Swell 2.0

A luxurious rural retreat that doesn’t skimp on comfort, JR’s Hut is an off-grid glamping destination with spectacular views of the 7,000-acre Kimo Estate in Australia.

Named after its rooftop photovoltaic panels, the Solar Studio is the first completed build in NODE’s customizable Trillium Series.

Builders, developers, designers, and architects have developed a range of homes that are composed of prefabricated, modular, or kit-of-parts pieces that can allow for lower costs, faster and easier on-site construction, and even higher quality spaces. Here, we delve into the differences—and similarities—among these manufactured residences.

Wild bush, sand dunes, and scrub surround the circular home on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. The Austin Maynard Architects team was careful to minimize the building’s impact on the fragile landscape.

Minim Homes are wrapped in beautiful shiplapped cyprus that will gently age to grey. And a 960-watt solar array on the roof can be battery powered, allowing the home to be completely off-grid if desired.

Rudolph used red cannonballs as weights to hold the home’s signature wood shutters in place.

"Our favorite room of the new FUSE might be the one that's outside… the large covered porch!"

Affordable, adorable, and in many cases, transportable, these tiny homes made a big impact on our readers this year.

Set on a slope, the property faces the forest to the north and sweeping views of the landscape to the south.

Nine shipping containers form the basis of this new multigenerational house near Denver.

“Stacey hopes that we can use this as a prototype for a development of artists’ studios someday—we talked about maybe siting several of them together, like an old mobile home park.” The steel sculpture is by San Antonio artist George Shroeder.

The weeHouse exteriors are clad in corrugated Cor-Ten, but with a custom pattern of folds to create an organic randomness. The foundations were designed with a shallow recess around the top to make the modules look like they’re hovering. After they bought the property in early 2014, the Siegels camped there for two summers while they saved up money and planned a permanent structure. In his research, BJ came across this design, a customizable prefab house by Alchemy Architects. "Of all the things that I found, I was drawn to that one because it was absolutely the simplest and cleanest," he says.

Originally built in 1974 as a kit home, this A-frame cabin was saved from ruins by an ambitious couple who temporarily turned it into a home for five.

The Mono structure's single-engineered truss frame makes it capable of withstanding harsh weather—from heavy snow, to downpours, to heat. It also comes in three variations.

Cabin Nordmarka, 2006.

A young Finnish designer bypasses building permits by creating an affordable tiny home under 100 square feet.