A Simple Plan
A Marmol Radziner–designed prefab house, trucked onto a remote Northern California site, takes the pain out of the construction process.
Bill and Abbie Burton have experienced their share of construction drama. The Solana Beach, California– based landscape architects have been working together for 25 years, overhauling landscapes and buildings alike. So when the time came to build a vacation house on the 330-acre oak-speckled woodland they purchased in Mendocino County, nine-and-a-half hours north of their main residence, they opted for the easy way out: a custom prefab house designed by Los Angeles firm Marmol Radziner. “We weren’t able to make lots of trips up here, so we couldn’t babysit the process,” says Bill. “Stick-built construction requires a lot of hand-holding. Going prefab made it pretty seamless.”
In the foreground are Float beanbag chairs and poufs from Paola Lenti. Mamagreen sofas nestle near the house on the sun-dappled deck. A 9.5-foot-tall shade cloth curtain seals off the entire length of the house when the couple is away, keeping the heat out of the interior and preventing accidental bird suicides against the floor-to-ceiling glass walls.
“We literally sat on the hill in lawn chairs and watched the house come together,” says Bill. “It was instantaneous. We went from having just a foundation on our site to walking around our house a few hours later. You never see architecture come together like that.” Six weeks later the finish work was complete—seams where the modules met were patched, an 18-foot kitchen island was installed—and the Burtons moved in.
Click here to view our extended slideshow chronicling how the residence was assembled in a single day.
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This house is FABULOUS! Would it work in Colorado where we have temperature swings of over 110 degrees difference from summer to winter, snow loads, and dry, dry high-altitude sunshine?
I love the most recent issue of your magazine especially the article on prefab homes. I am from South Florida and I would like to find out if the foundation would work for the seasonal hurricane weather here. Also, are there any restrictions/limits as to where the prefab factories would deliver?
I love your newest issue of Dwell and would like to ask that cost factors are included in the articles. Exact numbers are not necessary as logically we all know land, and materials play a large part in these construction sites, but some thoughts, ie per sq foot, per module, etc.
@KG @Jeanne Every home must be engineered for local conditions and approved according to local building codes. For instance, the structural engineering would need to be upgraded to meet the snow loads of Colorado. Similarly, a home in South Florida would require additional engineering to withstand wind loads, and windows would need to be hurricane resistant. @Sandra @djvin Out of respect for the owner’s privacy, we cannot release the cost of the Burton’s home. However, in our experience, the cost of building prefab homes is about the same as the cost of traditional site-built homes of comparable quality. Our homes begin at $250/sq. ft. for pre-designed floor plans, such as our Dwell Homes Collections Series, and our custom homes typically start at $400/sq. ft. Pre-construction costs for architecture fees, engineering, permits, and printing are additional.
Great prefab home! I love Marmol Radziner's homes. I actually attempted to get them to display a home at the upcoming Palm Springs Modernism Week in February 2012. Unfortunately, they can't do it. If anyone reading this blog knows a builder or designer who wants to display a home, please contact me asap! It's a great event....Thanks for sharing.
Dont mean to sound like a spoiler but why in the world does anyone need or want such a large second home? It just seems so UNgreen and a waste. Wish small was stressed more. Because big just seems so uppity and out of date.
a very nice design. I like the open construction of the backsite.
a very nice design. I like the open construction of the backsite.
"Accidental bird suicides"? It is what it is and I'm sure any birds that crash into a glass window and subsequently die are not committing suicide. They are experiencing an untimely accidental death.
A lovely house - and of a scale that is excessive and unnecessary for a holiday home I suspect. Doesn't conspicuous consumption such as this militate against sustainability? This type of lifestyle choice may be part of the problem, not part of the solution. But, I'm probably just jealous. Now, where did I put my hair shirt?
What a beautiful home. I am seriously interested in a home of this type and would like to have an idea of what a per square foot cost of a home of this nature would be. If the per square foot cost could include the main dwelling, utilities, finished interior, foundation and construction costs would enlighten us better along with what the square footage of this type of home is. Thank you. Ed
Do they make smaller versions, say, as a mother-in-law pre-fab? Half that size would be wonderful and economical.
Marmol & R., and their premier pre-fab, just outside of Palm Springs sold for 600K. It was in foreclosure and in a dicey part of town, I hope our Landscape architects saw that new article in L.A. curb.
I like the Marmol Radziner pre-frab homes. In order to get real traction the homes need to break the $125 a ft. barrier. What would be the steps or key to doing this?
Can you tell us anything about that great cloth shade (it looks like cloth, could be shade cloth) extending over much of their pool deck? I'd like some construction details if possible. How is it held up? Does it run on cables, and does it store away against the house when not in use? Who is the manufacturer? Thanks.
I would like to know the name brand of the siding, I'd love to use it on our home.
Verry nice to see how in this simple volume every function gets his own place. Inspirative to see how te garden and building seem to be 'married' :-)
I have to agree with one of the above posts - why such a large 'weekend' home?. Temperatures are rising, and not just in our oceans. Unfortunately we will all pay for our excess culture.
Re the slide that mentions bird suicides from hitting the windows. Birds don't commit suicide. The large glass surface reflects the outside environment and appears like the rest of the natural outdoors. In some large office buildings, reflective glass probably causes thousands of bird deaths at one building alone. Cumulatively, bird collisions cause a billion bird deaths a year. We should consider ways to lessen our impact. Bravo to the owners for at least putting up the curtain but a more sustainable solution should be sought. Please read this from Cornell University about collisions and ways to decrease them. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=1184&ac=ac and this from National Audubon Society http://web4.audubon.org/bird/at_home/SafeWindows.html or search "bird collisions with windows"
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