Prefab

Located seven miles from Frank Lloyd Wright’s estate, Tim Wright and Karen Ellzey’s prefab home is meant to pay homage to the great American architect’s experiments with modular housing.

Despite the remoteness of the lot and the challenges it posed, the light-gauge steel frame was erected in days, and the entire home was completed in two months—a testament to the ease and efficiency of the prefabricated system. The building sits on upright columns that are bolted to independent concrete footings, giving the home the illusion of floating.

Consisting of three prefabricated units in West Seattle on a 5,000 square-foot lot, the Genesee Townhomes—by Method Homes and Chris Pardo Design—from 1,250-1,400 square feet, each with three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms.

The prefab can be customized and configured to the client’s liking, and it can even be outfitted with renewable energy systems such as rooftop solar panels.

When Abbie and Bill Burton hired Marmol Radziner to design their prefab weekend home, their two requests were “simple-simple, replaceable materials,” says Abbie—such as concrete floors (poured offsite in Marmol Radziner's factory) and metal panel siding—and “the ability to be indoors or outdoors with ease.” Deep overhangs provide shade and protection from rain, so the Burtons can leave their doors open year-round and hang out on their 70-foot-long deck even in inclement weather. They visit the house once a month, usually for a week at a time, with Vinnie and Stella, their rescue Bernese Mountain dogs. Their two adult children occasionally join them. The couple hopes to one day retire here.

Settled on a picturesque hillside in Somona, California, the Connect 5 residence features stunning floor-to-ceiling windows, which allow warm natural light to flood through the home.