Monica Scandlen

Cape Cod. San Francisco. Telluride. Nantucket. You expect expansive mansions in these ZIP codes. But homes built in factories? Then assembled on-site?

That’s right. Large, stylish modular homes are popping up in posh neighborhoods. And industry experts say to expect more modular homes in diverse communities as home buyers and builders become more familiar with the option.

“We’re attracting very high-end people, very educated people,” says Dave Wrocklage, director of sales and marketing for Epoch Homes in Pembroke, N.H. He spoke on a panel about custom-built modular homes at the recent International Builders’ Show in Orlando.

The panel outlined a variety of reasons home buyers are choosing modular homes:

Less construction time and less construction cost because each module, or section, is built in a factory, which can order supplies in bulk. Plus, a secure factory setting cuts back on theft of materials from sites, which can account for about 3 percent of construction costs.

Modules are inspected in the factory, and most homes come with five- or 10-year warranties. A factory setting excludes weather conditions that can cause supplies to swell, shrink or mold.

Sturdy construction is required because modules can be trucked for miles on less-than-perfect roads and should arrive undamaged. Modules typically use 4-by-6 boards, and the Sheetrock is glued and screwed.

One top-of-the-line home was on display at the builders’ show, along with modular town homes and single-family homes.

The high-end home’s 10 modules were built in 12 days by Nationwide Custom Homes in its factory in Martinsville, Va., and then assembled and furnished in 17 days in the parking lot of the Orange County Convention Center.

With 4,320 square feet of finished space, the home boasts a $52,000 staircase, a $10,000 Italian marble-and-copper floor inlay on the upstairs balcony and a coffered copper-and-wood ceiling in the home office.

“It was designed for successful baby boomers,” says Donald Aheron, the home’s designer and director of engineering for Nationwide.

The home has been sold to Wave Construction in Rosemary Beach, which plans to relocate the home to nearby Wild Heron, says Kevin Law, a regional manager with Nationwide’s builder division. This Panhandle community includes Shark’s Tooth, a golf course designed by Greg Norman.

A basic home with four bedrooms, three full baths, two half-baths and theater and game rooms would sell for about $289,000, says Frank Marro, an area manager with the company’s builder division. The home on display had about $150,000 in upgrades.

A look at the numbers shows that modular homes are gaining popularity.

The National Association of Home Builders says in the decade before the housing market started to slip, production of modular homes rose from 35,000 units in 1995 to 44,000 units in 2005. Charles Bevier, editor of Building Systems magazine, says that number dropped to about 40,000 units in 2006, likely because of the overall downturn in the housing market.

This year, at least two projects locally will boost the numbers.

In Holden Heights near Orlando, the Art in Architecture program, which builds stylish, affordable homes with the aim of revitalizing neighborhoods, plans to use different-style modular homes. The first phase will be six town homes on 24th Street between Rio Grande and Nashville avenues.

The program is waiting for approval from Orange County officials before the town homes are ordered from Palm Harbor Homes’ Plant City factory, says Steve Chitwood, the real estate broker who conceived Art in Architecture.

Similar town homes on display during the builders’ show gave a sneak peek at features the Art in Architecture town homes will have: recessed lighting, crown molding, rounded wall corners and Energy Star-rated appliances. They will come with a five-year warranty, says Steve Baeten, district sales manager for Palm Harbor Homes.

“The idea is 10 years from now, what do I need to do to this house to make it look like Day One?” says Baeten. “Paint the walls, clean the carpets. That’s it.”

In researching modulars for Art in Architecture, Frankie Callen Elliott was so impressed she decided to buy one. Elliott is the executive director of the Florida Real Estate Foundation, which sponsors Art in Architecture. The foundation is a separate nonprofit association set up by the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, of which Elliott is also vice president of governmental affairs.

She walked through modular homes at the past two builders’ shows and toured the Plant City factory. She and her husband decided on a four-bedroom, three-bath, 3,000-square-foot model they will put on a lot in Bithlo. She says they will pay a “decent price,” for the home, much less than what they would pay for a site-built home.

“They are done very, very well. And when you walk into the houses, you feel you’re in a regular house,” Elliott says. “And believe me, I’m really a house snob.”

Don’t Forget To Read IT :

Modular Home – The Systems-Built Advantage

Modular Buildings – A Portable and Low Cost Construction Alternative

Luxury Modular Homes

The Modular Home Quality

That’s odd: Home-builder survey doesn’t match other one

source : www.orlandosentinel.com