Kirsten Dirksen

🎄 If you’re struggling to find a Christmas gift that’s useful, affordable, long-lasting, and genuinely uplifting—and that can be appreciated across viewpoints 🤝—we’d be honored if you considered our book 📘 LIFE-CHANGING HOMES, available on Amazon and at your local bookstore 🏘️📚.

🏡 At its heart, the book is about home—not as a product or a status symbol, but as a place of meaning, resilience, and care for one another.

📰 If you’re wondering why this might be a gift that won’t let you down, we’re deeply grateful for this beautiful article Lou Fancher just wrote for the East Bay Times and other Bay Area News Group papers:
👉 www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/12/16/berkeley-couples-n…

📦 Amazon link: www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Homes-Eco-Friendly-De…
✍️ If you pick up a copy, leaving a short review on Amazon really helps support independent authors and gets the book into more hands 🙏⭐

❤️ Love you all. Thanks for being such a thoughtful, curious, and kind community. Have a great week 🌱✨

1 day ago (edited) | [YT] | 197

Kirsten Dirksen

The US is still building fewer homes than before 2008, pushing prices up as buyers get older and wealthier. Construction is the only major sector where productivity has fallen—so could prefab help turn that around? Companies like Wikkelhouse in the Netherlands show how modular design can fit even in suburban, single-family areas. Their cabins use 1.2-meter-deep segments that simply click together. Want a spherical window, a micro-bathroom, a bunk nook, or two or three modules forming a larger room? You choose. You compose. You build. Could good, livable homes go up faster and at competitive prices? Prefab isn't ready yet for prime time, but could that change with the right incentives? We invite you to revisit their concept with us.

6 days ago | [YT] | 111

Kirsten Dirksen

Many of us dream of restoring an old building. Gorka actually did it—without erasing its history. But he also happens to be an industrial designer in northern Spain, so instead of transforming his rural Navarre property by building outward, he went into the earth to build a modern underground addition that frames the landscape like a razor. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but we got the feeling he wasn't trying to sell the idea. Instead, he was enjoying it. It's another way of giving rural places a second life. Don't miss our visit to Gorka's impressive Landaburu Borda. And have a great rest of the week!

1 week ago | [YT] | 116

Kirsten Dirksen

Four years ago this time of the year, we climbed a narrow Alpine road to meet with a young priest who had invited us to his tiny renovated Italian country home perched in the mountains, which he had turned into his mountaintop hermitage. Johannes gifted our family with an unforgettable day. The video of our visit is a testimony of how much better off we all are when we share moments together 🏞️🏡🌱😊 We hope this moment with Johannes will make you smile, as it did us. Have a great weekend!

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 173

Kirsten Dirksen

🌿 Need proof that a rich life doesn’t require a big budget? Tycho and Karoline show what can happen when creativity, work, and a commitment to the land come before money. With simple tools, solar power, and ingenuity, they built a comfortable home for little and now grow nearly all their food on their biodiverse farm. They live mortgage-free in a Danish ecovillage. Their story is a reminder that autonomy and resilience are still possible when we slow down, work with the land, and build existence with intention. Thank you, Tycho & Karoline, for sharing these windows into what’s possible. 💚🌱

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 134

Kirsten Dirksen

James Cutler has taken on some of architecture’s biggest projects—from Bill Gates’ 66,000-sq-ft home to a $139M federal building—yet it’s often the small spaces that fuel his passion. Like the 8-by-10 shed-studio he built in his backyard with his 12-year-old daughter. After tearing down an old tool shed, the 2 spent 8 months pouring the foundation and crafting the structure from rough-sawn Douglas fir. The result is part kids’ hangout, part sleepover cabin, and part studio where Cutler designs buildings around the world. What makes this tiny space special isn’t its size but its spirit—a reminder that good design is less about scale or budget and more about listening to a place, its materials, and the people who will inhabit it… and sometimes, about the joy of creating something meaningful with your child. Don't miss this if you didn't get the chance to watch this video when we published it. Enjoy :)

1 month ago | [YT] | 143

Kirsten Dirksen

We filmed in this forest not far from our house in the Spanish countryside a few years back, and we still remember how much the house seemed to "know" about the place and surroundings: Wrapped in cork and designed with Trombe walls instead of HVAC, Nancy and her husband’s house near Barcelona stays cool in summer and warm in winter — using the sun, shade, and even a natural pool that cleans itself with plants. It’s a small ecosystem that seems to breathe with the forest around it. 🌞💧 If you're interested in using the elements to cool and warm a home, check out this video repost. Have a great weekend, y'all!

1 month ago | [YT] | 205

Kirsten Dirksen

We're sometimes inspired by setups that we think we could never do. But when we visited Cam and Janeen, their can-do attitude was contagious: What started as a dream — just a family (some salvaged materials, and a piece of land) became a living, breathing private ecovillage: "Anybody can do it." 🌱💪 They built their home over 16 years, using what others threw away: steel beams from a Lockheed factory, surfboards as insulation, and scraps. They didn’t wait for the “perfect time.” They started small — a trailer, then one room, then another — until their handmade haven grew into a self-sufficient home powered by rain, sun, and persistence. ☀️💧 We hope you enjoy this repost, good Thursday, everyone :)

1 month ago | [YT] | 128

Kirsten Dirksen

🪨 -> 🛖💚 Turning boulders into a unique underground dwelling? Never underestimate people's creativity or the value they place on things. When Steve Demarest bought a rocky, steep lot on the wrong side of the road in the Cascades, he turned the challenge into an opportunity to create something wild and beautiful. What started as his kids’ play cave became a hand-carved home tucked between giant boulders. Now part cave, part megalith, it’s a cozy shelter built with the land, not just on it. Proof that sometimes, the hardest material makes the most lasting home. We hope you enjoy this repost. Have a great rest of the week!

1 month ago | [YT] | 121

Kirsten Dirksen

🌞 We’re back in full brightness! Last Sunday’s upload had an encoding issue that made it a bit... too cinematic — it was dark for most viewers (unless you watched in HDR mode 😅). We thought all your comments were referring to the indoor scenes in Finland— but nope, it was the whole video! Thankfully, YouTube’s tech team helped us swap in the correct version, and it’s now live for everyone:

👉 Watch the fixed version here https://youtu.be/RwZQ8GCHgRg?si=Ftuok...

This film isn’t meant to lecture — it’s about people finding creative, dignified solutions to homelessness. The goal is to spark ideas and real conversations, and it’s already doing just that.

Thank you all for your patience, your thoughtful comments, and for always watching with such open minds. Let’s keep the discussion inspiring and inclusive — this story is for everyone. 💛

— Kirsten & Nicolas

2 months ago | [YT] | 165