Canadian man who built self-sufficient home in the woods from $3,400 shipping containers puts it up for sale for $58,000

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The Canadian man who built a beautiful home inside three shipping containers in the woods is hoping to sell his creation for someone else to enjoy.

Joseph Dupuis, 30, researches renewable energy research at Algonquin College in Ottawa and built his cabin roughly 35 miles west of the city with shipping containers from Asia.

The engineer and entrepreneur bought the containers that brought goods to North America for $3,400 Canadian each, and has fashioned them into a self-sustaining home on a plot of land owned by his family. 

Solar panels on his nearby workshop power the home, and Dupuis told Daily Mail Online, who were first to report about the house in June, that when living at the cabin his most expensive bill each month is his phone.

The house became an Internet sensation, but Dupuis has decided to sell the home an has now listed it for $58,000.

Joseph Dupuis, 29, built a cabin out of three shipping containers in woods roughly 35 miles west of Ottawa on a plot of land owned by his family

The renewable energy researcher spent three months in 2012 working up to 14 hours a day to create the home and outfit it with heating and cooling

The builder said that he was interested in adding on to the home that cost $20,000 to build, but has since put it up for sale for $58,000

Dupuis said that he wants to help others, especially young people with debt, get hooked up to solar energy or build similar homes

He has now moved closer to Ottawa after two years in the home, and told Daily Mail Online that he was going to continue adding pieces such as a fourth container on top for a bedroom and glass ceiling with a view of the stars.

Dupuis added that 'When I'm done with it, it will blow people's minds'.

He told Yahoo that the solar panel system cost $25,000 in addition to the $20,000 he spent on everything else.

The listing price for the home would see Dupuis profit more than $10,000 from his labor, though it said that the payment is negotiable if buyers want to relocate the home elsewhere.

In June Japhet Alvarez, a photographer who lives in Ottawa, said that he is jealous of his friend Dupuis's serene environment at such a low cost. 

He was surprised by the beautiful interior of the house after seeing the containers, which create 355 square feet of interior space, from a distance when approaching by car to take photos.

'It looks completely normal and then he opens up these huge doors and you see it,' Alvarez said.

The home has heated floors and a chamber to run water that Dupuis gets from his neighbor. When he regularly lived there the engineer also included a bed in the 355 square foot abode

Dupuis said that he got his shipping containers for $3,400 Canadian each and brought them from the port of Hamilton, south of Toronto

Friends of Dupuis said that they were taken by surprise when he opened the door to his home and revealed a stunning interior inside the shipping containers

Some who have seen pictures of the home say that the metal containers must become unbearably hot in the summer and frigid cold during Canadian winters that reach minus 42 Celsius (-44 Fahrenheit).

However, Dupuis outfitted the containers with heating and a cooling system during three months of 2012 when he worked up to 14 hours a day by himself.

He keeps the floors heated to around 15 degrees Celsius (59 Fahrenheit) and supplements with a wood stove.

'It's like a giant science experiment so I'm observing and making modifications,' he said.

Dupuis, who comes from a family of machinists and whose father is in the renewable energy business, said that he had been working on his idea since before Internet users began ooing and ahhing over container houses around the world several years ago.

'There are 17.4million of them sitting empty in the US, Mexico and Canada,' he said of the sturdy boxes that became his home after they were delivered from the port of Hamilton, south of Toronto.

The systems that Dupuis put into the house help keep is comfortable both in the summer and the Canadian winter that reaches -42 Celsius (-44 Fahrenheit)

'It's like a giant science experiment so I'm observing and making modifications,' the entrepreneur said. Above, Dupuis (right, laying foundation) has a back porch with walls made of shipping container

The home is not connected to utility companies' water supply, but he borrows it from a neighbor and keeps flowing into the house from a holding chamber

Friends that they are jealous of Dupuis's low-cost serene environment, which he shared for two years with his German Shephred-Rottweiler mix Beatrice

Dupuis had said that he wanted to add a fourth container on top of his home so that he can build an upstairs bedroom with a view of the stars

Dupuis also used two more containers to make the workshop near the house where he works on motorcycles.

He uses an outhouse in the backyard and the home is not connected to utility companies' water supply.

The listing for the home says that it comes with a 125 imperial gallon water storage tank.

Dupuis is able to access the Internet from his phone, and says he uses the money he saves when living at the cabin to go on trips. 

Though he kept busy with various engineering projects and his bikes, Dupuis also spent some of his time in the winter chopping wood and hanging out with his German Shepherd-Rottweiler mix Beatrice. 

He said that he wants to help others, especially young people with debt, get hooked up to solar energy or build similar homes.

His business, Working Title, has built a device that helps homeowners calculate the best angle for their solar panels at any given time based on their GPS coordinates.