A woman and her family are getting ready to move into their new home after it was built from scratch using recycled shipping containers that cost as much as a parking space in London.
Fiona Horsey Rivadeneira, 43, always dreamed of building her own house, and along with the help of her 46-year-old husband Juan Carlos, she decided to do so - in the mountains of Colombia.
The mum-of-two, from Surrey, and her husband found the perfect spot for their home in the mountainside and set about building their property from disused shipping containers.
And although they faced struggles - such as attempting to get the containers up the mountain to their build site - the couple couldn't be happier with the finished result 12 months later, which set them back just £52,000.
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For the same price, you can currently buy a single car parking space in a multi storey car park in Islington in the capital.
Fiona - who is mum to Sofia, 11, and Sebastian, 10 - said: "People said we were crazy to try and get the materials up a winding mountain road and often asked us why are we building with containers?
"Now when they see the transformation, they say wow."
The actress and voiceover artist began renovations on the dream build in June 2020 on the site of another house which had collapsed after a flood and said she was "in her element" during the building phase.
She added: "We built on top of a house which had collapsed due to a flood and had then been slowly taken apart. We had to take down some chimneys and old bits of wall to get the containers up. We took it from there with a builder and his team.
"I was in charge of buying materials, organising and overseeing the builders and I loved it. I felt in my element and I learned so much.
"It's cost roughly 250 million Colombian pesos - around £52,000. The stress was normal, but I had absolute faith that I could do it, I never doubted that."
Fiona also said her decision to use recycled shipping containers came as she has "always had a fascination" with the items, as well as wanting to reuse and recycle as much material as possible.
She explained: "I have always had a fascination for containers and would look at pictures and ideas online. I love reusing and recycling, seeing something transform into something else that is useful and I love their shape and adaptability.
"I took as many precautions as I could possibly foresee.
"There are mistakes now that I regret, but everything can be fixed with money and effort. For example, we should have put in some extra foundation columns because one of the containers slightly buckled, so we have put two more columns underneath to support it."
Despite some minor regrets, Fiona and her family love the home they've built.
She said: "I love my bedroom with its big windows, light and beautiful view. I love the terraces as well.
"Reusing all the window frames from an old apartment was a good thing, the container can be adapted to anything, you just cut and go.
"We are still work in progress, we have more terrace roofs to put up, glass coverings, curtains, closets, and beautiful gardens to surround the container."
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