The Dwell Showhouse has arrived safely in Los Angeles, and is getting prepped for the Dwell on Design convention this weekend. Ebay Green Team will assist in auctioning off the space with proceeds going to Global Green.

Reclaimed Space is on the homepage of Dwell.com today; a great prelude to the Dwell on Design conference where we will auction a reclaimed sustainable living space with proceed going to Global Green.

Among the highlights at last year’s Dwell on Design was a cozy modular home created byReclaimed Space, who hauled their one-of-a-kind structure made from reclaimed and repurposed materials all the way from their Austin, Texas, headquarters. The 400-square-foot home was rolled right onto the floor of the Los Angeles Convention Center, and served as a fitting entrance to the Dwell Outdoor pavilion. Attendees lounged in the comfy confines of Reclaimed Space’s weathered wood walls, drooling over each of the fully functional appointments in the modern surf shack.

• By:Alissa Walker

• Published on:06/08/2010

Last year’s Reclaimed Space on the showroom floor of Dwell on Design was like a home-away-from-home for attendees.

This year, Reclaimed Space is busy building another home just for Dwell on Design. This year’s show home will be slightly larger—28′ x 14′—with an extended overhang for a covered outdoor area and a separate bedroom. Since Reclaimed Space uses one-of-a-kind salvaged wood and fixtures, the house itself also comes with an impressive history. Materials ranging from reclaimed galvanized metal to long-leaf pine shiplap were gathered from an 1830s German farmstead home in New Braunfels, Texas, a homestead and barn in Belton, Texas, and its most prestigious address: A Shiner, Texas livery stable built in the 1880s. “It is one of the oldest remaining structures in Shiner,” says Reed-Barber. “Well, it was.”

Reclaimed Space builds its homes from 80-90% salvaged materials, many of which are taken from dilapidated buildings in the Texas countryside.

But this modular house is also unique due to the fact that it can be purchased from the comfort of your own home: The house, along with most of its furnishings, are for sale on eBay. “Last year when we decided to take a space to Dwell on Design, we also decided that we didn’t want to bring it back to Texas,” says Kimber Reed-Barber. “We came up with the idea to auction the space off during the convention, both as a way to sell the structure and raise money for charity. Who else would you use to auction other than eBay, everyone knows of them, right?”

This year’s Reclaimed Space showhouse is currently being constructed in its Austin, Texas, factory.

Another popular detail from last year will be making a return to the Dwell on Design Reclaimed Space: Zem Joaquin from Ecofabulous will once again be curating the interior space, making all sorts of decisions from paint to appliances to furniture that showcase sustainable goods. “Ecofabulous will have its hand in everything involving the design this year,” reports Reed-Barber. “I’ve heard of a Miami Beach feel with some hot colored appliances!” Ecofabulous also selected this year’s non-profit beneficiary of some of the house’s proceeds, Global Green. Last year, $10,000 went to Habitat for Humanity. For those hoping to bid on this year’s house, you may have some competition. Actor T.J. Thyne, from the Fox show Bones,purchased last year’s home for $75,000 and it looks like he is hoping to start a collection, says Reed-Barber. “He intends to find property in California and purchase more Reclaimed Spaces to make a community for family and friends.”

Watch Ecofabulous’s MODERN LIVING site or follow #ecofabhouse on Twitter for the link to the eBay auction, which goes live on June 24 at 4pm PST.

The Reclaimed Space show home is part of the exhibition at Dwell on Design, happening June 25-27 in Los Angeles. Register now!

With much excitement, we found out that we had an opportunity to deconstruct the Shiner, Texas livery, said to be one of the oldest structures standing.  Not only do we love Shiner beer, but they love Reclaimed Space because they chose us because of the reuse nature of our business.  The amount of amazing lumber is overwhelming.  It has been a chore, but well worth the efforts.  There will be some lucky Reclaimed Space owners with quite a story to tell, maybe over a cold

beer!

The Dwell on Design Showhouse in near completion, we hope!  With only days to finish, the race is on.  Ecofabulous has been integral in the design and we know it will look amazing!  From deconstruction throughout the build cameras have been rolling to record the journey to LA…

Reclaimed Space is taking another unit to Dwell on Design in LA for the conference June 25-27.  We are partnering with the amazing Ecofabulous team for the design.  Last year, we auctioned off the Reclaimed Space for $75,000 and donated half of the profit to Habitat for Humanity.  This year the profit will be split with Global Green.  We expect a number of celebrities to come vote on this year’s unit, even more than last year when TJ Thyne won the auction.  Reclaimed Space will have the model live on ebay so you can bid even if you aren’t at the show.  More updates soon, so keep looking as the space develops.

Reclaimed Space had the privilege of interviewing on Marfa Public Radio; Wednesday, May 12 at 10:05am Rachel Lindley. If anyone heard us, how did we sound?

Marfa, TX is the coolest small town I’ve visited.  Its a small town with big city thinkers and cuisine!  We drove out with the space; got a late start, so it took us two days.  Once we arrived, the space was dropped off in an hour and holes for the piers were started.  Our hard-working guys put in the piers, built the front porch and the under-skirting in only 4 days.  They worked from dawn until dusk to get the job done, thank you Brian, Bill, and Chaney.

The owners of the new space and the Austin Street Cafe in Marfa, TX have very nice things to say about her new sewing area.     “dear kimber, tracen and crew: thank you, thank you, thank you…the sewing room is fabulous. . . and water-tight…we haveshown it to lots of people – at least 75 have seen it thus far – and the response has been 100% positive.  people’s initial reaction is one of delight, both with it’s diminutive scale and with the homey materials used…everyone who has seen the space – from our neighbors’ 15 year old kid, to lear-jet flying gazillionaires - love love love it.  the appeal is universal and across the board. this is an enormous selling point for you.  It leaves no one out, i.e., it isn’t high art, it’s not conceptual, and it seems to strike a chord with all who’ve seen it, no matter their age, their $$ or their background.”  Thank you, Lisa, it was our pleasure; your never-ending supply of tasty delights made us feel like royalty!  We can’t wait to visit Marfa again, and see the amazing lights.

This space is turning out beautifully!  The floors and shelves are incredible.  The unit just needs finishing touches and is headed to Marfa, TX on April 5th.  More photos to follow…

Reclaimed Space has completed, delivered, and secured its latest unit; just outside of Austin.  Its purpose is an Art Studio/Guest Cottage.  It turned out absolutely beautiful; the proud owners couldn’t be happier!

In this morning’s Austin American Statesman, on the front of the real estate section, is a 1,000 word article and photo gallery by Tobin Levy on Reclaimed Space. Tobin nails it, telling our story better than we can, and since a link to her article is far better than a summary, I’ll just quote some of my favorite phrases:

the house is unmistakably green
The resulting space is elegantly spare
the interior, a paradigm in spatial efficiency, is warm and inviting
It’s the epitome of modern sustainable living
a match made in eco-heaven
a stylish medley of rich textures, bold colors and a piece of faux taxidermy

Wow! Thanks Tobin and The Statesman.