A New York company has created a wildly popular $21,000 DIY cabin that can be built in 3 days
Den Outdoors unveiled a $21,000 do-it-yourself A-frame Cabin kit that can be assembled in three days with the help of two or three people.
The A-frame Cabin kit targets three segments that have experienced a shake-up during COVID-19 times: DIY-ers, remote and tiny living, and tourism.
The interior can fit up to two people and the structure is only semi-permanent, which means it can be taken apart and moved as needed.
The kit and Den Outdoors have received so much interest, the company is now contemplating raising a seed round "because the business continues to grow despite our lack of resources," Den founder Mike Romanowicz told Business Insider in an email interview.
According to Den, the kit is a good option for companies in the glamping and hospitality business, and for people looking to list properties on Airbnb.
Den Outdoors unveiled a do-it-yourself A-frame Cabin kit that can be assembled in three days.
Unlike most cabin and tiny home makers that sell fully built units, New York-based Den Outdoors takes the approach of selling both construction plans and do-it-yourself kits with all of the necessary parts. In line with these two product types, the A-frame cabin's plans can be purchased for $99, and the full DIY kit starts at $21,000.
According to Den founder Mike Romanowicz in an email interview with Business Insider, the company and its cabin kit has seen a "huge swell of traffic and interested customers."
"What's propelling the product's popularity is that we've launched something that has exactly the right characteristics that people want," Romanowicz wrote in the email interview with Business Insider. "It's beautiful, fast to build, and accessibly priced relative to other options in the market."
Keep scrolling to see inside the wildly hyped A-frame cabin:
The A-frame Cabin kit comes in three finishes: a black Forest, grey Alpine, and cream Coast.
Source: Den Outdoors
The back of the cabin has a large floor-to-ceiling double-pane glass window for a flood of natural light.
The 115-square foot cabin is 12 feet tall with 11-foot ceilings ...
… and has room for two people with a king bed or two twin beds.
The A-frame can remain both on or off-grid, and has insulated floors and windows, making it four-seasons friendly.
It's no surprise the A-frame kit has become so popular given trends that have appeared during COVID-19.
The product capitalizes on two movements that have exploded during the coronavirus pandemic: tiny and remote living, and do-it-yourself projects.
The A-frame cabin fits perfectly in the tiny home segment boom that both rental companies and makers have been seeing during the coronavirus pandemic, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Source: Wall Street Journal
According to Romanowicz, people have been looking for spaces that are near the outdoors, whether that be in the form of a tiny home, "normal" sized home, or cabin.
"People are moving from cities to residential areas, and folks still in cities are seeking vacation homes for extra space and a place to go retreat from urban living," Romanowicz wrote.
Similarly, people started seeking do-it-yourself projects - especially home renovations - while stuck at home due to COVID-19-related lockdowns.
According to Romanowicz, people have been seeking "self reliance" during the COVID-19 pandemic, whether it be through baking bread or completing do-it-yourself projects.
According to a blog published in July by market and consumer analysis company Netbase Quid, DIY-related trends are seeing an "explosive growth" with a yearly 4% growth rate.
Source: Netbase Quid
To target this segment, Den decided to make the kit easy to successfully assemble.
These new living trends, coupled with the rise in DIY-ers, created the perfect storm for Den Outdoors and its cabin kit.
The company was officially launched this past July. Since then, Den has already seen explosive growth "partially aided by the tailwinds that COVID-19 is providing," Romanowicz wrote.
The company now has about 24,400 followers on Instagram, over 10,000 customers in its email database, and has seen sales increasing monthly from organic growth alone.
"To date, we've been self-funded, but we're now heavily considering raising a seed round because the business continues to grow despite our lack of resources," Romanowicz wrote. "The path to scalable growth and profitability lies clearly ahead."
The do-it-yourself kit also touches upon another segment impacted by COVID-19: tourism.
Den's cabin kit targets more than the private customer who wants a backyard cabin.
The kit can also be used by glamping property owners or those interested in renting the space out for Airbnb use.
In fact, the kit was in part designed for the hospitality industry as the cabin can be listed with high nightly rates ...
... but can be set up quickly and inexpensively, making it a good investment, according to its maker.
Because the cabin is four seasons-approved, it can withstand the wintertime when revenue for glamping and camping-related businesses is generally lower due to non-insulated tents.
Like a tent, the cabin can be easily assembled and disassembled and is portable.
However, the A-frame is more durable than a canvas tent, which is a glamping structure that many companies have started using, according to Den.
"Because of all that, a lot of our interest has come from larger platforms in the camping and glamping industry, as well as from a number of different hotel and hospitality operators and developers who are looking to fix their seasonality problem while offering beautiful accommodations to their guests," Romanowicz wrote.
The full A-frame is also small enough to be placed without a permit.
The cabin is similar to a shed in that a permanent concrete foundation is not necessary …
… although Den recommends placing the cabin on concrete pavers or deck blocks.
The cabin can also be used as more than just a glamping outpost or a backyard escape.
The A-frame can also serve as a place to work out, or as a separate office room.
According to the company, several people have already purchased the kit to use as a backyard office.
The kits are now being designed and produced in New York with the goal of providing "revenue, jobs, and stability" during the coronavirus pandemic, according to Den's press question-and-answer sheet.
"We were fortunate enough to partner with an incredibly talented local team with the right skills and tooling to enable us to build this with thoughtful craftsmanship, precision componentry, and in a cost-effective way to enable us to get to a competitive price," the company explained.
Den is considering unveiling more kits in the future, but as of now, it's focused on A-frame order fulfillments.
Den Outdoors will begin shipping out the A-frame kits next year.
Read the original article on Business Insider
