Woman can’t get a mortgage, so she designed and built her own boat house with a gorgeous interior

Jen, a woman from England, has been living in a floating home, for over three years.

Unable to get a mortgage due to her self-employed status, she designed and built her own boat after seeing others along the canal and thought, “That’s the life I want.”

“I was looking for a three-bedroom boat, but they’re hard to come by, so I ended up designing this.” Jen said.

Jen drew the floor plan and marked where she wanted all the windows. She has two children, so she needed a bedroom for each.

The boat builders completed the steelwork in seven weeks, transported the boat from Liverpool, and launched it using a crane.

Jen then outfitted the empty shell herself, adding a kitchen and walls.

Jen spent 10 weeks fitting out the inside of the boat, with the entire process taking 17 weeks.

The steelwork was bought before COVID, so it only cost £87,000  $112,000) for the boat and engine, including ply lining and electrics, plus an additional £10,000 ($13,000) for the interior fitting.

Jen mentioned that building a floating home would be much more expensive now.

The boat, Jen called Adishakti (Divine Feminine considered the primordial source of all energy), has a storage compartment for winter logs. There’s a small opening on the side for filling the water tank.

Jen uses a hose pipe or bottles at the water point for manual filling while moored.

Adishakti has a water tank that holds 1,000 liters, which lasts two weeks.

They use the roof as a garden for yoga, meals, and relaxation.

Jen also mentions that they have four solar panels that are enough for their fridge and LED lights, as they don’t use a TV or other electronics. The solar panels and lights run on a 12-volt circuit.

Jen’s floating home measures 65 feet long and 12.5 feet wide. It could be 5 feet longer but not wider because of the 3 feet of space required in the locks.

Although navigating the locks can be tricky for such a large boat, it’s easier than narrower boats moving around more. Jen only needs to open both lock gates instead of one.

Living on a boat, she has no permanent mooring. She must move every two weeks, covering 32 kilometers in one direction each year.

Her movements are monitored by a person recording her license number and location, which is sent to the office to determine her license status for the following year.

On the other hand, if the canal is frozen, Jen explained that it can stay in place, as moving could damage other boats.

Although some people might break through the ice if needed, it’s generally not allowed.

Her license costs £111 (around $143) monthly, covering water, bins, towpath maintenance, and rent. Electricity is free in the summer.

In winter, she runs the engine for two hours daily, costing about £50 ($65) a month in diesel for electricity.

She avoids using a noisy generator, relying instead on the engine for an hour in the morning and evening, with additional power from the solar panels.

Jen points out her engine and gas bottles, which cost about £50 each and last 10 weeks. These bottles are used for the oven and gas hob, not the water heater.

For heating, she uses a diesel system, but since the radiators aren’t very effective, she relies on an internal coal stove.

She stores the coal on the boat and orders it from a coal boat that supplies gas bottles and diesel.

Going inside the floating home, Jen shows her kitchen, a standard custom-fit design from IKEA, which provides ample workspace despite a slight loss of space under the gunnel.

She explains that balancing the boat was important, with the children’s bedrooms on one side and the kitchen on the other to help stability.

The boat needed an extra three tons to sit properly in the water, with scaffolding boards adding a ton.

Jen designed the kitchen to her specifications, including a fridge on a 240-volt circuit and a freezer.

Although she has a washing machine, she rarely uses it because of its high water consumption, opting to use a launderette instead.

This area also doubles as her living room and workspace. She uses the space for her massage and holistic therapy work, setting up her table here when needed.

Jen shows the dining area, which doubles as her office. She uses this space to do paperwork with her laptop.

The ceiling of the boat house is quite high, measuring 6’6 “, which Jen, at 5’2”, can’t reach.

This high ceiling allows her to jump, dance, and do yoga. As a yoga teacher, Jen offers private lessons on the boat.

Previously, she could fit up to four people for yoga when there was no sofa. Now, she focuses on one-to-one sessions, which works well with the high ceiling.

The main winter heat source in the living room is a wood-burning fire. Jen and her family get changed around the fire because the bedrooms are very cold.

She uses wood for the fire and maintains it with coal overnight, as it lasts longer. The radiators in the boat are not sufficient for winter warmth.

Her daughter’s bedroom, down the corridor, is designed with cabin beds featuring small single mattresses to maximize space.

There’s storage under the beds, above them, and in a wardrobe. The room is 5 feet wide and 9 feet long.

Her son’s bedroom has a similar setup but with lower bedsides as he’s older and less likely to roll out. His room includes a small bed, a desk, and many books.

“We don’t have a TV, so the children read a lot,” Jen shared.

Jen shows the bathroom with a spacious double shower with a rainfall head and no bath.

The compost toilet is designed with liquids going into a front bottle and solids into the back, with sawdust to reduce odor and a 12-volt fan with a car filter to manage smells.

Jen notes that the compost toilet has less odor than traditional flushing toilets.

She reflects on the boat’s surprising spaciousness, mentioning she bought a sink from eBay and might have opted for a larger one.

In her bedroom, Jen has a full-size double bed, a cozy area for morning tea, and a front deck she enjoys during sunsets.

The room also features two wardrobes and a working desk. Jen has a makeup area and notes the high ceiling allows her to stand on the bed, which her children like to jump on.

Her bedroom bookshelf forms part of her library. The room is the coldest in winter, with ice forming on the windows.

Jen stays warm in her floating home with a beanie hat, pajamas, a dressing gown, and hot water bottles.

Watch Jen talks about her life living on a boat below:

Subscribe to Alternative House YouTube channel if you like alternative home videos like this.