Tennessee’s Camp Cargo an Artistic Retreat Built With Shipping Containers

Welcome to Camp Cargo on 5 acres of forest land in the mountains near Sewanee, TN. It’s a one-of-a-kind offering that was difficult to price properly.

“As a real estate agent, you have to look for comps to price things and when you find zero comps in the area, you know you have something unique,” says Keith Killebrew with Parks Realty. “This one is unique because it’s built with nine full-size shipping containers from around the world. They’re built to house goods and be watertight, so when you start with that and build a home out of them, it’s pretty unique.”

After research and discussions with the seller, the structure completed in 2020 was listed for $895,000.

The nine containers were transformed into three dwellings: a two-bedroom main house, a one-bedroom guesthouse, and a one-bedroom studio. Each was given a distinctive name.

“The main house is A’HO, and that’s a Navajo greeting. The guest quarters are named The Whale Song. Hummingbird Hut is the smallest of these, and it’s the studio,” says Killebrew.

The main house comes with a spot that Killebrew has dubbed the party container. It sits atop the structure and can serve a variety of purposes.

“You can use it as a bar, a gathering spot. You can do yoga there, whatever you want to do,” he says. The other dwellings also have deck spaces.

The seller is an artist who had the creative vision to build this container compound.

“It’s wide open. You see the corrugated metal. The structure is true. It’s very efficient. It’s very quiet,” Killebrew says. “The finishes inside … [are] a nod to midcentury modern.”

The dwellings feature spray foam insulation, and mini-split HVAC units heat and cool the indoor spaces.

Privacy is also an important feature of this property’s allure.

“The placement on the 5 acres is heavily wooded and heavily private. It’s kind of in the middle of nowhere, but very close to everything,” he says. “You have 75 waterfalls within a 100-mile radius and hiking trails. You’re on top of a mountain.”

Killebrew knows Camp Cargo isn’t for everyone and is prepared to be patient in his search for the right buyer.

The perfect buyer “will have an artistic side. They love nature and unique things. They do not want to be in a box like everybody else. This is for that special person,” he says. “I’ve always found that the right person finds the right dwelling at the right time. It always happens, and it will happen.”