Upwardly Mobile Homes

• Omari06.11.2009

  Who knew a mobile home could look (and probably feel) so..homey?! I love the amount of light that illuminates the space of what is usually so inanimate....very cool!

• Sk8D06.11.2009

  Unless you own the land your trailers parked on good luck finding financing for your house on wheels. Essentially your asking the bank to finance a 119k car, if it burns down your left with nothing. At least with a house if it burns down your left with the land, which is where the majority of your houses value resides. This was the same dilemma i ran into recently when trying to buy a house, we looked at house boats and trailers alike but were unable to find financing unless we were paying cash for the entire thing. My guess is that if you own a hip piece of urban property, your going to be just enough of a snob to not want a mobile home / or so ultra hip that you need to wonder if your getting full potential out of your investment...which if your rich may not matter. I don't hear anyone talking about providing nicely designed, affordable inner city mobile home communities on un-developed tracks of land. Any other conversation boils down to Brad and Angelina shopping at Goodwill cause its hip. Good day.

• Fine Art of Fathering06.11.2009

  I'm gonna have to agree with Sk8D.

• Smooth Earl06.13.2009

  I've come to think that, instead of these planned communities full of McMansions, someone should do exactly what Sk8D suggested ... build a community and fill it with the more affordable models of the innovative prefab living structures we see in Dwell magazine ... but I don't think there's enough PROFIT in it for them, hence the reason no one's doing it. Such a place could be where the average person working even a minimum-wage job could afford to buy a place to live without becoming a slave to their mortgage ... perchance to dream.

• m to the g06.13.2009

  when will dwell allow us to share articles on f.book, etc. without having to do the uglier url post. get with it, this is a perfect piece that I'd love to post yo! that being said, I love that CU-Boulder is representin! that being said, my comment is this: I think the mortgage flop provides a perfect opportunity for people in this field to 1) sow seeds in the cultural psyche of America (somehow) that efficient/high-design is desirable, and 2) get some of these prefabs and trailer wraps financed, get some major development going. I can't believe it would be too hard to find someone who's willing to finance a project where an average, new college grad could buy a nicely designed, highly efficient prefab home for $40k and live next to a single, poor mom in a similar unit. It seems to be the right time to me sociologically. Of course, I don't know what I'm talking about most of the time either. So, yea.

• nealos06.23.2009

  This is gentrification Boulder-style. The entrepenuers and yuppies could totally kick out all of those dirty trailer-hippies and build 2... no, maybe 3 more REI's. yeehaw

• t-rex08.30.2009

  "we looked at house boats and trailers alike but were unable to find financing unless we were paying cash for the entire thing" Huh? Am I missing something in that statement?

• HomelessMentality06.05.2010

  My husband and I bought an older junky trailer at a (decent) park... the park financed the trailer for us. We pay roughly $200 a month for it. It's really not that hard to find. We have been remodeling our trailer a little at a time with hopes of ending with something as beautiful as the homes showed here. A lot of the materials for our home we have gotten free and they are sustainable (bamboo for example). If you are smart about how you remodel, it is an investment.

• Shrek06.28.2010

  First, let me say some of the above posters sound like snobs. Not everyone can afford city houses. There are more people on the lower end of the pay scale than the upper end. Paid off home and property makes retirement a lot more comfortable. We live in a neighborhood that has large lots developed for manufactured homes only. It sure is nice not being able to pass a cup of sugar to your neighbor through the window like some of you city dwellers. I see some of your neighborhoods with houses packed so close together you barely have walking space between your homes. I would much rather drive an extra 10 miles into town to work and enjoy the weekend watching the kids play in our spacious yard. We have room for volleyball, basketball, trampolines, pools, and swingsets with plenty of open space left.

• Nelson03.07.2011

  I was woundering if anyone knew the price of these units?

• Crystal G. Adkins09.12.2011

  I have a blog named "Mobile Home Living" that focuses on decor, remodeling and updating ideas for us mobile home dwellers.10% of all Americans live in a mobile home, thats not going to be easily replaceable. The stereotype is a shame as I've always thought "As you think, so shall you be", I may live in a trailer but I'm not trash nor is anyone else...Thanks for a great article! Please check out my blog: http://mobilehomey.blogspot.com/

• Scott09.18.2011

  Seems to me that both sides of this one need to take a deep breath.Bound to be a market somewhere for it.

• Ezbii09.19.2011

  Really? Can no-one see a middle ground? First, gentrification of a mobile home park by well meaning but clueless people who would pay 65K for a 400 sq. ft home is the very LAST thing the parks or the community needs. Second, mobile home parks are the last refuge for the working poor who seek the dignity of home ownership. Sure, it may be "just a trailer" and it may depreciate faster than gasoline prices rise, but it is home and refuge for those who may have endured past homelessness, misfortune or victimization by unscrupulous land-lords. If architects, designers and design junkies are really concerned why not volunteer to go into the parks, donate some sweat to helping the elderly or disabled improve their homes and give advice to others who want to make upgrades? Why not help a mobile home park resident negotiate the city permit red-tape so they can remodel their kitchen or upgrade their bathroom? Why not start a chic movement by sitting down with some of the residents and having a cup of coffee and a good conversation? Keep your fancy designs and your prejudices. Mobile home dwellers need neither.

• Cameron09.20.2011

  I also agree with Skd8 "Unless you own the land your trailers parked on good luck finding financing for your house on wheels. Essentially your asking the bank to finance a 119k car, if it burns down your left with nothing. At least with a house if it burns down your left with the land, which is where the majority of your houses value resides. This was the same dilemma i ran into recently when trying to buy a house, we looked at house boats and trailers alike but were unable to find financing unless we were paying cash for the entire thing. My guess is that if you own a hip piece of urban property, your going to be just enough of a snob to not want a mobile home / or so ultra hip that you need to wonder if your getting full potential out of your investment...which if your rich may not matter. I don't hear anyone talking about providing nicely designed, affordable inner city mobile home communities on un-developed tracks of land. Any other conversation boils down to Brad and Angelina shopping at Goodwill cause its hip. Good day" Read more: http://www.dwell.com/articles/Upwardly-Mobile-Homes.html#ixzz1YWvxYfe2

• antje11.19.2011

  Just one question: is this mobilehome still on wheels? what is the max. measurement to be "mobile"? thank you!!

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