Pepe Romero and Eugenia Diaz, both 35, know a thing or two about dramatic lifestyle changes.

                                            Pepe Romero and Eugenia Diaz.  Modern home cabin.

The couple moved from Spain to Los Angeles in 2012 after graduating from university, Romero told Insider. Diaz had a background in medicine, but began founding a handbag brand in 2014. As the brand grew, Romero left his job at an architectural firm to help manage the business. Five years later, in 2019, the couple decided to close it because they wanted to change their lifestyle.

“We built a camper van and traveled around Europe for a few months when the idea of ​​building our own home came to mind,” Romero said.

                                            The caravan that the couple transformed and traveled across Europe.  Modern home cabin

Part of the decision was inspired by their experience transforming the truck, Romero said. “When we bought our empty, used truck, all the offers we got to turn it into a camper were too high. We couldn’t afford it,” Romero said. “We had to make it ourselves and after that, we realized that anything can be done if you try hard and study it.”

When they finished converting the van, they realized how much they loved working with their hands and decided to bring that same ethos to a new project: building a tiny cabin.

                                            The exterior of the completed cabin.  Modern home cabin.

“When it came time to build a house, hiring someone to do it wasn’t what we wanted, as we had already experienced what it was like to do things ourselves,” Romero said. So the couple came to build a tiny cabin in the countryside in Alentejo, Portugal. The cabin is tucked away in a small town of about 30 people, most of whom are elderly people who have lived here all their lives, he added. The cabin is located on the side of a private dirt road that leads to a next door neighbor’s land. “I have many years of experience in architectural design and Eugenia is a designer by profession, but neither of us built anything until we built our truck,” he added.

Initially, the couple was on the hunt for a dilapidated house that they could renovate themselves.

                                            Romero and Diaz work on the metal base of the booth.  Modern home cabin

“Renovating an existing structure seemed like something that was easier to do and more feasible, but all the ruins we encountered were not what we were looking for,” Romero said. Many of the buildings they found were illegal and poorly maintained, he said. “After a few months, I told Eugenia that maybe we could look for an empty piece of land so we could design and build what we wanted from scratch,” Romero said. “We found our property in a couple of weeks, signed the lease and moved in our van to live in it.”

The lot Romero and Diaz bought is nearly 1.2 acres, but the cabin only occupies a small portion of the land.

                                            Romero installs the cabin frame.  Modern home cabin

The couple wanted to keep the cost of living down by being self-sufficient, Romero said: “For that to happen, we needed to grow our own food, so the size of the land was kind of important.” The space also meant they weren’t too close to their neighbors, giving them the privacy they wanted, she said. “After those first two years of living off the land, we realized we didn’t need that much space to grow our own food,” he added. The couple declined to share how much they paid for the land. …