AN UNRESTRAINED SPACE OF HER OWN

In a previous life, before COVID flipped the world of work into a long-distance engagement, Elissa Lansdell had, what she refers to as, a she-shed.

It sat on a sliver of land just behind her house, constrained by multiple compromises with her then-partner. Despite the constraints, Elissa loved her space. From work to hobbies, it gave her the ability to carve out a place of her own.

But when her relationship ended, she moved away, leaving her little utopia behind.

And, she missed it.

Pivoting to make-do

While it might be easy to buy a modern shed, finding a backyard in Ontario’s current housing market isn’t as easy.

“I loved the idea of a she-shed and wanted one again, but at the time I was living in a townhouse and had literally no property to put it on,” Elissa said.

Instead, she tried her best to make-do in her townhouse by co-opting a bedroom into an office. The room was functional, but offered none of the charm her old garden shed had and didn’t offer that separation she needed.

Then, when the pandemic hit, Elissa quit her corporate job and spent entirely too much time in her tiny townhouse building her own business, Rockstar Communications.. 

While the timing was perfect, the space wasn’t. From dog demands to the ding of the dryer, her chores constantly called out to her, constantly pulling her mind from the task at hand.

A new home base

With a new, full-time business sharing space with her living quarters, Elissa knew it was time to move to a space – preferably with a backyard – where she could replace the she-shed she so dearly missed.

Together with her parents, Elissa began a quest to find a new home, with a green space, in Ontario’s ever-climbing housing market. After much searching, they managed to find a home that fit both criteria and budget.

Opening prefab possibilities

With her new home purchase in the works, Elissa looked to revive her she-shed dream.

“We've got this beautiful backyard and I needed some space away from the people and the pets and all that stuff,” Elissa said. “So I called DROP Structures.”

After a discussion with Corey, Elissa decided on the Alpha to avoid the need for permitting and make the process that much easier. 

“The time concern was a big thing for me.” Elissa said. “I told them, ‘Look, we're moving at the end of October, I'm going to need a place at the beginning of November’. And Corey said, ‘we can do that.’”

With the timeline nailed down, Corey worked with Elissa to find a crane company that could not only place the new structure, but do it at a reasonable cost.

Prefab, “she-fab” delivery

With everything else taken care of, Elissa could stop worrying about her new modern shed and focus on what really mattered, growing her business and getting settled into her new home.

“I had much more peace of mind knowing that, you know, it wasn't going to be people showing up sometimes in my backyard to construct, and other times disappearing and not getting it done for three months because of supply problems,” she said.

Instead, she finished sorting through all her boxes, set up her home and got ready for her new office space.

A 4-seasons escape

After watching a crane lift her Alpha over the fence and into the backyard, Elissa’s neighbours got curious and wanted to see what it looked like unwrapped. 

After one glance, they were impressed.

“I have so many people who are envious of this,” she said. “You would not believe the amount of people who have asked about this – mostly women because they love the idea of getting away.”

While many have complimented Elissa’s new home office, more than a few have wondered whether it could stand up to the Canadian weather, while others simply assumed the large windows would let out too much heat.

“They're like, ’Oh, well, you can't use that in the winter.’ I'll say oh, no, no, I'm out here in bare feet right now in December. I'm good, nice and toasty.”

A recording booth, home office and escape pod all in one

As soon as the Alpha was placed, Elissa moved in – hauling in not only her desk and computer, but her podcasting and recording equipment as well.

These days, she’s out in her home office almost everyday, meeting clients across North America via Zoom, recording podcasts and voice over work – and watching her dogs play in her new backyard.

“Honestly, if we put a bathroom in here I would never go in the house,” she said, laughing.
“It's just a nice getaway.”

Whatever new venture Elissa embarks on, her Alpha – her new she-shed – is there to give her the space she needs to pursue her dreams. But, most importantly, it offers her distance from her very busy home.

“It's like, in the morning, I'm going out here to work and then at the end of the day, when I walk back, just the 20 foot walk into the house is like okay, now I'm leaving work behind,” Elissa said.