Share this Post
Raising the bar on at-home hangs is this local backyard boxcar bar.
What sweeter escape—or impromptu happy hour—than a backyard bar. Enter the ultimate man cave or she shed. Though, ironically, avoiding the latter was the inspo for this avant-garde backyard boxcar bar.
Dubbed The Loose Mangoose as a dual play on owner Steven Mangano’s name and a beloved bar in Tortola (The Loose Mongoose), the shipping container bar concept was born out of a reno storage space turned practical (and party). The initial brainchild of—and later designed by—Will Alphin, and implemented in a space that housed an outgrown treehouse, the transition made perfect sense. “During a whole-house reno and addition project, Steve and Sarah wanted to achieve some outdoor storage and an outdoor covered ‘hangout’ space,” says the founder/designer of sustainably minded local firm REdesign.build.
Fast-forward through its fledgling unoptimized era and the “threat” of a she shed, and Mangano was spurred to optimize the space. “My wife told me if I didn’t figure out what to do with it, she’d use it as a room for her wrapping paper,” he laughs. So he built the bar in three days with wood from Raleigh Reclaimed.
“I’d like to think the bar I co-own Downtown, Foundation, was an inspiration,” muses Alphin. To give the option to extend the dozen-ish-capacity bar hang, “we designed and built more outdoor entertaining space adjacent to The Mangoose, including a modern patio with a cast-in-place concrete fire pit—and the world’s smallest doggy gate,” he adds.
Beyond being the envy of your friends and revolutionizing storage sheds—NTM the first residential shipping container in town, if not arguably anywhere (“I would bet a bottle of good bourbon on it being the first and still the only one in Raleigh!” jibes Alphin)—the appeal is much deeper. Always staged during “open” months mid-September to May (think yes electricity, no plumbing/AC) and ready for an impromptu hang, the iconic neon light serves as a bat signal Mangano turns on and transmits to invitees via text. It’s that very spontaneity and the mix of people it thereby draws that serves as its core appeal.
“It’s not the formality of opening your home or even meeting at a bar,” he says. “It’s so organic and unscripted—and it’s been such a great space to build community. It brings people from all different aspects together that house parties and bar hangs just don’t—and without any planning or major prep.” And for those looking to recreate the vibe, a pro tip on implementation from Alphin: “Choose the container carefully. Some have bad smells and small leaks. But also, some have great wood floors! Using a shipping container is probably not as expensive as you might think.” Here’s to letting loose!
Related Articles
Share this Post