Two longtime friends have captured the internet’s attention after transforming a battered old pontoon into a polished floating retreat, finished with Hamptons-style shingles, sleek sliding glass doors and all the charm of a tiny waterfront home.
Jake Doggett, 25, and James Little, 26, bought the 24-foot boat for $4,000 in June 2024, setting out to create a lasting vacation escape in Massachusetts that they hope their future families will enjoy for years to come.
‘I was the engineer, and he was the aesthetic designer,’ Doggett told the Daily Mail.
Across 14 months of work, the pair stripped the once-sunken pontoon down to its frame and rebuilt it into a striking 100-square-foot houseboat, now turning heads on Essex Bay, roughly 38 miles northeast of Boston.
‘James reached out to me and he said: “Hey, we should really build something together.” And we put our heads together and ultimately decided: “You know what? I built a house on a truck, and that was really fun. Let’s build a house on a boat and experience the Essex Bay from a totally new perspective,”‘ he said.
The houseboat conversion quickly became the most ambitious build either friend had attempted. Along the way, they had to solve problems as they came up, from ensuring the structure would float properly to protecting it from saltwater corrosion, a challenge that required investing in stainless steel materials.
Logistics added another layer of difficulty. The duo had to think carefully about the height of the structure so the wide-load could be transported to the bay, while also balancing concerns over overall weight and stability on the water.
The finished houseboat includes a solar-powered shower, kitchen, oven, refrigerator and freezer, with the full build-out documented on Doggett’s YouTube page Salvage to Scenic. It also has a seating area where the table lowers to create space for a bed, a design choice that influenced how the boat sat and stayed afloat.
Jake Doggett, 25, and James Little, 26, snapped up the 24-foot vessel for $4,000 in June 2024 and transformed it into heirloom vacation spot
‘I was the engineer, and he was the aesthetic designer,’ Doggett (right) told the Daily Mail
And all of it had to be installed by hand.
Doggett was more in charge of building the actual structure and focusing on the precise engineering behind making it work, while Little focused on picking the paint, door knobs, and handles.
For example, it was Little’s idea to put in two floor-to-ceiling glass doors on two conjoining walls to give practically panoramic views of the bay. Doggett was initially reluctant.
‘That’s going to be really difficult to build,’ he recalled thinking. ‘The big panoramic glass wall posed some challenges as far as being safe and structurally sound.
‘So, I thought a lot about the systems, whereas James was really skilled in considering which flooring would look good with the blue paint, which shade of blue paint, what kind of knobs and handles should we pair with this, and so on and so forth.’
Doggett, who has known Little since first grade, said the project was a ‘beautiful marriage of skills.’
The biggest complication the two men hit was when they realized the frame of the house weighed much more than the pontoon’s maximum weight-bearing capacity.
The vessel was designed to hold up to 5,000 pounds, significantly lower than their 9,000-pound finished project.
The once-sunken pontoon boat before the two men stripped it and built a houseboat on top
It was the biggest project either of them had ever taken on, and they had to learn a lot on the fly to make sure their houseboat would float, despite the finished project weighing around 9,000 pounds
They also faced several setbacks, including a steep price increase while building. They almost giving up on the project, but ultimately stayed on course. It took 14 months to build
The additional weight meant the friends had to purchase new floats, which would allow the vessel to hold up to 21,000 pounds.
Doggett and Little also had to learn to built cabinets from scratch and install a rubber roof, as well as, solar panels, modify the oven door to make the house door close, and more.
They almost gave up on the project several times, especially as it became more expensive.
The friends initially believed it would cost them around $10,000. The finished project, however, took much longer and cost around $40,000 to complete, with multiple setbacks, including a winter break.
Doggett and Little were also gifted some items, amounting roughly to $10,000 in supplies. This makes the total cost of the houseboat construction to be around $50,000, Doggett told the Daily Mail.
The pair initially built the houseboat with the intention of sharing it for the rest of their lives until Little got a job working with horses in Florida.
So they decided to sell it, Doggett told the Daily Mail.
‘I find myself at this bittersweet crossroads, where I can hold on to it, but it’s not really fair for me to hold on to the houseboat and enjoy it all myself when James has moved away,’ Doggett said.
The stunning transformation gave the boat a new life, with floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors and a table that turns into a bed
Doggett (pictured) said he was more in charge of the engineering side of the project, while Little was in charge of the aesthetics
Little picked out the blue paint color and the door handles and knobs
The friends have now listed the houseboat for $140,000 as Little got a job in Florida working with horses. ‘The fairest thing I figure I can do for James is list it for sale and split the profits with him,’ Doggett (pictured) said
‘And so, the fairest thing I figure I can do for James is list it for sale and split the profits with him.’
It is currently listed on Facebook Marketplace for $140,000. It had to be relisted after Facebook took it down for suspicious activity after it became so popular.
The pair have had some interested potential buyers, but for the time being, Doggett is enjoying his creation with his girlfriend.
As for the future, Doggett is considering building a houseboat village in Essex Bay.
‘Countless people have reached out with meaningful interest about renting and staying aboard this famous houseboat,’ he said.
‘I’d like to be able to host people and share an on-the-water experience with them in person.’
