14' wide shed roof expandable house

[jraabe]

The 14' wide limit of the Little House plans http://www.jshow.com/y2k/listings/29.html - when combined with the shed roof layouts (included) have the potential for building some interesting expandable buildings that could grow as you build.

The links below are for a modular expandable home based on the same 14' wide structural concept.

Plan: http://files.livemodern.com/static/glidehouse_3bed.jpg
Exterior: http://www.livemodern.com/glidehouse

[DavidLeBlanc]

Reminds me of the "Shelter-1" products! Those are based on 12' x ... module.

[kh]

Check out the modular Pinc House from Sweden:



http://www.husexpo.se/Pinkhouse/

http://www.pinchouse.com/

Ken H

[Amanda_931]

Those sliding shutters look interesting.

[spinnm]

Yeah, but she made Sunset magazine  

I've studied this really hard.  Her market has been in the bay area around SF.  So, I guess it's a bargain.  Seems pricy to me.  Steel company that makes the metal....is it called Cor-Ten?....says not to use it for siding....big argument between archies and mfg.

Nothing wrong with the concept...except that hers are modular...must be transported...thus the size constraints.  If they were site-built...more options.

Think if one had a mind to, could site build one quite reasonably.  John's right...offsetting the modules gives all kinds of possiblilites.

[Greenbank]

I did a lot of hanging out at http://fabprefab.com as I admire modern houses as much as I like conventional buildings.*

My conclusion: Definitely not cheaper than stick-built, harder to finance, and the 14' width restriction really limits some things. No one can seem to come to any agreement on what prefab should be, and it all seems like the same conversation that has happened numerous times in the past...

But certainly an interesting place for ideas. I'll go look and see if "weehouses" are in the links section...

[Greenbank]

Search didn't turn up anything.

http://www.weehouses.com/projects/weehouse.htm

This is an interesting small house example, and a nice counterpoint to the "cute cottage" look (not that there is anything wrong with that, I like it, myself).

My * in the previous post was going to be an admission that as a designer I find a lot of stuff "beautiful" that the general public (and rightly so) doesn't. Modern "machines for living" are often not very charming. At the end of the day, I want to be able to sit in my yard admiring my house as a beautiful object, not just as a shelter. Many modern designs just don't do well in that context, in my opinion.

[DavidLeBlanc]

"Wee House" seems just a bit short on  bathroom fixtures...

What I called "Shelter 1" above is actually "Unit 1" from Shelter-Kit.


At $9,000+ for what amounts to a hard shelled ballon (very little framing at all), that seems like an excessive amount of money for a 12' x 12' kit module shell kit (interior finish and insulation extra.)

Still, they must have something going for them. Their site does/did claim long lead times.

[Greenbank]

David,

There is a kinda cool house being offered by Rocio Romero, The LV Home. http://www.rocioromero.com/homelv.htm

The kit is $33,000, which seems OK until you realize that all it includes is a set of exterior walls ( ! ) and a "have fun". They estimate it would cost between $90 and $120K to complete, if I remember correctly.

I think it's actually a cool looking place, but it seems steep tribute for what may be one of the easier pieces to construct, the exterior walls. That, and the $10,000 non-refundable retainer (cough, cough), make it hard to imagine buying.

[spinnm]

Both the LV and Glide House are pretty famous.  I suppose that they're appealing if one likes contemporary architecture and can't afford to have one custom designed.

Or maybe you're trying to erect a house far from where you live and just don't want to deal with the difficulties.

The thing that always strikes me is that this is absolutely the cheapest and easiest thing to build.  Just a box with a shed roof.  Also the same for the Wee house and the Swedish one.  I can't figure out why someone would choose to buy one at over $100/sf when something like this is the perfect DIY project to start honing skills.

The LV and Glide are sided with metal roofing!  How easy is that?  Way easy.  But I also figure that the perceived expense is dependent upon the going gouge that you're used to.

Fine Homebuilding.  Houses issue.  Maybe last year's.  Contractor in SF built a weekend place in northern CA.  It was similar to these.  Box with a shed roof.  He was pleased with the cost to build.
I thought that it was outrageous.  I chalked it up to the labor rates in CA.

[DavidLeBlanc]

Although I don't generally like much avant-guarde house designs like the Glide, Wee and LV, in spite of having dissed it on price I actually do like the looks of the Unit-1. I like John's retreat cabin even!

Using a set of plans from John as the "bones", I can design a cottage I would want to live in and, in fact, I'm almost there! Check out this link I put in the Reference section: http://countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=0003;action=display;num=1109230293

Note basement!

The layout shown could use a bit of improvement: it devotes too much sq. ft. to hallways! I've got that sussed and just need to draw it up. There's a shed dormer going in there too on the S. side of the loft. Also, 2 (more) bumps (in addition to the window seat bump that gets slightly deeper): a dining alcove and a desk/office alcove. Both of these will turn what would otherwise just be hallways into multi-purpose mini-rooms. When it's not being the hallway to one end of the kitchen, it's an intimate dining space for 2, complete with a china cabinet w/stained glass cabinet fronts. The hallway office/den features a dramatic 2 story ceiling with a spiral staircase up to the loft and down to the basement. Maybe another window seat/seating group with a wee woodburning stove too - not sure about the feasibility of that just yet - on the other hand, I had not previously considered the notion of a basement - garden, walkout or full. Almost starting to have too much space!