌱 Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/young...) & YT (youtu.be/MF1jJy1F-8I?...)

We found an “unbuildable” plot in the hills outside Barcelona—just a stone hut and a cave in the listing. When we arrived, we discovered two caves, WWII-era carvings, & signs of an old food forest waiting to return 🧎‍♂️⛰️ Video via YT (youtu.be/Gw3EjGyCV80) & *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/1st-l...)

🌿 Tycho & Karoline prove you don’t need a big budget to live richly. With simple tools & intention, they built a solid home, growing own food & living mortgage-free in a Danish ecovillage. Their purpose is autonomous. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/cork-...) & YT (youtu.be/XyPcesRqBks?...)

Brad was told, “You can’t build underground.” He proved them wrong, self-building the buried dome he had envisioned & getting it permitted against all odds. He realized his dream at a cost in materials of around $80,000. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/burie...) & YT (youtu.be/lpKBsC7ulZk)

He built Bill Gates’ 66,000-sqft home & giant downtown buildings… but James Cutler’s favorite project is an 8x10 studio he built with his 12-year-old daughter. Design isn’t about size—it’s about spirit, place, meaning. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/built...) & YT (youtu.be/CN9nclH5V0A?...)

20 years ago, Zach & Allison started digging into a California hillside to escape heat, cold, & fire. Today, it’s a maze of light-filled tunnels —a unique underground compound that functions like a neural ecovillage 🌀 Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/20-ye...) & YT (youtu.be/U0bHhmpyKGg?...)

This cork-clad home in Spain uses a passive solar Trombe Wall for HVAC & a natural pool that self-regulates via plants. Despite being a new/modern construction, the home breathes & blends in with the surrounding trees. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/cork-...) & YT (youtu.be/90X_698x2q4?...)

🌿On an ordinary lot in Sebastopol, CA, Erik & Lauren Ohlsen turned their home into a living ecosystem (part edible forest, part Bronze Age lab.) 🌲🏡🍎🐸 Year-round food, a rain-fed pond, & a roundhouse of earth & stone. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/turni...) & YT (youtu.be/AIF8Dsz2sTM?...)

We sometimes think projects like this are out of reach — but Cam and Janeen prove otherwise. 🌱💪☀️ They built a self-sufficient home from salvaged materials, one room at a time. Start where you are. Build what you dream. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/famil...) & YT (youtu.be/7twmG9EceX8?...)

Living deeply, rooted in the forest 🌲🧌🪨🐘 In the mossy woods of Sweden, Marianna & Anders Agetorp rebuilt an earth-sheltered backstuga tucked into the hillside amid birch & boulders, which helps them sync with nature. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/coupl...) & YT (youtu.be/dG2b_Klf5R4)

Turning boulders into a unique underground home? 🪨->🛖 Steve Demarest carved his dwelling with the Cascades, not just on it but amid giant boulders. Part cave, part megalith, he built a long-lasting home between rocks. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/bough...) & YT (youtu.be/GSdzhDzAltU?...)

A pirate fortress reborn, Count of Monte-Cristo vibes. On Greece’s wild Mani coast, not far from Sparta, an 18th-century customs house (read: medieval corsair den) becomes a timeless home: stone, sea & patience restored. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/they-...) & YT (youtu.be/kc4BIIAFZG8)

“Nature does a pretty good job.” 1 man, 1 acre, 1 dream: to live simply, freely. 40 years off-grid in Hawaii, William built a small paradise from recycled scraps. Thriving to him isn't to have more, just deeper roots 🌿 Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/oldti...) & YT (youtu.be/491--9SjgRY?...)

In Finland, homelessness has nearly disappeared. How? Instead of forcing people into shelters, they get a safe (small) home; people get back on track & start over. In the US, some idealists are testing a similar model. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/how-f...) & YT (youtu.be/RwZQ8GCHgRg)

Jim, a Maine vet, dreamed of creating an enchanting & nurturing world for his family, turning (with his son Dustin's help) 600 acres of wilderness into a unique homestead: bridges, underground 🛖, & 1 mile-long zipline✨Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/veter...) & YT (youtu.be/qGfZFbf36Jg?...)

Dave used to build underground homes by burying reinforced Quonset huts. Now he's improved his approach with a prefab Hobbit-house kit for anyone to self-build a cozy, earth-sheltered home (easily, safely, & on a budget). Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/he-cr...) & YT (youtu.be/F1i-qWU1pPY)

On an empty Spokane lot, Blockhouse built prefab homes around a walkable community rather than cars, saving old-growth trees for a pocket neighborhood feeling (while leaving parking spaces at the property’s edge). 🌱🏡 Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/wante...) & YT (youtu.be/xuQ7voTJDHI?...)

They left the 9-to-5 behind… & found a ghost town ready for a 2nd chance. 🌄 Shaniko, OR, once “Wool Capital of the World,” now has 33 residents building a new kind of rural life. Old homes & people self-organizing. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/start...) & YT (youtu.be/sJu7lacSjVA)

Sometimes it’s about finding a place worth working on. In Italy’s Orco Valley, Enrico spent 5 years turning a neglected stone stable into a warm home—hand-built walls, furniture, cellar—while keeping its soul intact. Video vi *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/spent...) & YT ( youtu.be/wmxMWzHmP7g?...)

At 63°N, winter on a Finnish island means frozen lakes, root cellars & saunas. In part II, Klaus & Johanna show how off-grid life is a slow, grounded process—cold-prepping, ice skating, & growing food in short season. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/young...) & YT (youtu.be/XA8tG3Woaoo?...)

Here's a timeless, nature-friendly project: Julio Garcia built his Savannah studio from two 40-ft containers without cutting a single tree. Tranquil, airy & inspiring, it proves affordable design can be beautiful. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/artis...) & YT (youtu.be/9QNPB9naZQg?...)

Klaus & Johanna got an island in Finland (42 years abandoned, one collapsing cabin) 🌲 Now it's a hand-built, thriving homestead 🪵🏡 A life in rhythm with nature. Resilience, patience & vision can turn silence into home. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/coupl...) & YT (youtu.be/is6d5prhcMQ)

From tech to fire country… In 2019, John Mills left SF for a 170-acre off-grid homestead. One month later, a wildfire hit next door—so he built Watch Duty, hands down the best fire prevention resource, used in 22 states 🔥💧Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/he-le...) & YT (youtu.be/ANJNdk0Zzx0)

Whole villages under one roof? In Norway, families once lived in log-&-turf farms with barns, saunas & raised storehouses. At Oslo’s Folk Museum, these centuries-old homes show how thriving can come from collaboration. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/how-h...) & YT (youtu.be/isaEQfMsRIY?...)

At 68, Jeannette left the city to build her dream homestead in rural Idaho. With no experience—just YouTube & neighbors—she raised 2 arched cabins, a workshop & a chicken coop. She calls it: “the home YouTube built.” 🌄🐓 Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/left-...) & YT (youtu.be/DTyFkB8URZc)

Kjetil Ingvar Berge bought an old kit home in Norway’s Arctic. Instead of modernizing it, he built a small tower next door, connected by an outdoor bridge, where he walks outside. “It forces you to notice,” he says. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/artis...) & YT (youtu.be/bwFdMqz0w8k?...)

Would you live underground in a giant Cold War missile silo? In rural WA, engineer David McIntyre turned a decommissioned Atlas E site into a 2-bedroom underground home—complete with elevator + blast doors. 🚀-->🏠✨! Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/turni...) & YT (youtu.be/Br0Il37t5Uk)

Over 7 years, Tim Seggerman transformed a rundown shack in rural NJ into a Japanese/Scandinavian-inspired cabin. Built with wood from an old lumberyard, the untreated home shifts colors with the seasons. A labor of 💚 Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/build...) & YT (youtu.be/H0Y664c4ECo?...)

35 years underground: Dan Price lives simply in an OR meadow “hobbit hole.” Saplings he planted are now trees, his home stays 50°F all year, electric bill is $40/month. Walking, drawing, surfing… finding joy in “enough.” Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/35-ye...) & YT (youtu.be/Gb7BQ75E5Fc)

Could you switch from a conventional lifestyle to countryside life, fixing a ruin & finding passive income? Maurizio & Paola rebuilt a ruin in a 3-person ghost village—teaching via workshops. Not easy, but can be done. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/famil...) & YT (youtu.be/NB3e8xwu_Do?...)

6 friends, 1 lot, $10k each → homeowners in a cohousing community around a permaculture garden. In Springfield, OR (The Simpsons' one), they turned a single lot into a legal 6-plex—paying $800/mo instead of $1,400 rent. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/price...) & YT (youtu.be/fQVtRLdmg1k)

For 50 years, David Lee Hoffman built a worm-powered, solar-fed, off-grid Homestead in Marin. Water flows through ponds, moats & a 30ft well; waste is soil & food: “Water is precious, soil is sacred, shit is a resource.” 🪱 Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/vermi...) & YT (youtu.be/7qN9OU9GyWk)

Vicente Nadal built a geothermal homestead (Canadian well) with 2 natural homes, a geodesic stone-dome, a stream, 2 natural ponds, plant maze, and thriving permaculture garden & orchard with over 2K plants. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/build...) & YT (youtu.be/CQnZkuAZEDI)

Before visiting Adam Kalkin, we'd never imagined a farmhouse inside a hangar—both shelter & part of the home. As Adam put it: “it’s kind of a ship in a bottle.” Here's a house holding past & future in one breath ⛵🫙= 🏡! Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/farmh...) & YT (youtu.be/KyHYjEoeD2w)

When Elena spotted an 18th-century hermit tower built into a boulder in Greece's Mani, it had "the price of a used car." Over 15 years, she transformed the foot-only site into a tranquil home rooted in history & stone. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/she-g...) & YT (youtu.be/wCjOADLbDo8?...)

“Wait… this castle isn’t actually medieval?” 🏰🤯Since we posted this video about Guédelon, many people messaged us in disbelief: how could this place not be centuries old? And they use only medieval tools/techniques. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/frien...) & YT (youtu.be/Ajqort8ldXA?...)

Roja & Johan self-built a "naturhus" (a house cocooned inside a greenhouse) in rural Sweden. Inside, it's always spring despite wind & cold outside. 🌱 Their permaculture indoor garden: fruit trees, bees, veggies, life. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/coupl...) & YT (youtu.be/jDImjqPuruY)

Johnny cleaned homes he couldn’t afford in SF. When he overheard a landlord was selling a 5-unit building, he pooled funds with friends, got a loan, & bought it whole. “No one could buy alone. Together? We got it.” Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/frien...) & YT (youtu.be/WBqdtmIskGQ?...)

Ever seen a glam room hide behind a Murphy bed? Laverne Cox turned her 634sqft (58m2) NY studio into a Boudoir Apartment with motorized walls, hidden vanity, fold-down dining & a series of on-demand collapsible spaces. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/nyc-m...) & YT (youtu.be/Mg27tMbyWo8?...)

Nicel Rotta & friends built a new type of home-on-wheels with expandable, breathable awnings that push off-grid possibilities: it's an indoor/outdoor compact dwelling capable of loop-filtering water for endless showers 🚿 Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/low-c...) & YT (youtu.be/5yKpDIRVF5Q)

“We didn’t want to live on imported food in the middle of the Pacific.” Kenta & Julia left the city to grow nearly everything they eat—cacao, breadfruit, bokchoy, honey, eggs. They live simply & explore self-sufficiency 🌿🍫 Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/thrif...) & YT (youtu.be/s3HV-p6VotE)

On a North Denmark island, Anna Marie & Rasmus cleaned 21,000 salvaged bricks to rebuild a home—inside a greenhouse. It’s sun-warmed, season-shaped & made of reclaimed parts: buffer against the cold, & window outside. Video via *FC (faircompanies.com/videos/coupl...) & YT (youtu.be/1O3hL6OFNhE?...)