The Bigart family shows off their storage container house. On the top level is John Bigart III and on the second level is Elena Bigart. On the bottom level are grandmothers Jacquie Bigart and Evgeniya Nikolaeva, who was visiting from Moscow, Russia, and Grampa John Bigart II holding Bella. Bob, the black lab, was also part of the festivities. (Monte Turner/Mineral Independent)

John Bigart III is the mayor of Alberton as well as being the executive director of The Brain Injury Institute of Montana.

He and his wife, Elena, a Fulbright Scholarship recipient, teaches at University of Montana in Missoula and is also a part of the Institute for Tourism & Recreation Research.

They recently ordered three storage containers that are each 45-feet by 8-feet by 9 1/2-feet tall that were delivered to the property they own west of their Alberton residence.

John and Elena are not manufacturers, contractors or plumbers. They’re not electricians, roofers or have much knowledge in pouring cement.

But they have imagination, ingenuity and friends who have the other talents needed for this project that they started in early April in the Westfall area.

The three-storage containers will be the foundation of a house that they are building each weekend, with their friends, while they enjoy the view over the Clark Fork River, have a couple adult libations and throw hatchets.

More on that in a moment.

“If you go to YouTube and search for storage container houses, you’ll realize how popular this actually is. We paid $4,700 for each container and today they cost around $7,000 a piece,” John said.

This is going to be their get-a-way retreat, and it will be constructed so that it could be lived in year-round. They have a tiny house in their back yard in Alberton that is an Air B & B and another residence in Seeley Lake that is another getaway/rental.

But this is going to be theirs and theirs alone.

“Each container works out to be 1,100 square feet”, he said. “The cost of building a stick house is around $300 a square foot and once this is completed, it will be so much less in construction cost, and we’ll have what we want as this is being done on a shoestring budget.”

Elena wants a roof top garden, so the agreement is that John will be able to have a rooftop bar. This will be incredibly unique having three decks with one on each container over two levels.

Recently, a friend with a plasma cutter made wide open rectangles for two gigantic windows and a sliding door that goes out to the patio-deck where during the building process, this space works as a break area with garden tables and umbrellas.

Water and power have been installed so a refrigerator, fire pit and BBQ are nearby for refreshments when a break is needed and at the end of a long day.

To the north, a 4-foot by 4-foot piece of ¾ inch plywood is attached to a tree with four or five hatchets dug in near a big red bullseye. Friendly competition and relaxation, John said with a smile.

“The hatchet throwing is great. I just have to keep an eye on my friends when they do it after a few drinks. But all of us are getting better and better at throwing them.”

Inside there will be the standard living arrangements with a kitchen, bedrooms, living room, etc. and a spiral staircase since they take up less space.

John is actually going to Kalispell to look at one that is already pre-made and could be transported in one piece.

To handle potentially heavy snow loads, concrete will be poured on each rooftop with heavy duty beams in place while it cures making it stout and solid.

“I can fir out a wall and run electrical and do some sheetrock work, but I’m not a builder,” he said. “Our goal is to have the outside insulated and covered before winter. Not that we are trying to hide the fact that it’s built from storage containers, but to have extra insulation as we want to be able to use this in the winter.”

On top of their careers, community service and managing property rentals, the Bigarts adopted a baby girl earlier this year.

‘Bella’ has a little chair on site where she must watch mommy, daddy and their construction-friends build a place where fond memories will be made.

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