She was frequently beaten by her husband, so she left the house with her kids
Cara Brookins was emotionally shattered when her second abusive marriage ended. To heal, she embarked on an extraordinary journey: building her own house by following YouTube tutorials.
In 2007, Brookins, a mother of four, began searching for a new home in Bryant, Arkansas, after being forced to sell the one she shared with her soon-to-be ex-husband. However, as a computer programmer analyst, she found that anything within her budget was too small for her family. She also felt a strong need to reunite and stabilize her family, though she wasn’t sure how to achieve this. Brookins admits, “I had no idea what that should be.”
Driven by necessity and a desire to rebuild her life, Brookins decided to construct her own house from the ground up. Reflecting on her decision, Brookins, now 45, says, “If anyone was in our situation, they wouldn’t do this. No one else viewed it this way, and now that I think about it, I understand it sounds crazy.”
Brookins purchased a one-acre plot for $20,000 and secured a construction loan of approximately $150,000. She then turned to YouTube, where she learned essential skills such as running a gas line, building walls, laying a foundation, and installing plumbing.
Her children, ranging in age from 2 to 17, assisted her throughout the nine-month construction of the 3,500-square-foot home. Drew, who was 15 at the time, helped with planning and preparations. Jada, then 11, carried water from a neighbor’s pond in buckets, as there was no running water on the property. She mixed the water with 80-pound bags of concrete to create the mortar for the foundation.
Together, through hard work and determination, the family built their home, transforming their lives and finding healing in the process.
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It felt impossible the entire time, according to Brookins, who worked when the kids were in school. After school, Brookins drove her family to the five-mile-away construction site where she worked late into the night on the new house.
YouTube videos previously were vague and provided numerous solutions to a task. Brookins employed a part-time firefighter with building experience for $25 per hour to help with some of the more challenging tasks. She remembers, “He was a step ahead of us in knowledge.”
On March 31, 2009, Brookins and her kids moved into the five-bedroom home. She gave it the name Inkwell Manor in recognition of her desire to become a writer.
In the years afterwards, Brookins has written numerous middle grade and young adult books. She has also written a biography titled Rise: How a House Built a Family, which will be released on January 24.
Building the house helped Brookins emerge from her depression. We were ashamed that our best option was to construct our own shelter, Brookins adds. “We weren’t really proud of it,” In the end, it proved to be the best thing I could have done for myself.
She says, “You can do anything you set your mind to if I, a 110 pound computer programmer, can build a complete house.” Choose one goal and stay with it. Find the big thing you want to do, move slowly in that direction, and take those who also need healing with you. That has a lot of influence.
