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The home is currently being rented out to recoup some building costs, and the owners are considering a permanent move after their daughter leaves for college.

Architect Gabriele Mary Ann Schicketanz designed a modular compound in Carmel-by-the-Sea to house her son’s family and her own, offering a cost-effective alternative to the area’s $2–3 million homes. Placed on a nearly five-acre lot beneath old oaks, the project includes a three-bedroom main house, a freestanding ADU, and a site-built garage, all oriented for views and privacy.

“CLT House is built in a forest clearing in upstate New York. Aiming for a light touch on its natural site, the 2,150-square-foot house was built with cross-laminated-timber (CLT) panels and installed in 11 days,” nARCHITECTS tells us. “The live-edge siding and its uneven weathering with time aims to provide a rustic contrast with the contemporary nature of the prefab build and its modern environmental features: geothermal wells, a radiant floor system, and a solar panel array.”

The prefab design utilizes a pin foundation system that reduces the project’s carbon footprint by 77 percent, says Wittman.

The pilot home on Whidbey Island demonstrates the system’s potential: a 600-square-foot interior paired with nearly equal covered outdoor space, set lightly on a pin foundation that protects tree roots and cuts carbon by 77 percent. "Puzzle Prefab can be modified according to each site,