Carpenter's $27,000 land purchase yields $2.1 million from cabins

The brief

Context

Chris Broomfield, a 51-year-old Connecticut carpenter, bought five acres in Remsen, upstate New York, in 2015 for $27,000, intending from the start to build multiple short-term rental cabins. Because carpentry skills could not be "handed down", he wanted a physical asset that would give his children income or collateral. Building largely himself at weekends, he created an A-frame cabin, then a treehouse and a spa cabin, listing them on Airbnb. By September 2025 the cabins, operated as Evergreen Cabins, had earned $2.1 million since the first listing in 2018, and now yield roughly $400,000 a year, he told CNBC Make It.

Key facts

• Broomfield and his wife bought 5 acres in Remsen, New York, in 2015 for $27,000.
• The flagship one-bedroom A-frame cabin took about three years to complete and cost roughly $90,000 to build.
• The A-frame was first listed at $60 a night; peak demand pricing later ranged from $380 to $700 a night.
• The A-frame earned $119,337 in 2024, with 2025 projections near $143,500.
• A treehouse cabin, built by a hired team in 13 weeks, was finished in November 2019, sits 14 feet up and is reached by a suspension bridge; it earned $151,966 in 2024.
• The Birch Falls Spa Cabin, completed in 2021 with an 18-foot indoor waterfall, cost $160,000 and brought in $120,227 that year.
• Operating costs: about $8,000 a month in payroll and staff, $18,000 a year in property taxes and $700 a month in utilities.
• By September 2025 the cabins had earned $2.1 million since the first was listed for rent in 2018; annual income is now roughly $400,000.

Timeline

1. 2015Broomfield and his wife buy 5 acres in Remsen, New York, for $27,000; he commutes eight hours each weekend from Connecticut to build.
2. 2018The A-frame cabin, built over about three years at a cost of roughly $90,000, is completed and listed for rent at $60 a night.
3. November 2019A treehouse cabin, built by a hired team in 13 weeks, is completed.
4. 2021Birch Falls Spa Cabin, a $160,000 studio, is completed and earns $120,227 that year.
5. 2024A-frame earns $119,337; treehouse earns $151,966 and ranks in Airbnb's top 10% by ratings and reviews.
6. September 2025Cumulative cabin revenue reaches $2.1 million since 2018; annual income about $400,000; two more units built (a tiny house and a 2-storey container cabin).

Who has a stake

• Chris Broomfield — Retired carpenter turned host; designs cabins, oversees staff and plans Evergreen Cabins' expansion.
• Broomfield's wife and children — She inspired the motorised sliding king bed; the children are the intended eventual owners of the business.
• Evergreen Cabins staff — Employment supported by about $8,000 a month in payroll and staff costs.
• Airbnb — Platform through which the cabins are marketed; treehouse ranked in its top 10% by ratings and reviews.
• Remsen, upstate New York locality — Receives $18,000 a year in property taxes and visitor traffic drawn by the short-term rentals.
• Airbnb guests — Pay $60 to $700 a night for features like a bed that slides into the woods, a suspension bridge and an indoor waterfall.

Why it matters

The story shows how a modest land purchase plus self-performed construction and platform-based marketing can be converted into a multi-lakh-dollar annual income stream, a template increasingly visible in experiential and rural tourism worldwide. It also illustrates the intergenerational wealth logic driving such ventures: skills cannot be inherited, but income-generating assets can.