What are Prefab Homes?
Prefabricated houses, also known as modular or prefab homes, have been around since 1624, when the first wooden house was broken into pieces in England and shipped overseas to Cape Ann, Massachusettes, to be reconstructed on a different continent. In 1908, Sears introduced its wildly popular “House by Mail”, a prefabricated house they sold nearly 100,000 units of between 1908 and 1940. Even historic architect Frank Lloyd Wright was in on the action, setting up a factory in Wisconsin to produce many of his designs en masse for the American people. The popular conception of prefab houses is one of virtual trailers, either shipped whole on the back of a truck to the lot they will live, or sent in modular pieces to be constructed on site. While it is indisputable that a large segment of the prefabrication market is at the lower cost end, the fastest growing sector is at the upper-end of the market. In some areas, an attempt has been made to differentiate between the two market segments by
