They were going for that Idaho grain silo look.
For some, a certain lodging near Lava Springs may conjure childhood memories of playing on Grandpa’s farm.
Here in Blackfoot, Idaho, travelers book suites made out of rustic grain silos that aren’t just comfortable; they’re also surprisingly cool—even during the hot summer months. With a country theme and plush, all-modern interior, there’s something quaint about the experience.
“I think people just love the uniqueness,” Adam Wixom, 38, one of the founders of The Bins Airbnb, told the Epoch Times, adding that visitors find the interior surprising. “They’re like, ‘This is going to be hot.’ And they walk inside and they’re like, ‘Wow, never thought in a million years it would be 70 degrees [21 degrees Celcius] inside of a grain bin.’”
How Three Grain Silos Became an Airbnb
The project was born around 2018 when they began eyeballing old silos along country roads in search of storage space. They started rolling around ideas during their family Sunday sit-downs. After acquiring some used bins on Craigslist, the vision of a bin home popped into existence.“Hey, let’s get some windows instead of storage,” someone said. “Let’s make it a cool backend space.”
Pretty soon, they'd cut windows out of the steel and welded square tubing window frames in. It was solidly done, and they saw oodles of potential. Mr. Wixom’s brother Wes Wixom got a friend, who is an architect, to draw up blueprints.
It would take a further three years to bring the concept to fruition, though, for the county was highly dubious, having never handled anything like it before. With no template, there was plenty of red tape to cut through in getting it up to code.
“They weren’t having it at the time,” Mr. Wixom said. “What about this? What about that?” The questions were endless during their meetings. Confronted by a gamut of variables, the family sought an engineer, most of whom wouldn’t speak to them. But eventually, they found someone who did.
There were myriad things to consider. There was the matter of the snow load, which could collapse the roof; this they solved by installing a beam across the open silo ceiling with rafters radiating downward and outward.
There was the ridiculous sum of heat that the silos’ stainless steel siding transmits inward; here the solution was to leave a space between the bin and the frame, which they filled with spray foam insulation.
“We have almost 9 inches [22 centimeters] of insulation throughout the whole building,” Mr. Wixom said. “It was definitely expensive for insulation, but it was totally worth it.”
Another conundrum was the top and bottom plates of the frame that had to accommodate the round shape of the silos; these they made from shaped, stacked plywood nailed together, instead of 2x6s.
In the end, everything came together surprisingly well.
The frame itself sits on a raised, 4-inch (10-centimeter) concrete step poured inside the silo atop the foundation. The addition of that step helps secure each metal silo in place, so it doesn’t shift on the round foundation upon which it sits.
But besides these special considerations, the Airbnb is engineered “just like a normal home,” Mr. Wixom said.
The Bins consist of one large central silo, 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter and about 19 feet (5.8 meters) high, excluding the pitched roof, and two smaller bins that are 21 feet (6.4 meters) in diameter and about 18 feet (5.4 meters) high. Each is its own separate suite.
The three units are all themed differently, with the grain silo aesthetic tying them together. “My wife designed the Southern Charm,” Mr. Wixom said. “She went for a bohemian feel.” This suite, she had couples in mind.
Mr. Wixom’s sister-in-law designed Longhorn with its rustic Western motif. The main unit, The Big Bin, with its three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and kitchen, sits in the center. Throughout, simple black or white trim keeps the interior sleek and modern.
Idaho Grain Silos to the Horizon
Today, their bin concept is expanding. Next summer, they plan to open a barn-themed property next door. With their social media presence, they’ve also received messages from hundreds of people who just “want to stay in a grain bin,” Mr. Wixom said. One day they plan on meeting that demand.For now, though, the Wixoms have gotten into the business of tracking down gently used grain bins for upcycling for those who dream of like projects—or simply seek miscellaneous storage solutions.
Meanwhile, and not least of all, the county has gotten on board the idea of silo houses. Paving the road, the Wixoms became the template to follow. “After we built [The Bins], the whole time they were loving it,” Mr. Wixom said. “This opens the door for a lot of people that want to build something unique.”
