Is Alpine Village actually built yet?
No. Alpine Village is a concept and working model — the live-work proof-of-concept in the Pattni × Walhus small-home family. There are no built, occupied, or for-sale units. Everything on this site is either clearly labeled as design intent, or a cited, real-world fact about container construction and the Del Valle location.
What exactly is the concept?
Thirteen live-work units built from container-grade steel (ISBUs), arranged around a shared yard on a single lot in Del Valle, Texas — each unit pairing a ground-floor work bay with a small private residence. See the container units and live-work pages for the design.
Where is it?
Del Valle: an unincorporated community in southeastern Travis County, about seven miles southeast of downtown Austin on State Highway 71, near the Colorado River, and effectively next door to Austin–Bergstrom International Airport. The Del Valle page covers the geography with sources.
Are shipping-container homes actually a good idea?
They can be, with eyes open. Containers are Corten weathering steel and structurally over-built. But steel conducts heat about 500× faster than wood, so continuous insulation to beat thermal bridging is essential; cutting openings removes strength that must be re-welded; and a real foundation is required. Done right it is durable and fast to erect.
So are container homes cheap?
Not automatically. A used 40′ box is cheap, but a finished, code-compliant container home typically runs about $150–$350 per square foot, with labor often more than half the budget and foundations from roughly $3,000 to $19,000+. The model’s cost argument is about sharing land and infrastructure across many small units — not about the box being free.
What does “live-work” mean here?
A live/work unit is a single dwelling where a real, code-recognized work space — a workshop, studio, or micro-office — is integrated with the residence and operated by the resident. Downstairs you make; upstairs you live; the commute is a flight of stairs.
How does this relate to Small Home Village and Tiny Hacker House?
Alpine Village is the small, buildable proof-of-concept meant to seed the larger Small Home Village community. The ideas trace back to Tiny Hacker House, the Austin maker community founded by Anil Pattni. Prove the economics small here; scale them there.
Who is behind it?
Alpine Village is anchored by Anil Pattni — an Austin-based futurist who founded Tiny Hacker House in 2010, was born and raised in England, immigrated to the US in 2004, and has run 300+ grassroots innovation events — hosted on Paul Walhus’s WholeTech network.
Is there a real fundraising campaign or return on offer?
The homepage frames a concept campaign to illustrate how such a project would be backed. Nothing on this site is audited financials, a securities offering, or a promise of return. Treat all figures as an illustrative model.
Can I get involved or ask questions?
Yes — email alpinevillage@wholetech.com. Because this is a concept, the most useful thing you can offer is interest, feedback, or a real Del Valle lot; there is nothing to buy today.