New Deck

The outdoor shower can be accessed either through the master bathroom or from the back porch, which is nice after a long bike ride on a hot Houston day--especially because the couple stores several of their nine bikes (including a tandem) on one of the interior walls of the shower space.

Alongside the redwood shade screen, which keeps the house from overheating, Freeman and Feldmann grow vegetables in an 18-inch-wide garden but frequently bike to nearby eateries for the local Mexican cuisine.

The 400-square-foot deck between the main house and guest quarters catches a cool breeze—a big bonus during Houston’s “super-summers”—and is often filled with the couple and their friends enjoying local microbrews. "The challenge was how to stitch together the house and the guest container without it looking like at the last minute we decided we needed a little more space," Robertson says.

Keeping size in mind is key. Container lengths vary from 8 to 53 feet, with 20 feet and 40 feet being the most common.