As Brian and Joni Buzarde closed in on their 30s, they were eager to settle down in a place of their own. But there was a problem: Neither knew where their fledgling careers would take them. So they devised a solution that was unorthodox but practical, and they built a house that could go with them no matter where they ended up.
Their 236-square-foot trailer—which Brian’s brother, Brandon, nicknamed Woody—has made upward mobility possible, having moved with them from Austin, Texas, to the Rocky Mountains hamlet of Marble, Colorado. Before finding its current mooring, this modern backcountry cabin on wheels was nestled in a trailer park not far from cattle ranches and wilderness trails, where the couple’s home stood apart from the clunky double-wides and anchored Airstreams that surrounded it.
Altogether, Woody cost about $50,000 to build. The couple put Brian’s skills as a recent architecture school graduate to the test by designing it themselves. They decided early on that they would take on all of the construction work, too, even though they had no experience. “Just doing it was a leap of faith,” Brian says. “We maxed out all the assets we had. Most of our family members thought we were crazy.”
