How many of you have dreamed of building a secluded retreat for your family to enjoy and get away from the pressures of our busy lives? How about doing it twelve miles from the nearest road and hauling all of your tools and materials to the site via a combination of boat, helicopter, and home-made pulley system?

This is exactly what Studio Shed customers Matt and Tina Teaford did this summer on a beautiful and remote piece of land on Fox Island in Alaska. They were kind enough to give us an update of their truly inspirational project now that they’ve completed building their two Studio Sheds. For anyone dreaming of their own place in the woods, have a read of Matt and Tina’s story in their own words:

“We thought we would give you an update on the progress of the Studio Sheds we are building in Alaska. Since leaving Louisville in May it has been quite a journey for us. We had significant mechanical problems and were lucky to limp the truck and the materials to Seattle where it all went on a barge for Alaska. Once in Alaska we made countless boat trips out to the property.

The property is about 12 miles from the nearest town of Seward, AK. We have a 17-foot open skiff that we used to make the nearly hour-long journey out to Fox Island. From there we unloaded materials onto he pebble beach sometimes in less than ideal weather. The other challenge is that the building site sits about 150 feet up on a cliff. We were able to engineer a fixed cable line powered by an electric winch to haul up some of the smaller materials and to begin building the foundations.

 

At the beginning of September we were finally ready to get the bulk of the Studio Shed materials out to the property. We arranged for a landing craft boat to haul the materials out to a nearby beach. Over the course of 2 days and 3 boat trips we staged all the materials on the beach. These piles were strapped together and lifted to the property by helicopter. We lucked out with the weather on these days and everything (including windows and doors) made it up safely. We got both sheds up and hopefully all ready for the winter. We are still in shock that it all worked out and are already looking forward to next summer when we can start adding some improvements (such as decks, finishing the interiors, and adding one window) and enjoying our new place that we lovingly call “The Perch.”

 

Overall, we were impressed with the craftsmanship and quality of the materials provided. We love our Studio Sheds and are very happy that we went with your company. There were a lot of logistics involved, but at least we were able to trust that all necessary materials were already compiled for us. That really was a huge advantage with these packages rather than doing it all on our own.

Anyhow, we wanted to give you an update and to share our experience. In addition, we wanted to once again thank everyone that we have worked with at Studio Shed. You all were helpful, encouraging and it was a pleasure working with the whole team there.”

There is more great content about this project at Matt and Tina’s own blog at https://foxislandblog.wordpress.com/