Chris had nothing to leave his kids.

So he scraped together $28k, bought 5 acres in upstate NY, and spent weekends building an A-frame by hand.

Then one $800 idea turned his quiet cabin into a mega-viral airbnb with over $1M in bookings.

Wait till you see this...🧵
Short backstory on Chris: At 14, he started in carpentry.

By 2016, he was installing custom millwork in high-end homes.

He was building other people’s dreams—but had nothing for his own family (and lived paycheck to paycheck).

Then, tragedy struck...

At 11, I landed my first job: making cheese.

$8/hr after school—until my boss realized hiring an 11-yr-old was illegal.

I didn't care. I loved it so much, I stayed on unpaid.

This was just the beginning of a teenage obsession that would lead to an unexpected discovery…🧵 Cheesemaking wasn’t new to our family. My mom had started a small cheese business w her friends around the time I was born. She stepped away to raise & homeschool us kids, but her friends kept it going.

That’s where I worked, carefully brushing & turning wheels of aging cheese.

At 24, I borrowed $2.3M to build 7 luxury cabins on a lake.

Weeks after opening, Airbnb suspended us. No bookings. No sleep. As a last-ditch effort, I spent $950 on an IG giveaway. It changed everything.

18 months later, we sold for $7M.

Here’s how it all happened:🧵
Quick backstory:

I grew up homeschooled on a farm—#5 of 10 kids.

My dad was a plumber.

Grandpa Byron built homes. Grandma Jan sparked my love for art w weekly drawing lessons.

Once we were old enough, my brothers & I spent summers working construction w my dad and grandpa...

My friends bought 34 acres of Ohio wilderness.

While hiking one day, they stumbled upon a dark, dripping cavern—and decided to pour their life savings into it.

Today, it's one of the world's most profitable airbnbs. The waitlist is years long.

Here's the story...🧵
Before the cave, they put it all on the line & took a huge risk...

Amy's a stay-at-home mom (they have 3 kids).

Bryant's an engineer by trade, but his 9-to-5 left him uninspired.

So they began searching for a slice of Hocking Hills, an hr outside Columbus, OH, where they live.

Burnt out from city life, this couple built a tiny cabin in the woods.

Five years later, they’re quietly redefining sustainable, design-forward hospitality.

Guests are obsessed. Owners want in.

The story behind hinter: 🧵
In 2018, Emily & Mauricio met, drained from their teaching & tech careers.

They shared a passion for travel—and a bold idea.

North America lacked stunning, Nordic design.

Even worse…

Airbnbs were inconsistent. Hotels felt soulless.

What if they could blend the best of both?

Erin French didn’t just build a restaurant…

She turned a tiny, forgotten town into a global culinary destination.

From rock bottom to one of America’s most celebrated restaurateurs—her story is as unlikely as it is unforgettable.

I present to you: The Lost Kitchen 🧵
Born and raised in Freedom, Maine (pop. <800), Erin was no stranger to kitchens.

She grew up flipping pancakes at her dad’s diner, nurturing an early love for food.

But her future, like the town, seemed destined to fade.

She dropped out of college, became a single mom at 21…

This old, abandoned ironworkers’ camp in Maine was just transformed into a stunning, sold-out micro-resort.

My 29-yo friend Eddie pulled it off with only $50k down.

Here’s how he did it: 🧵
So @eddiegonnella grew up in rural Maine. By day, he’s in sales, but in his spare time?

Real estate genius.

He’s quietly amassed 25 single-family rentals over the last few years, starting from scratch.

But this project on Toddy Pond is the crown jewel (so far).

This is what world-class hospitality looks like:

Two cabins in “flyover country,” booked solid a year in advance (and for good reason—one of my all-time favorite experiences).

A masterclass in doing things the *right* way: 🧵

Three years ago, I was deep in the trenches (quite literally), working 80+ hr weeks trying to will my wild dream into reality: a high-design, Nordic-inspired cabin village carved into the Texas bramble.

Designed and built in under 10 months.

In the midst of this battle…

We turned a lifeless field into a lush, thriving orchard in just 3 months.

The ingredients?

- 15 friends
- 200 saplings
- 75,000 dollars

Here’s how we did it—and why you should plant one, too. 🧵
Couple years ago, I dreamt of creating an orchard both deliciously abundant and visually stunning.

A place to meditate, walk, or talk w a friend.

A place to dream (cause dreaming is important).

So, I zealously collected ideas on Pinterest and drafted a simple one-pager.

This guy bought land for $450/acre and built a “cinematic off-grid sanctuary” renting unique stays.

Now Disney’s paying him big bucks to film there.

Here’s what’s going on👇



So a couple years ago, Travis bought land in the middle of a dry lake bed in the Utah desert, hours from civilization, at just $450/acre.

First challenge?

Building a road to access it.

Five years ago, Kimball & Christine had almost no money or real estate experience.

Today, they’ve created one of the world’s most viral and iconic stays (over 600,000 IG followers).

Here’s how they did it, almost by accident…🧵



In 2019, Christine won a yearlong battle with a rare form of cancer. To celebrate, the family took a 2-month sabbatical in Bali.

They returned home to Ohio rested, rejuvenated, and INSPIRED.

Kimball was pastoring a local church. His income was $48k/year.

As a hospitality nut, I couldn’t resist. I booked a night at Amangiri last year.

$6,080🤯

Here’s what I learned from the highest revpar hotel in America (and why our own 7-key landscape hotel won for some of the same reasons). Just 34 units.

The property (plopped in middle of nowhere UT) cost $150M to build in ‘09. It was once federally-protected land, but was somehow swapped by the developers (and signed by the president)!

Huge risk for Aman at the time, launching on the heels of the GFC.

But, it paid off... 95% occ, $5k ADR

My friend Tanner is a software guy.

No real estate background or deep pockets.

And he just raised over $650,000 in under a week pre-selling nights at his future micro-resort that's not even built (without giving up a drop of equity).

Here's the playbook he used: @tannerbliss and his wife Melissa had a dream.

...to build a one-of-a-kind, nature-immersive retreat.

And so it was, a year ago, that they found and bought a plot of land with a small waterfall in North Georgia.

And now...

“Impossible to access” would usually spell disaster for a hotel.

Not so at Sheldon Chalet.

What it spells here is $32,000/night.

Welcome to the world’s most remote hotel! Let me show you what it’s all about…👇 Perched 5,800 ft up in Denali NP, this extraordinary retreat is accessible only via a thrilling 45-min, IMAX-like helicopter ride through rugged, frozen Alaskan wilderness.

Every week of the year, guests embark on this once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

We found this old, abandoned farm for sale.

$1,360/acre, all-included.

But hidden within was a gem: a hand-hewn timber-frame barn (on the verge of collapse).

Today, it’s one of the most stunning venues in the country.

Here’s what happened…🧵


In early 2020, as a pandemic swept the country, rural real estate prices crashed.

Just a few mo later, of course, they came roaring back (setting all-time records).

But before they did, we found a treasure.

A hodgepodge of old buildings in the middle of an Idaho wheat field…

Last week, I showed you how we turned an old train car into an airbnb.

Today, I’ve got another:

A century-old, crumbling Ford garage (filled with rusting old cars) is reborn as a world-class bakery and creamery. In the middle of nowhere.

This is the story…👇



Back in 1923, the small Idaho logging town of Deary (yep, same place as Car 306!) tragically burned. Three years later, however, the residents rebuilt—this time with brick.

The crown jewel of these new buildings?

A 7,000 sq-ft Ford garage. For years, it thrived as such.

My dad bought this 120-yr-old train car for $2,000.

It was a rotting, cat-infested wreck. But after investing $147k and 5 months of work, we redeemed it.

Today, it’s one of the most profitable and exclusive stays in the country.

Here’s what happened…👇

I grew up in Idaho. A few winters ago, my dad got a call from an elderly farmer down the road.

His barn was about to collapse, and he needed help shoveling snow off the roof.

When my dad arrived, his eyes lit up.

Buried in that barn was an ancient, almost unrecognizable…

I met Albert on X

Last night, we stayed at his 1st micro-resort in Big Sky, MT.

8 mo ago, these were just 10 cookie-cutter tract homes for sale on a blank lot. He seized a great opportunity in a highly-constrained market, then “experientialized” the place.

It’s paying off…👇🏻



He executed brilliantly (and FAST).

Additions include:

- Sauna
- Hot tubs
- Fire pits
- Extensive landscaping
- Trail connections
- Interior design
- Branding

Welcomed the first guests just 30 days after closing on the purchase (right in time for ski season!)

I automated a 7-unit micro-resort @LiveOakLake, which grossed $1M in its first year.

By optimizing our internal operations/marketing stack, we saved $230,000 and outperformed traditional property management.

Let me show you how:



I integrated smart lighting, door locks, noise sensors, and thermostats into the construction of each cabin.

Exterior lights are on a timer automation (turning on/off based on sunset ea day of the year).

Thermostats and locks talk to my PMS @Hostaway via @OpertoGuestTech

There’s too much loneliness, disconnection, and digital overload in the world today.

It’s time for a true alternative:

A simple, healthy, sustainable way of life that breaks free from the grip of radical individualism.

I've been keeping a secret for 2 years. Here we go...

Instead of being pulled in a thousand different directions, what if all the people and activities in your daily life—family, friends, work, school—seamlessly integrated and overlapped?

Picture life together on a big, beautiful piece of land just outside the city:

This shipping container-turned-swimming pool cost $85,000.

That's a steal, and here's why:

It paid for itself in 9 months, and adds to the moat of "instagrammable" amenities at the micro-resort I built.

The breakdown👇🏻 (backstory)

I designed & built a 7-cabin resort with a small lake in rural Texas @LiveOakLake

(with the help of friends, family, subs and a local bank)

We finished construction and launched in 2022 only 10 mo after purchasing the 5-acre plot of land.

It was a busy year!