The History of Prefabricated Homes

Ready-built or largely preconstructed homes have been available in multiple forms since at least the mid-1800s. Ranging in style from cottages and mobile homes to architects' visions, prefabricated homes stand poised to move house construction into a greener future, according to some members of the building industry.

Pre-1900

Different sources give different dates for the production of the first prefabricated house. In his 2005 The Prefabricated Home, Colin Davies cites 1833, when the balloon frame---the still-used rectangle of 2-by-4s and 2-by-8s that make up the inside of walls---was introduced in Chicago. A balloon frame can be constructed well away from a home site, transported flat by truck or rail, and easily joined by unskilled laborers to other balloon frames to form rooms and entire houses.

The 2008 New York Museum of Modern Art exhibit Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling identified the construction of the Manning Portable Cottage in London in 1830 for the Australian market as the genesis of the prefabricated home.

Whatever the specific year, the concept of what constitutes a prefabricated home has seemingly held steady for the past two centuries. The website Prefab Homes gives the following definition for a prefabricated home, which would no doubt make sense to any 1830s craftsman: "A 'prefab home' refers to several different types of building systems in which a home is partially or entirely constructed, manufactured, or assembled in a factory, assembly plant, or lumber yard."

Modernist Hopes

Throughout the 20th century, many world-famous architects championed prefabricated building techniques for the techniques' low cost and ability to reshape people's conception of the home. For instance, Davies devoted several pages of his book to detailing Frank Lloyd Wright's many experiments with prefabrication. Similarly, a good deal of space in the MOMA exhibit considered designs such as F. Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion House, which was constructed primarily from aluminum and steel.

Very few of those rigidly modernist designs appeared in American neighborhoods, however. According to an NPR Morning Edition report from Sept. 15, 2008, the architects lacked the wherewithal or willingness to pursue factory production for their visions. Also, families proved unenthusiastic about living in houses built with nontraditional materials.

Sears House Kits

Sears, Roebuck, and Co. did have major success with prefabricated homes between 1908 and 1940. The retailer estimates that it sold as many as 75,000 home kits during that period to both middle-class workers moving out of the cities and into the rapidly growing suburbs and to wealthy families seeking low-cost vacation homes.

In its online archives, Sears cites two reasons for the success of its home kits. First, the company offered as many as 447 different designs, ranging from the multistory Ivanhoe to the three-room-no-bathroom Goldenrod. Sears even allowed customers to submit blueprints for customized prefabricated homes. This made home kits attractive to all kinds of consumers.

Second, the kits included balloon frames, drywall and asphalt shingles. Each of these components simplified the construction process and increased the finished structure's resistance to fire.

Mobile Homes

The mobile home--factory-built and transported in one or two pieces to its ultimate destination--became the dominant model of the prefabricated home in the United States after 1945. The low purchase price of these structures made them particularly attractive to the many veterans returning from World War II, while the relatively low cost of construction materials made building on-site more attractive than prefabrication for real estate developers.

Prefabricated homes erected from concrete, plastic and steel forms have enjoyed more success outside the United States during the postwar period. According to figures cited by NPR, prefabricated homes account for 20 percent of the housing market in Japan.

Green Promise

In answering the question, "Why would someone choose a prefab home?" the website Prefab Homes states, "Prefab homes have greater energy efficiency (and) produce less waste during the construction process."

Technologies showcased as part of the MOMA exhibit at least partially bear out these claims, with one particularly promising system facilitating the direct input of customers' specifications into laser cutting machines to produce easy-to-assemble components.

On the more-standardized end of the prefabricated home spectrum, the May 26, 2009, issue of Builder magazine profiles "6 Prefab Houses That Could Change Home Building." Whether designs such as the IKEA.SmartCarHouse or the Unity from Walpole, N.H.-based Bensonwood Homes will actually change the housing industry remains to be seen. But if these 600- to 800-square-foot prefabricated homes designed to draw electricity from geothermal, solar or wind sources can be delivered and sold for the promised $250,000 to $300,000, they might.