Short-term rentals of “potatoes” and fire watchers may seem more outlandish than popular, but this designer has built a growing empire of unique Airbnbs — and has now unveiled the tricks of her budget-strapped craft.
“I set out to build properties that were so cool that people would come see me,” said Kristie Wolfe, the mastermind behind such remote but sought-after Airbnb properties as the $200 Big Idaho Potato Hotel. converted fire observation post$300 a night hawaiian treehouse and $400 a night hobbit holeshe recently told The Hustle.
Wolfe began her current career building temporary off-grid housing around 2010, at the age of 27, when she discovered and fell in love with the tiny house movement. She was working at a potato factory in Idaho at the time and used her meager earnings to build a tiny 97-square-foot house from the ground up on the outskirts of Boise. “The house was basically a shed on wheels,” she told The Hustle. “But living without stuff made me feel good.”
In love, she decided to build another house, this time thinking of earning an income. In 2013, she found a Craigslist listing for an overgrown ½ acre lot off the beaten path on the Big Island of Hawaii, on which she built an $11,000 treehouse. She then listed the property on Airbnb and, within 100 days, had her entire investment back.
“I could have stopped there and relaxed with the income,” she said. “But I’m not shy.”
From there, she built her other properties and earned herself legendary status in the Airbnb DIY builder community — and generous passive income. -in demand, but cheap land and less competition), staying on budget by being crafty (his hobbit house has light fixtures made from willow branches) and using the word “keeper” instead of “housekeeper” in the advertisements for the position.
“People always think some things are impossible,” Wolfe said of his building research process. “But when you’re pushed into a corner, you just figure it out.”
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