If you have reached the end of your tether looking for a house to buy because you just can’t find one that meets your needs and prices seem to bear no relation to reality, you might want to consider building your own “flatplak” home.
I’m not talking about getting your next home from Ikea (although if you lived in Europe that could be done). I am referring to the fabulous world of prefabs — an architectural method that is enjoying a renaissance in the Bay Area (for proof look no further than Dwell magazine, San Francisco based champions of the modern prefab).
Oakland-based architect Michelle Kauffman is one of the leading local designers of beautiful, contemporary, affordable and sustainable prefabs (four adjectives that rarely apply in unison to homes for sale here or anywhere).
People associated with prefabs often compare them to building with Lego such is the ease of construction compared to conventional stick-built homes.
Kaufmann believes that buying an environmentally friendly home should be “as simple as ordering a pair of customized sneakers”. Her modular homes, which are solar-ready and energy efficient, come in various models (including the Glidehouse, pictured above) and cost approximately $200-$300 per square foot. This is extremely competitive for the Bay Area. (The median price per square foot for a home in Oakland is currently about $375, for Berkeley $500 and for Palo Alto $850, according to Altos Research.)
Now to find that plum plot of land…
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