Meet a former potato factory worker who builds some of the world’s craziest Airbnbs – from a tree house in Hawaii to a hobbit hole in Washington

• Kristie Wolfe worked $13/hour factory jobs in Idaho for years while living in a “shed on wheels.”

• She used her savings to buy land in Hawaii on Craigslist for $8,000 and built a treehouse in the jungle.

• Since then, Wolfe has built four unique Airbnbs across the country – see photos of them all here.

Kristie Wolfe is the creator of some of the world’s most extravagant Airbnbs, from an underground hobbit hole in Washington to a hotel made from a six-ton ​​concrete potato.

Its four accommodations cost between $200 and $400 a night and sell out months to a year in advance. In an interview with Insider, Wolfe described her journey from earning $13 an hour as a factory worker to becoming one of the most popular hosts on the Airbnb app.

Despite the 14-hour shifts and low wages, Wolfe speaks fondly of his time working at the potato plant in Boise, Idaho. In fact, she said the position ranked second on her list of “dream jobs,” behind librarian.

“There was a lot of problem solving,” she said. “I love efficiency and finding new ways to make something work, and I have to do all of those things at this job.”

Wolfe’s passion for efficiency also dominated her life outside of work, where she lived in a small house she described as a “cabin on wheels”.

Costing a total of $3,000, she built the mobile structure on a tree farm with her mother as an “experiment in minimalism,” she told Insider. After realizing the lifestyle came naturally to him, Wolfe took it a step further and went completely off the grid.

With no mortgage or utilities to pay, Wolfe said she was able to cut her living costs to “almost nothing” while saving money for her next big project: a solar-powered treehouse in Hawaii.

See photos of Wolfe’s four unique Airbnb stays here:

1. The Tropical Cabin in the Fern Forest, Hawaii.

Wolfe told Insider she spent virtually “all of her earnings” on her very first Airbnb property, a 230-square-foot treehouse in Hawaii’s Fern Forest.

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She built the one-bedroom house on a half-acre lot that she bought on Craigslist for $8,000 without seeing it. Once the treehouse had a roof, Wolfe said she slept on its floor for the rest of the build.

2. The Hobbit Inn in Chelan, Washington.

Wolfe’s next project, an underground hobbit hole in Washington, was the “most wanted” Airbnb in the state.

The listing’s immense popularity is a prime example of the “unique stays” trend on Airbnb, where the home itself becomes a destination. The number of travelers who searched for unique stays on Airbnb more than doubled between the first 10 months of 2020 and the same period in 2018, according to the data.

3. Crystal Peak Viewpoint in Fernwood, Idaho.

Wolfe’s third purchase was his most expensive property to date, a $67,000 rural fire lookout surrounded by 13 acres of Idaho forest.

The renovated tower – once infested with rats – now includes a sauna, wood-burning stove and a restored 1964 Thikol Snowcat.

4. The Big Idaho Potato Hotel in Boise, Idaho.

Wolfe is perhaps best known for her “potato hotel” in Boise, Idaho, the town where her little journey home began.

The Idaho Potato Commission offered the six-ton ​​concrete potato to Wolfe, who completed the structure’s renovation in 2019.

Above an old silo converted into a spa, the $200-a-night rental includes companionship from Wolfe’s pet cow.

Read the original article at Business Intern