Couple wins $100,000 from Airbnb to build recycled tire house

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A couple from Chicago will put their passion for recycling and DIY design to use as they build an Airbnb rental out of old tires on their property south of Grand Rapids.

Kim Sullivan and Clayton Brown last week received $100,000 from a $10 million contest hosted by Airbnb. The funding will make possible their dream to create a house made of recycled tires that will be listed in the OMG! category on Airbnb's website.

The OMG! category features unusual listings like a converted caboose, a glass cottage, a renovated silo and a tiny "airship" overlooking the Scottish Highlands.

Airbnb established the one-time OMG! Fund contest in June to fund "crazy ideas," and last week it announced 100 winners who will receive up to $100,000 each to build guest-ready venues by Aug. 1. 

Many of the OMG! Fund contest winners are Airbnb hosts who already have at least one rental.

Sullivan and Brown bought a second home on 23 acres of woods in Southwest Michigan in 2014. They registered the house as an Airbnb venue in 2015, and they continue to rent it out when they aren't using it.

One day, while on a walk deep in the woods on their property, Sullivan and Brown found a pile of about 1,000 tires that were dumped there when the lot housed a junkyard.

After learning that their township — which they declined to name for privacy reasons — only allows homeowners to recycle four tires per year, the couple felt stumped about what to do with their rubber largesse.

"We would be long gone by the time we recycled all those tires (four at a time)," Sullivan said. "And to pay to have a company come and get them out is astronomically expensive. We didn't come up with a good solution, and they have been sitting there for years."

Then, Sullivan received an email about Airbnb's OMG! Fund contest. The company said it would fund ideas with a "unique and inspiring design, sustainable consideration, and novel ways of offering immersive guest experiences."

She immediately thought of the old tires.

"It sounded like it was right up their alley, in terms of being a crazy, unique structure, and we had done enough research in the past to know that it was possible, that there are types of construction where other houses (have used) tires to build the walls," Sullivan said. "We did a bunch of research just trying to figure out the details of it and how it could be done."

The tire house they designed will be a split-level dwelling with an outdoor deck on each level. The approximately 1,000-square-foot interior will have two bedrooms, a bathroom and a utility room on the main floor. A spiral staircase will lead to the upper level, which will have an open kitchen and living area. A heating and cooling system will make the house comfortable year-round. It will be able to accommodate up to four guests per stay.

Sullivan and Brown don't have a background in design or construction. She's an acupuncturist at Logan Square Acupuncture in Chicago, and he teaches filmmaking at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. But they have completed many do-it-yourself projects at their current Airbnb, like converting an old tool shed into a guest cabin.

Plans for the project are still being finalized, but the couple has budgeted about $110,000 and hired an undisclosed contractor to help them pour concrete, build the frame and install the plumbing and electrical.

They plan to do a significant amount of the work themselves, including hauling the tires; crafting the walls; and using fallen timber, old car parts and shattered glass from their property to build furniture, light fixtures and flooring.

They also plan to incorporate some of the tires into interior design elements, like seating, shelving and mirrors, Sullivan said.

Brown said the house won't smell like rubber or overheat on summer days because they will seal the inside of the tire walls with stucco. On the outside, they'll cover the tires with wire mesh and spray concrete over them, to make them hard like bricks and seal the walls on both sides.

They said their design will give the illusion that the outside is two giant tires, rather than 1,000 individual tires. The exterior will have vines growing over the tires and decorative grasses rimming the decks, so it looks like the structure has been taken over by nature.

"We'll just try and continue this idea of bringing the outside in and reminding people of just how much of an impact we have on the environment — but doing it in a way that's visually fun and playful," Brown said.

Added Sullivan: "It's going to be a blend of nature and manmade elements that we find around the property and merge into a nice design."

Sullivan said she hopes the tire house will spark guests' creativity.

"We really hope to inspire people to be creative in their own lives, in their own homes and where they live their lives, just really thinking about reusing things and recycling and taking something that might look like a piece of junk and being able to turn it into something that's really cool and unique," she said.

When they bought their property, Brown said they wanted others to experience its beauty and restfulness. With a second venue there, they'll be able to reach even more people.

"It's just been so gratifying to see how other people — strangers from all over the world — come, and they just have this magical experience at the property," he said. "So we're excited that this (tire house) can do that even more."