Kirsten Dirksen

We just hit 2 million subscribers — and we’re still in awe! 🎉🙌 Thank you to every one of you — from those who’ve been with us since the beginning to the newest members of this growing community: it’s been 15 incredible years together. We timed this celebration with the legendary NYC publishing company of illustrated books, Abrams Books, to bring to you something special: a big-format book that gathers our most celebrated adventures in-depth, with rich photography and original writing. This one is for keeps, a reference book to help you escape to a nice imaginary place, inspire your next home revamp, or help you with your new build. The book covers any possible pivot in life, and we honestly think it's a book that lets you travel and always come back with something useful. It's called LIFE-CHANGING HOMES, and you can pre-order it here: www.abramsbooks.com/product/life-changing-homes_97… It will hit bookstores across the US on May 27, 2025. We are also planning a book giveaway! So, here's the question for you: How would you like that book giveaway to happen? We could ask you something like: "Tell us which story from the channel inspired you most and why." Leave more ideas in the comments!

2 days ago | [YT] | 809

Kirsten Dirksen

We endure harshness and healing in different ways, though opening a new, brighter chapter in life is always possible. George Suyama spent his early years in a Japanese American internment camp. Later in life, when he became an architect, he realized that the experience led to his love for simplicity. "Maybe because there was nothing there, that I wanted to make everything as simple as I could." His tiny home outside Seattle is a testimony to a life inspired by endurance. We hope you find this repost as inspiring as we did when we were watching it again this morning. Thanks George!

1 week ago | [YT] | 159

Kirsten Dirksen

Even when we feel we're stuck in some life situation, all we need for things to change is to try. Lewis and Laura left the city temporarily to live in Villa Slow, the rural home that Laura had renovated in the mountains of Cantabria (rural Northern Spain), and the temporary shift became permanent. Rather than returning to the city after a while, they built a small workshop and home annex nearby. Their setup is an example of right-sizing for the life you want to live. We hope you enjoy this repost. Take care of yourselves and each other.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 195

Kirsten Dirksen

In 1958, James and Anne Hubbell stood on a patch of untamed land in the Cuyamaca Mountains and saw something others couldn’t—a home shaped by nature, not by convention. With their own hands ⛏️🛠️, they carved shelter from the hillside, using boulders as walls and timber milled on-site. No straight lines, no rigid angles—just the flowing curves of seashells 🐚 and the organic embrace of the land. The children of James and Anne Hubbell may be the only people who can claim to have grown up in a seashell-like dwelling ;-) We hope you enjoy this inspiring repost.

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 122

Kirsten Dirksen

”I left behind a good life for a better one.” Matt Swarbrick had traveled the world filming ecosystems for the BBC series Planet Earth, but he realized he didn’t know the birds in his own backyard. So, he and his wife Jenny left city life to, in his words, “grow cabbages and children” on 80 acres of former quarry land in Wales. 🌍🎥 ➝ 🚜🌱👶! With nothing but a dream (and a big loan), they restored the soil with no-dig gardening, turned pastures into thriving agroforestry, and built homes straight out of Middle Earth—one a Celtic roundhouse, the other a Viking turf cabin. Now, their farm feeds 100 families, and their land tells a new story: that a regenerative, self-sustaining life isn’t just a fantasy. We hope you enjoy this repost. Welcome back, Matt & Jenny!

1 month ago | [YT] | 125

Kirsten Dirksen

Here's a humble home reborn with care and vision: Alfredo Vanotti saw more than decay in the crumbling walls of his family's barn—he saw the bones of a home. With a tight budget and his own two hands (and his father’s), he transformed the former cow stable and hayloft into a warm, elegant home for himself and his daughter. Even the garage became his studio, where he now designs for the future inside the past. "My grandfather built this barn a century ago. It was falling apart, like much of the old town center. People left, but I stayed." We hope you like this repost of our friend Alfredo from the Italian Alps area of Sondrio 🏡✨

1 month ago | [YT] | 141

Kirsten Dirksen

When Kostas Zouvelos first saw the crumbling stone tower on Greece’s Mani Peninsula, he didn’t have a plan—just a feeling: this piece of history, standing resilient against time, was worth restoring. And, in the process, he thought, he might find his place. For eight years, Kostas and his wife Kassiani worked to rebuild it, learning ancient techniques, mixing mortar by hand until it blended perfectly with the land. They carved a home out of the ruins, turning the 25-square-meter floors into a compact yet soulful retreat. Every detail—every stone, every olive tree replanted—was a tribute to the past and a gift to the future. Escape with us to a pleasant corner of the Mediterranean with this repost. We hope you enjoy it.

1 month ago | [YT] | 140

Kirsten Dirksen

Houses aren't affordable even in the remote towns of Middle America anymore. Many rightfully complain about high interest rates & inflated prices, but some take creative approaches to the phenomenon while keeping their places' style/vernacular. Bob Quinn turned one of the iconic Madison County round grain silos we see by the road & turned it into an affordable, "prairie-style" home for a few thousand dollars. Quinn also explains that it's round & properly anchored, so aerodynamic & tornado-proof. The Quinns are quite satisfied with their outcome. Way to go Bob! Enjoy this repost as much as we did 😊

1 month ago | [YT] | 142

Kirsten Dirksen

Fina Puigdevall grew up in a 15th-century farmhouse in Olot, Catalonia. When developers threatened to take it, she turned the old stables into a restaurant. No culinary school, no roadmap—just a deep connection to the land. Thirty years later, Les Cols holds two Michelin stars. Carme Pigem was Fina’s childhood friend. She became an architect, co-founding RCR Arquitectes (Pritzker winners). When Fina asked her to redesign the restaurant, Carme didn’t just renovate—she opened the space to the land, framing orchards and chicken runs with glass and light. That's how the two small-town classmates rose to the top of their disciplines while never leaving their rural area. We hope you enjoy this repost, which is a tour to a beautiful area we're fond of.

1 month ago | [YT] | 143

Kirsten Dirksen

"We lived in a trailer for six years before we could move in. But we never doubted it would be worth it." When no bank would loan them money for their dream home, Steve and Jeff didn’t take no for an answer. They started building anyway, paycheck by paycheck, step by step. They laid the foundation with recycled highway signs. They held a “dome-raising” party to lift the beams into place. They spent an entire year tying rebar by hand. “It wasn’t easy,” Steve admits. “But we knew what we were working toward.” Today, their earth-sheltered home is strong enough to withstand hurricanes and earthquakes, but they say the best part is how it feels. No heating, no cooling—just the perfect temperature year-round. No mortgage, no debt—just freedom. “We’ve had people ask if it’s like living in a cave. But there’s so much light. More than any home we’ve ever lived in.” We recommend this video repost on a chilly day in many places; here's some earth-sheltered solace.

1 month ago | [YT] | 139