Building a lakeside cabin sounds like a fun idea. Until you actually start building one and realize close to two decades of schooling didn’t really prepare you for any form of carpentry work.  Hermit Houses offer an easier alternative: pre-fab micro-homes that you can transport and set up like your favorite pieces from IKEA.
Made by Cloud Collective, the home modules can collapse flat-packed, making them easy to transport and square away. Just pile the flat-packed pieces to your Legacy Power Wagon, take them down to your set-up site of choice, and work it like the platform bed you got from IKEA last week.
Hermit Houses currently have four models: Abe, Elly, Emily, and Jean. Abe is a fully-insulated 14-square-meter cabin designed for couples and small families, with a large bed, a kitchenette, a dining area, and a large porch.  Elly is a 19-square-meter abode that packs some serious amenities: a cozy heater, wood heater, water purifier, and even pre-installed solar panels for generating your own power. Emy is an 11.5-square-meter pavilion with a wide open entryway for enjoying the outdoor breeze. Jean is an insulated 17-square-meter cabin designed for longer stays, with a murphy bed, a folding table, a kitchenette, a bathroom (with shower and compost toilet), water heater, solar charging system, lighting, water tank and attic storage space.
Considering these are full-fledged living spaces, assembly won’t exactly be the same couple hours it takes you to put together flat-packed IKEA pieces. Expect minimal construction work, but do free up at least two days to get everything in place.
We can’t find pricing details, but Hermit Houses are now available in the EU, both in full service form (they’ll do the installation) and as a DIY construction set.