A story in the Daily News today got us thinking about prefabricated houses. Are these the tract homes of the future or are they just classy trailer homes for design snobs? Either way, they’re something that two L.A. firms are designing and producing. kitHAUS (above left) and Marmol Radziner (above right) both have gotten into the mix with the hopes that this intellectual exercise in good home design will actually resonate with homebuyers.
Prefabricated homes date back more than 50 years and have never made much of a splash. But they've received new life in recent years thanks to the high cost of home construction and increased interest in modern living. Interest, however, remains mostly hype. Firms have received few purchase commitments and even fewer homes have been built and shipped.
Assuming you can find somewhere in L.A. that is not part of some “Ranch” development to put your prefab house, you could live in a high brow design for a slightly less than high brow price. Will there be a showdown between SoCal’s love affair with the McMansion and the simplicity of the prefab house? We're certainly no experts, but it's certainly possible that the biggest isn't always the best home.
· A Fab New Way to Live [L.A. Daily News]