Ask HN: Would you rent an office cabin? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Would you rent an office cabin?

Here's the pitch. A cabin on a few acres of woods somewhere nearby you (20-30) minute drive. It's small maybe 6x10 cabin with electricity and fiber internet. There's a covered common area with a firepit, tables, and chairs that's shared between you and the 4-7 other cabins at your "camp site". There's a few camp sites around the property. Groomed trails meander through the forests that you can see from the large window in your cabin.

If you were a remote employee, or even a hybrid remote, would you rent a space like this? How much would you want to pay?

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My question to this would be, why wouldn't you have this as your house if this area is close. Why commute?

Just move that 20-30 further from city/town to a few acres and have your office in a room in said house. And now you 'commute' to town when you want town things, which is probably far less than daily for most.

This is what I did anyway, and personally its been a great choice.

I'd love to hear more about how it has gone for you. I've been working from a home office this year (as most have) and now I'm thinking of buying a building a cabin on the property. I like the separation of work and home life but I was looking forward to seeing coworkers again.

For me well. I'm WFH. I wondered if I would feel isolated but not at all. I can go a couple weeks hardly leaving the place and not bothered. That said I'm wife and 2 kids so not alone. Have a few good neighbours about so weekend beers still exists too. Also pre-covid every 6-8 weeks Ive head back to the city for most of a week to get office facetime. I do miss that for collegures and hitting some restaurants but nothing bad.

I think its a love it or hate it enviroment. I'm on acres with a hobby farm, so its like having 2 jobs maintaining animals and paddocks.

I like the physical offset to keyboard based job and happy to keep busy. Also the problem solving nature of farm work is rewarding...not always enjoyable dealing with problems but there is great satisfaction in figuring out new things and learning new skills. Im still a numpty on farm side work but always improving knowledge and what I can do. And for me nature is my food of the soul so being surrounded by trees and animals is fulfilling. Also I like doing activity like dirkbikes, hiking, hunting its all on the doorstep. Before getting outdoors was often organised weeks in advance and a full weekend. Now I'll jump on the bike to go see how the cattle are and have a run around the property on my lunch break.

All that... some people would find it a nightmare for the isolation, non-stop chores etc.

One consideration is if your planning to 'homestead /farm' or generally have more than just a house in a cabin, do it while younger + machinery is your friend. Initially we planned to tree change for retirement but physically it isn't possible I feel. That said the local vet here still jousts at 75 so there's hope :)

Yes but also no more that 200 to 500 depending on the area I mean I suppose I have to pay for the internet and it still is an hour of driving every day so yeah I already pay rent and so do most of the remotees so why would they prefer to pay for this instead of getting a bigger place, unless it is very cheap

In a kind of similar light, a few of my friends are all remote and we've been looking at renting an small office together. We all work at different companies, but would be fun to share an office.

You might not remain friends if you try this...

This is an interesting development...

That's sort of why I started this thread. The products I work on have some strict requirements on who is allowed to see them and whatnot. So I would want to share a space with friends but they can't see what I'm working on. Hence, individual cabins. I'm curious to see how it goes with your friends, sounds fun.

There is a low probability I would rent a space like that. If I lived somewhere close enough to have deserted woods (where there could be multiple cabins with trails) within a 20 or 30 minutes drive I think that implies a low cost of land.

If that's true my first priority would be to have either a house big enough for a separate office or even enough land to have an office shack or floor above my garage. A separate work cabin that involves a commute doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

It's okay if you just didn't go into detail but I don't see anything about a kitchen, and the remote location kinda implies there isn't anywhere nearby to get food. Nothing nearby is totally okay as long as I have somewhere to make or at least reheat food. Firepits aren't enough if they're the only method of cooking because it can be pretty gnarly outside and I don't want making lunch every day to involve making a fire, dealing with rain, and getting smoky.

All great points. The idea came about when I started considering building a cabin nearby either on my property or somewhere nearby. I like the idea of an office cabin but it seemed a little too solitary for me. Then I wondered about an office cabin community and what it would look like.

You make a great point about kitchens. Dutch oven is a nice aesthic and would be fun occasionally but day to day there needs to be at least a microwave.

You might be on to something. I work remote... Already in a small mountain town but in my new-ish neighborhood the houses are crowded together. We've considered buying more remote land but the zoning codes in most CO counties require you to finish a building in 1 year and prohibit RVs until a house is finished (to deter people from doing exactly what we would do: parking an RV on your 10 acres). So: if we could rent a similar setup once in a while for a month or two that would have great appeal. However in my situation I would NOT want other cabins, bathrooms, or firepits any closer than 300 or 400 feet away. If I want to hear my neighbors while i'm coding I can just stay at home.

I have been looking for a place like this. A small cabin with good internet where I can be alone but also a communal area where I can meet other people when I get cabin fever. It would genuinely be perfect for me.

Yes, I think you've gotten the vibe I was going for exactly. A private space when I need it and some community associations when I don't

Would food be included? I don't really want to 'fight' with 7 entire other groups over the use of a single firepit, unless there are grills every campsite or similar.

Great point. I think there would be a grill or fire at every camp site but someone pointed out that just a firepit isn't enough. I think there would need to be a mess hall cabin that has water and a microwave and maybe more than that?

While I would love to have a chef prepare food or just get things delivered every day, that adds to the monthly cost very quickly.

I would love to have more destinations be office-focused.

How would you prevent people from living in this cabin or why shouldn't they?

Great point. I guess if you wanted to stay you could? I'm guessing that might be against zoning laws since it would likely be a commercial property.

Yes.

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