Prefab?

Prefab houses are becoming popular, and this is mostly a good thing. Cheaper than building a traditional house, and the can be assembled in all of 2 days. They are showing up mainly in Venice and the west side/ Mar Vista areas. The designs are getting better, too. Once built, they do not have that cheap prefab look.

One firm that is making these is Marmol Radziner in Santa Monica. Their designs fit sites ranging from a flat lot in the desert to a beach lot in the south bay to a house half way into a hillside. Their designs are cutting edge and unique. Another firm is Resolution 4, in New York. Curbed LA has photos of one of their houses going up in Venice. I am not so impressed with them, as their floor plans are juvenile and simplistic. Always a big mistake to have a master bedroom with no direct access to its own bathroom. Architecture 101 mistake, and naming one of its designs triple wide sounds like a trailer.

The prices of pre fab houses run around $250,000 to build and install, depending on the design, size, etc. Also fits into the eco friendly environment, as opposed to a traditional house, and creates much less construction waste. With all the years of building that we have done, detailing and materials have not changed very much. Traditional construction is still a messy, awkward and expensive process that involves timing with a number of trades. With a pre fab house, much of this goes away.