The internet is all abuzz, and I am too, about the Clayton i-house, a manufactured home that recently debuted at Berkshire-Hathaway's annual shareholders' meeting in
The design hits the right note of cool modernism. The price point hits the right note of affordability (at about $100 to $130 a square foot.) And it is green, green, green – featuring solar panels, a roof rain-water catchment system, energy efficient appliances, and low-e windows. USA Today says that the i-house's 1,000-square-foot prototype comes furnished and has a master bedroom, full bath, open kitchen and living room with IKEA cabinetry, two ground-level decks and a separate flex room with a second full bath and a second story deck covered with a sail-like canopy. The price of the prototype home is approximately $140,000.
All pictures of the i-house come from blogger Greenotter, who shares his passion and intelligent insights on The Clayton i–house blog.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1. This is how we should all be living in the future. It's inexpensive and eco-friendly, and you don't have to sacrifice style.
Posted at 10:30AM on May 8th 2009 by Robin
2. While the interior design is cool and the impact to the environment is considerably lower, I find the outside of this home hideous. I think it's the retro '60s Jetsons look that I find incredibly tacky. I half expect the lawns for these homes to be Brady Bunch-style astroturf.
Posted at 8:55AM on May 20th 2009 by Steve
3. The whole point of the exercise is eco-friendly living. It would be a little hypocritical to surround a green home with a water-wasting lawn, wouldn't it?
Posted at 2:52PM on May 8th 2009 by roundel
4. It might be very nice on the inside, but I'm sorry, it still looks like a trailer on the outside, and it still has the small and cramped layout of a trailer on the inside. No thanks!
Posted at 2:53PM on May 8th 2009 by Jason
5. Looks like it would be great for a single person, retirees or as a vacation home. Seems it would be a bit claustrophobic with no views on the one side, through.
Posted at 3:12PM on May 8th 2009 by Roxy
6. 140K for 1000 sq ft is nuts. It is what we think of as a "park home" meaning designed to be put on block in an RV or trailer park and used as a summer residence. Google Park Homes and you'll find a ton of better designs all GREEN. There is nothing special about that concept except to folks who have no experience with the park home concept of manufacturered housing.
Posted at 3:23PM on May 8th 2009 by Rick69939
7. 140K for 1000 square is pricey. That design is simply a "park home". Google those words. Lots of better designs in manufacturered housing all GREEN. These homes were designed for RV and similar parks as summer homes put permanently on concrete bases to run utilities etc. Nothing particularly new except perhaps for the solar But lots of better designs out there all GREEN.
Posted at 3:24PM on May 8th 2009 by Rick
8. Well done America , from the eyes of a european things are waking up.
Posted at 3:40PM on May 8th 2009 by Sally Kennedy
9. I actually love the pre-feb homes. However, I am not speaking of a one or two bedroom home. I like the bigger ones, with four to five bedrooms, basements, and balconies. Trust me, they design them today to look prettier than any home you could buy for triple the purchase price. Also, we all must realize that eventually we are going to have to live "green" if we are going to live at all.
Posted at 3:40PM on May 8th 2009 by Linda Lieber
10. "Well done America , from the eyes of a european things are waking up."
ya think so do ya? $140k for a 1000 sq/ft home is just stupid, apparently even the europeans dont get it.
Posted at 3:42PM on May 8th 2009 by doc
11. If it is 1000 square feet and it cost $100 to $130 per square foot how does it add up to $140,000?
Posted at 3:53PM on May 8th 2009 by Susie
12. Susie, I believe that is for the higher-end finishes and furnishings of the prototype.
Posted at 3:56PM on May 8th 2009 by Alba
13. I am so sick of the 'green' people. It's a hoax to make more money for these greedy elitists. It's a house trailer. That's All!!!!!
You can buy a house trailer, for about $29,000. down here in the South. This is a 24 x 80, completely furnished, some with appliances. Great places to live all you need is land to set it up on. $140,000. is OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!!
Posted at 4:11PM on May 8th 2009 by Tracie Smith
14. WHO GIVES A CARE WHAT EUROPE THINKS. THIS IS NOT EUROPE, THIS IS AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted at 4:11PM on May 8th 2009 by Tracie Smith
15. Over $100k for a trailer? It's got a little style, but still looks cramped and cheap with that Ikea cabinetry. A trailer is a very quickly depreciating asset (and in the case of a trailer, I use the term 'asset' loosely), and a very unwise purchase. Better to put the money toward a small home or condo. This has got to be another of AOLs ads disguised as an article - no one in their right mind could think one of these trailers is a smart purchase.
Posted at 4:21PM on May 8th 2009 by Lara
16. $140,000 for a trailer???? No thanks, I'd rather have a house. I grew up in a trailer park and this new prototype is not enough to get me back in one!
Posted at 4:45PM on May 8th 2009 by Laura
17. As homes go this MIGHT be suitable for a student attending college. But at $140K....that's a ridiculous price! Eco-friendly or not. Much larger new mobile homes run $60K and the eco-difference (energy consumption, etc....) is negligible.
Wanna help the environment? Buy the larger mobile home and donate the difference to some eco-charity.
Posted at 4:48PM on May 8th 2009 by Michael
18. I think affordable housing is just what the market needs. This is Chic, redneck Chic or inner-city chic, maybe, but it's definitely chic.
I say stop moaning, unless you paid more for your home and it looks worse, in which case bleat on!
Posted at 4:48PM on May 8th 2009 by I've got Cashews
19. Glorified Mobile that will never last the 30 year loan. People will bail on them the first time they spring a leak. Are you so sure they are "eco friendly" what about when they don't last and they become more garbage for the dump. A brick home can last 100 plus years, if taken care of. Another fad, another scam for builders, loan companies and banks to cry about people not paying the loan to the end blah blah blah. And they are ugly !
Posted at 4:56PM on May 8th 2009 by deborah
20. You can go to Cocoa Florida and Merritt Island and buy a home renovated, with a pool right now for 150. New kitchen and all...this is a nice concept, but pricy when you consider its just enough room for one in my opinion, and maybe two side by side and an office,etc. I don't want to live under 2500 and I live alone. If I had my way I would live in 5K sq feet. I like space. This is ok when I retire and give away my furniture and am alone and lonely with my doggies. Actually I love contemporary, but more than 3K sq feet at least.
Posted at 5:07PM on May 8th 2009 by Scarlett