|Our story|

When we first met, my husband Seth and I immediately connected on many levels of faith, family, interests, dreams and aspirations. We both have a spirit that drives and inspires us to be creative and dream big. Together, through prayer, encouragement, sweat, tears, successes and failures, we continue to push one another in accomplishing our goals. It has sparred on our fun, spontaneous, and adventurous life together.

Our names are Emily and Seth, and we live in Columbus, Ohio with our three children. We love our life in Columbus with our wonderful community of friends, a city that has a love and respect for the arts, and unbeatable food. However, we yearned for a space to escape some of the city bustle and return to our roots in a rural, wooded, relaxed setting.

Since college, Seth had dreamed about building a shipping container home. Now, he has a lot of lofty dreams, but this one stuck with him for many years. It took us a little over a year of prayer and planning to finally set this dream to sail.

Being from big families, we have always had trouble sitting still. Hocking Hills has been a favorite place of ours to hike, camp, and explore. We have also had many experiences over the years with friends and family going on trips to celebrate holidays, bachelor/bachelorettes, weddings, showers, or just because. Far enough from the city to appreciate some amazing sights and wonders that nature beholds, yet close enough that it can be done in a comfortable drive. It made perfect sense that our get-away would be centered in the Hocking Hills region.

So, one year of prayer/planning, seven months of blood, sweat, tears, early mornings, late nights, help from family and friends, and three shipping containers later, we built our first home - the OG Box Hop. As of December 2019, we are proud to say we have added on to the property with a smaller “mother-in-law suite” type of cabin - the Boho Box Hop - that uses two shipping containers and houses one lofted bedroom.

Our desire is to share our homes and dreams with others, to invite and encourage them to step away from life’s daily challenges, demands, routines and activities and give their minds and bodies a place of rest and solitude.

We cannot express enough our gratefulness and awe for the love, support, encouragement and downright sacrifices that our families and friends have given to make our dream a reality. It would not be possible without them.

“The Box Hop” is our overarching brand that we are coining for our shipping container oasis, and we cannot wait to host you for a stay.

With Love,

Emily and Seth