“I always take on a bit too much,” says Marie Saldivar, which, it quickly becomes apparent, feels like an understatement. Speaking from inside a guest suite she recently added to her property in Sisters, Oregon, Marie explains how she’s balancing a full-time job selling real estate and managing her new prefab homebuilding company, Steel Hut, all after having her first child just three weeks ago.

But keeping busy with creative projects is how Marie and her husband, Kurtis, like it. The couple purchased the property in 2021, a 10-acre plot tucked against Deschutes National Forest, and moved into an existing cabin there. “We’re both very passionate about living in natural environments and having as few neighbors as possible,” Marie says. “Kurtis is an avid outdoorsman and I’m an art and design lover.” Before long, they fixed their eyes on an undeveloped corner of the site and built a deceptively spare Quonset hut–style guest suite that conceals a warm interior.

Marie, who, among her other talents, is also a licensed contractor, and Kurtis designed and built the suite themselves, starting with a metal shell from SteelMasters Builders, a steel kit manufacturer. “We love to work with our hands,” says Marie. Having customized two Quonset huts before, the couple had the confidence to try out new ideas with this one, like adding a lofted bedroom that would better utilize the structure’s height.

Morsø that comes in handy when the Pacific Northwest winter is in full swing." layout="" credit="Photo by Kaitlin Green" photoUserId=""/>

At $24,000, the arching steel roof is one of the guest suite’s priciest and most distinctive features. At the same time, for anyone visiting the property, the spartan 22-foot-tall metal structure often requires an explanation. “It’s this cognitive dissonance of materials,” says Marie of the disparity between inside and out. “The steel kit is very bunkerish and function-driven, which you don’t usually associate with warm residential spaces. But as soon as you walk inside, there’s this stunning contrast.” That gap is bridged by swooping 11-foot ceilings, rows of wood-framed windows that bring in natural light, and earthy furnishings.

$41,000 Foundation	$8,000 Patios	$46,200 Structural
$16,965 Insulation	$17,000 Drywall	$6,500 Paint
$21,130 Custom Woodwork	$4,600 Flooring	$24,000 Quonset Hut Steel Kit
$17,638 Electrical	$9,400 Plumbing	$11,000 HVAC
$12,000 Landscaping	$3,500 Kitchen & Bath Fixtures	$0 Lighting (comped)
$6,000 Cabinetry	$4,742 Countertops	$1,164 Appliances
$30,933 Windows & Doors	$17,253 Tilework	$19,760 Furnishings & Decor (Including $10K Morsø Stove)
$8,000 Permitting	$10,600 Labor	$8,000 Septic
Grand Total: $345,385

Inside, some structural materials were left exposed, like a concrete foundation that doubles as flooring and wood beams framing some of the spaces. With the foundation and structural work costing $41,000 and $46,200, respectively, there was a benefit from a budget perspective in letting them feature in the interiors.

With a lofted bedroom, kitchen, and full bathroom, the 1,200-square-foot suite is perfect for separating church and state, so to speak, giving Marie and Kurtis just enough privacy when family visits. When they aren’t hosting, Marie loves to spend time in the loft, which has a row of canopy-height windows bookended by another set at the structure’s entrance that look out over surrounding Ponderosa pines.

Developed by the U.S. Navy in 1941 as deployable barracks during World War II, the Quonset hut was a model of efficiency—lightweight, cost-effective, easy to ship, and quick to assemble. Made from corrugated steel sheets and plywood, their popularity continued, albeit discreetly, after WWII, with a number of iterations of the flat pack kit still in use today.

“Quonset huts dot the American landscape in rural, agricultural areas, and yet they’re kind of invisible at the same time,” Marie points out. “They’re workhorse buildings prized more for their function and cost than their form or aesthetic.” The main challenge for Marie with her guest suite, and the other units she designed, was figuring out how to turn a cost-effective utilitarian structure into a warm, comfortable living space.

“The steel kit is very bunkerish and function-driven, which you don’t usually associate with warm residential spaces.”
—Marie Saldivar, resident and designer

Addressing that particular design challenge laid the groundwork for Steel Hut, the prefab company Marie started in collaboration with Skylab Architecture, which now offers plan sets for units like hers. With the guest suite as something of a case study, between hosting friends and family there, Marie uses it as a showroom of sorts.

But it has come in handy for hosting. “We just had my in-laws here for three weeks when the baby came,” Marie says. “I’ve never had a separate auxiliary guest space before, and I’m never going back. It’s been a game changer for hosting the people that we love.”

More Budget Breakdown stories:

A Seattle Couple Build Twin Backyard Offices for $51K—No Permit Required

In the Netherlands, a Historic Thatched Cottage Meets a $97K Prefab

Project Credits:

Designer and Contractor: Marie Saldivar

Draftsman: Abraham Gonzalez

Structural Engineer: Walker Structural Engineering