PHOTO: This prefabricated 650-square-foot Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) in Denver has Douglas fir siding with non-toxic pine tar paint finish. Photo courtesy of Virtuance.
Review by Stacey Freed
The median home price in Colorado is $540,838, according to Zillow… but that’s pretty good compared to other popular states: California at $742,790 and New York at $716,120. Combine high prices with a national housing shortage — an estimated 6.5 million homes — and prefabricated small houses look like a promising alternative.
Sheri Koones’ new book Prefabulous for Everyone (Gibbs Smith, 2023), profiles 23 beautiful, small and energy-efficient prefab homes. Koones helps dispel the myth that “prefab” homes are “mobile homes” or “double wides.” Not that there’s anything wrong with those structures, but, unfortunately, they carry a stigma with homebuyers.
Designed for living well
Koones shows how prefab homes are built more quickly in a factory-controlled environment… no wood lying around, exposed to the elements; nothing getting stolen from job sites; less waste; more tightly built and therefore more energy efficient.
She also shows how beautifully designed in any style prefab homes can be — Modern, Colonial, Ranch, Cape Cod. She points out design features such as high ceilings, light colored walls, lots of natural light and plenty of storage… and how small homes can be built to feel larger.
The book includes several examples of accessory dwelling units (ADUs), a growing segment of the residential housing market. These are additional housing which can either be attached to the main house or be located elsewhere on the property. They provide not only for multi-generational living, added rental income and a place for guests, but also can increase the value of the home.
Local flavor
One of the featured homes was designed and built by the students and faculty of the University of Colorado Boulder, as part of the Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the US Department of Energy. The house, located in Fraser Colorado, was designed to be highly energy efficient with a solar array, highly efficient insulation and heating/cooling system, and many more energy saving features. An affordable ADU was included, providing temporary housing for seasonal workers in the area. The goal of the UC Boulder team and was to create a replicable example of housing to meet the shortages and construction challenges in mountain towns like this one, across the country.
Simple Homes in Denver designed and panelized another of the featured homes. (Panelized means that many of the home’s components were factory built such as wall sections.) One of the most sustainable features of this house is that it is located on a lot where one single house stood. After the original house was demolished, the property was subdivided to create three separate lots for three houses and two ADUs. This small development set a wonderful example for Denver and other cities where there is a huge shortage of housing and costs are too high for many people seeking homes. The house and ADU profiled in the book includes many green and energy features such as on-demand water heaters, air source heat pumps, energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) and others.
Resilient and comfortable
The book profiles several houses that are replacement for homes destroyed by natural disasters, such as hurricanes and fires. There are also several affordable houses that can help to meet the growing shortage of housing in this country. Because the houses were all built with prefabricated parts, they were able to be built more quickly to provide housing for those who lost theirs.
Koones demonstrates the comfort and ease of living in a small house when it is designed and built well. There are a variety of prefab methods included — modular, structural insulated panels, panelized, and kit built. Koones says she believes prefabricated housing is a practical solution to the housing shortage since it is faster to build, less expensive than site-built houses, and potentially more energy efficient — all aspects that are attractive to homeowners.
Learn more about Sheri Koones on her website.
Freelance writer Stacey Freed writes mainly about remodeling, construction, wellness, real estate, and sustainability.