Hi Chuck and welcome. Your project looks interesting - and a lot of work. There was another thread here at one time about shipping containers, but I can't find it now. I did find this one, but you probably did too. The only reason I know there was another one was because my husband was considering one for his lease, and I posted a picture of a local place that retro fits them.

My bil owns a gun range and built the office and indoor shooting range out of two shipping containers. You're right about opposition from neighbors, but really, if they wanted to have only neighbors with mega houses, they would have built somewhere with restrictions. You can be the local flavor that makes their lives interesting.

We bought land one time, intending to build a big house, but the developer lied about it being on a flood plain, didn't get the plat done, etc, and we finally built a big 2 car garage with loft and lived there for 2 years. Another neighbor did the same, and another built a metal barn and finished it out inside. I don't think they ever intended to build another house when and if we could get mortgages and insurance. But it was pretty neat, and when they went on a trip, they just closed the center doors over their "home front", put on a lock, and left. The only other way in were big windows in the loft area.