Building an Off Grid Home in the Tropics
Last Updated: Apr 13, 2025Moving to the Central American jungle to build an off-grid home, and raise pigs and chickens, isn't an aspiration for most people. It's seemingly even more unlikely that a big-city fashion model and a cameraperson would choose this sustainable lifestyle.
Tyler Rumsey and Hannah Cee, however, exemplify a growing number of people interested in returning to the land and living a more sustainable lifestyle. Here's the story of how this couple went from city dwellers to full-on homesteaders. They are building a beautiful, minimalist off-grid home on an enchanted landscape they refer to as Isle Delfino in Reino Dehongos.
Starting with the Land
While working as a cameraperson for a TV show in Central America, Rumsey "fell in love with the area and immediately started looking into buying property here," he says. "About six months later, I brought Hannah down to show her the place, and she fell in love with it, too."
"We had been talking about someday buying land and starting a homestead and building our place," he continues. "When Hannah saw this location, we decided to start building as soon as possible. We got my brother, Austin, on board as well. He helped buy the land, and together the three of us have been equally involved in building the house and planting the garden."
Table of Contents
- Building Off-Grid in the Tropics
- Watering Plants, Sustaining People
- The Challenges of Building Off-Grid
- A Sense of Purpose
The plot purchased is about one acre, but the couple has developed a little less than half of that—leaving a natural area per the permaculture theory of creating separate zones throughout a property. "We won't have any large animals that will need huge open space," he explains. "We do plan to have chickens and pigs in the future. The yard will have small and large fruit trees, and eventually raised beds for vegetables."
The house they're building "is super minimal and small doesn't take up much land," Rumsey adds. "We are trying to use minimal power, so all of the solar panels we need should fit on our roof."
Building Off-Grid in the Tropics
The couple is building a two-story, 10-foot x 18-foot home totaling 360 square feet on the inside. Because of the tropical climate, they decided to add wraparound decks on both floors. A staircase at the back of the house connects both levels.
Inside, each level is one open space; the bathroom will eventually go under the stairs on the deck. "It's no engineering or design marvel," Rumsey says, laughing. "We're building the home as basic as possible to make construction go easily and quickly. We don't feel the need to spend much time indoors as nature and landscape here is so amazing. Minimalism works out well for our style and our budget."
Building smaller also added several sustainability benefits. "Going smaller is more eco-friendly, uses less lumber and materials, and has a smaller footprint, too," Rumsey says. The house is being constructed of milled lumber: yellow pine. "The post and beam construction is built around six yellow-pine telephone poles that we cemented into the ground."
Rumsey and Cee are interested in incorporating recycled and salvaged materials into their homes. For their energy needs, a friend is helping them source second-hand solar panels, which they plan to hook up using Tesla car batteries. While they're having their solar system installed, the couple is renting a small apartment in the nearby village to charge power tool batteries and camera equipment.
Watering Plants, Sustaining People
For their water needs, Rumsey and Cee found an old abandoned well in the jungle by their land. They also have a water collection system from their roof. The house's gutters are hooked up to a 2500- liter tank under the house, which collects runoff also used to water the plants. "We want to install another water tank on the hill behind the house, and will have a gravity-fed shower and water for the bathroom—all from rainwater," Cee says.
Tobias Roberts
Tobias runs an agroecology farm and a natural building collective in the mountains of El Salvador. He specializes in earthen construction methods and uses permaculture design methods to integrate structures into the sustainability of the landscape.
