A tent is the cheapest...

An RV that you tow out then when you want to use it would be the easiest

I own a camper and I have known several folks to own and live in tiny (shed sized) houses.  Also installed Internet and many.  People never stay in them.

You mention currently living in a 2500sqft place in town, wife and kids.

I can guarantee you you will not be happy in a camper, tent or shed for more than a weekend at most.

If it were me, I'd poor big slab (or have one poured) and build a pole barn on it.  Then frame it in, build rooms as needed.

I have a small cabin about an hour from me, around a 1000sqft and after you squeeze everyone's shit in it, its small even for just weekends...  
Permanently, unless no choice would be outta the question.

If you're going to do it, you might as well enjoy it.

Cheapest?  Other than a tent platform?

Shed with insulation and basic electrical.  Probably skip plumbing other than maybe a water tank for outdoor shower and maybe an outhouse.

You could probably have a shed delivered and then DIY most of it in a few weekends if you're remotely handy.  Just stuff the walls with insulation, put up interior paneling, and run some electric.

Nicer?

Pole barn garage big enough to park RV in, maybe with electric, bath and or kitchenette, and a few walk in closets that could double as compact bunk rooms.  Then you can either put an RV in there if you have one, or just set up bunks/cheap Ikea furniture for occasional use.

My wife had a similar property and we have also talked about adding a covered picnic pavilion.  Because the sides are open less chance of mischief, but a covered space is really nice if it's somewhere rainy.

I'm thinking of something like this, but bigger for the ranch.

If you are handy and can finish it out yourself, it shouldn't break the bank.

https://jamaicacottageshop.com/shop/bunk-house/#select-type

I was going to suggest this.

I have 2 tuff sheds and they are honestly built as good, if not better, than my house.

Here raw land is lower than any improvements such as structures.

Semi permanent option would be Quonset huts. You'll need a slab poured, but they can be a DIY with a few people and are pretty durable and low cost/sq ft



Interior ideas

My buddy bought one similar, 12x16’.  

Just got it delivered last month.  He did all his site prep work himself.  That part is his line of work.  

Had to be movable as it is a hunting club lease on paper company timber lands.   If they tell you to move it next year, you have to move it.  If the lease folds you have to move it.   That said the lease has been ongoing for decades and only a few cabins needed to be moved through the years.

Conex box assuming you can find one that's decent and not an arm and a leg

leave it as is on the outside so it just looks like storage and build out the inside at your leisure  

Damn,that pretty cool
wouldn't mind putting one in my back yard and moving into it

Two story shed that's insulated.

Skip the tent BS and get the widest/longest shed with the highest roof you can afford. Build some bunks for the kids in the back. Perhaps a day bed for you and the Mrs. that can serve as a couch during the day. No need to insulate unless you want to as a small propane space heater will take the chill out if you are using it in colder weather. You can take the interior as far as you want over time and if at some point down the line you build a house the shed can be go back to serving as storage.

A few mentioned a pavilion and I think that is a great addition to a place to sleep and and one can be built easily on your own. It is a great place to set up for cooking and hanging out even in the rain. A buddy has a large pavilion on his farm. It has electric with overhead lights, fans. He installed a SS one piece sink unit that has a counter top with running water and a wall mounted instant hot water heater. It has shelves, multiple refrigerators, hell it even has a keg on tap in it own frig.  

A buddy just picked up a 10x16 that was really well built with real quality 2x4's throughout for $6k. While his lacks the height I would have opted for it has some good space in it. Another buddy bought a house that came with a 24' gambrel style shed. It has really nice height and he put up a wall in the back to make a separate small room.

In my area of the Catskill Mountains of NYS you are allowed up to a 10x12 enclosed shed before taxes kick in. You can build as large a structure as you want as long as it does not have walls that enclose it.

Camper prices are at an all time high right now. Once gas hit's $4/gallon it's going to come crashing down. I'm holding out to get a cheap used bumper pull. Fix it up enough that my wife will tolerate it and bring it up to her family's cabin and park it so we have our own place to sleep.

in my area of WA, you can build as many structures as you want up to 200sq ft without permits. there is a feed store that couldn't get permits for large building so they built dozens of 200 sq ft sheds

you could look for an old job shack, it will be on wheels so it can be moved.

seeing how there is an old mobile, you also probably have some sort of septic system still in place

I live in town on an acre, but have 40 acres 20 mins away. my property has been tweaker free but in general in the area....tweakers will steal anything you leave nailed down or not.

tagged. I'm into small houses. I don't live in one (4400 sq feet) but I get upset about how much of that is useless. We watch a lot about small houses and unconventional stuff. I can and will do a small house when I get some rural land, and like you undecided on the options. I think it depends on a bunch of factors like the weather, needs, age of the kids, and location.

if you're going to hang out with family in their real house on their real deck, you could get away with a yurt or hunting tent with a deck on it. If you need a bit more for the wife you could do a small shed + tent for the kids. Add an outhouse with a composting toilet and some rain catchment. Solar panels for low-draw electronics and you're done.

Trailers are cheap but temporary. They do not last or hold up to weather. They leak and are annoying. But you can move them.

if the property has a lot of wood you could get someone with a portable mill to come out and prep the wood, then you and some buddies could build a 10x20 cabin easily enough.


Small trailers and mini houses on wheels have the problem they can't be over like 7'8" wide or something, so no matter what you are limited in width. A shipping container is what I will go with while I build something else. then the container is a locked garage.

Sheds are mostly junk. Friend had one delivered for a hunting cabin to a remote property that would get used 4 days a year.

Carpenter ants rapidly moved in an did a lot of damage despite chemical treatments. Other critters found their way in and chewed up his gear.

Drag an old camper out there and put a lean-to over it.

Been working for decades out at deer camp.

or if you have the setup time, one of those outfitter type camp type tent setups for under $1k.

Shipping container or semi-truck trailer.

Have a slab foundation poured.

Put a office type secure container out there for your stuff, and then build a barndominium type building beside it on the slab.

Frame out for windows, etc., but dont cut the holes in the panels just yet.

Finish the interior out as money becomes available.

Used travel trailer or a non running motorhome.

Buddy of mine got a class A with a dead engine for almost nothing. He had it towed to his property out in the desert. Generator and all the amenities work fine and it looks trashy enough on the outside to where people just kinda don't mess with it.

My vote is shed. Both my brother and I had remote ranches near each other, I had a 28' trailer and he had a shed,
both used while we built larger homes.

Trailers fall apart fast, get infested by mice, generally aren't insulated well. They get pretty noisy in storms and wind.
All it had going for it was pluming and electric were pre-done. Plumbing stuff on the trailer broke constantly, and
about 4 months out of the year you have to leave antifreeze in or risk breaking even more.
The trailer cost 4 times what his shed did.

Once he shed was built he insulated it with thick styrofoam panels, and we set up a tiny solar system. Chemical toilet handled
that. His place was way more comfortable, cheaper, and while it didn't have plumbing, there was nothing to break, either.
Bed was a normal bed, if you needed heat a Buddy heater took care of it.

15 years later, my trailer was falling apart and his shed became essentially a small guest house and is in perfect shape.

Friend of mine had one of those portable storage barn building things on his hunting lease for a few years before he built an actual lodge.

Pretty much had a bucket and a water hose as far as plumbing was concerned, but two bunk beds, window unit AC, electric heater, a fridge, microwave, and TV made it livable.

Got those japanese lady bug looking things in it bad every year, but otherwise no big issues.

He still has it next to the lodge he built.  The kids still "camp" out there a lot of the time.

I'd look at doing something like that temporarily, save money to build something, and then you can use the portable building for storage in the future.

In NY you are but it's much lower than when there is a house on it

My vote would be a simple steel building with running water and park an RV inside it.

I have an RV, and a fish camp that needs somewhere for me to sleep.  Ok, for me, 2k for electrical and done-hard to beat the price (or $800 for an inverter)

That said, I have basically full times out of an RV. It would not take much to have a shed that is better.  Plus it is harder to steal a shed and less work fixing one.

Goal is to get a shed at the fish camp. Plus the. I can tow the boat and not the RV