[giantg2]

When I was looking at modulars 5 or so years ago, the costs were pretty much the same.

But I generally agree - $390k base price for a 5XXsqft house is ridiculous. But it seems this is marketed towards CA residents (who might be used to much higher costs).

Edit: whoops, I see your's was targeted at "designer" prefab.

[walrus01]

If I wanted a 550 sq ft prefab house, I'd be looking at whatever was the higher-end/better quality market segment of the "singlewide" manufactured home industry, which are built in a factory and come all in one piece and are delivered on their own wheels by semi truck.

But then of course you have the problem that many cities ban manufactured houses and they are only considered socially acceptable in lower income rural areas.

If you look at the floor plans of some modern "singlewide" manufactured homes they are totally a fine amount of floor space for one or two people to live, though obviously constrained by the maximum legal road lane width allowable and their long/linear design.

[shagie]

Being from the midwest, the first thought would be Design Homes - https://www.designhomes.com. And there are some rather large ones they make. They also have a cabin series which is on the small side. Something like https://www.designhomes.com/prairieduchien/pdc-3/ (644 sqft). Digging a bit, I found a price for one from 2019: https://web.archive.org/web/20190117000728/http://designhome... - a 40' cabin, 560 sqft for $53k (appears to be originally priced closer to $60k). That's much less than the price in the article/link.

My 2nd thought would be something like a Tumbleweed if I wanted an extra room for the back yard with some mobility (have an office that you can take on vacation).

And my 3rd thought would be go even smaller than 550 sqft if I just wanted an office and https://www.autonomous.ai/adus/studio-pod or https://www.autonomous.ai/adus/autonomous-work-pod - though those aren't things for living in, they're interesting for creating a separation between the house and the office in the WFH environment.

[walrus01]

That 14' wide 644 SQ ft unit looks pretty good as a floor plan, it's about the same size as a small 1bd apartment in any major city. I do think they're counting the porch in the square footage however. It does appear that the 14 ft width is the practical maximum for transportation by road as a "wide load" without a lot of special planning and permits in advance.

[shagie]

If you look at the floor plans you can see where they're modular.

https://youtu.be/a984YzmJB4M has a video of them setting up the home and 1:41 in, you can see the two sides - one being put on the foundation, one awaiting the crane. At 4:00, you can see one with a very high peak with the roof being propped up while being assembled (I assume that it was shipped in a folded position).

When you've got that degree of modularity, then two, three or even four modules becomes feasible. The key is that the modules are assembled ahead of time.

---

As to the 644 sqft - 46 x 14 = 644. The porch doesn't appear to be part of that and would add another 84 square feet if it was.

[kyleee]

some of them bolt together on the center line so you can get double the width and a more open floorplan

[giantg2]

Yeah, it seems this house is similar dimensions to a single wide trailer. Just different construction and fancier interior.

It seems like most urban/suburban CA zoning would prohibit either model - a trailer, or placing this in a backyard. It seems trailers are common in rural areas and small towns because the zoning allows for that option.

[rascul]

> though obviously constrained by the maximum legal road lane width allowable and their long/linear design.

A shorter double wide might be an option. Triple wides are a thing also.

[danans]

> But it seems this is marketed towards CA residents (who might be used to much higher costs).

See my sibling comment for specifics, but this price/sqft is higher than construction costs in even the priciest CA construction markets.

[giantg2]

Yes, I'm just saying the wording and such in their site alludes to CA as their target market. There's also no way this would sell in most of the country, where you can buy a normal house with land for less.

[danans]

At the price they are charging, anyone for whom $398k isn't a lot of money compared to the hassle of a custom high-end build is their target market.

Yes, there are some Californians who fit that profile, just as there are some people in Texas for whom that is also chump change, but they are a tiny fraction in either place. This is targeted at very few people - probably the top 0.5% of the wealth or income distribution.

[giantg2]

Except you can get modulars this size or larger from other places for cheaper, with more design options. So if they're targeting the top .5% and they have a lot of competition, then it seems they have a poor business model.

[danans]

> Except you can get modulars this size or larger from other places for cheaper, with more design options.

They are selling premium design, status, and convenience, not "cheaper, with more design options". There are lots of products sold that way, most famously Gucci bags, which I've heard are a very profitable business for that company.

If the price seems high to you (as it does to me), then you, like me, are not part of the target market.

[giantg2]

Gucci has a name. Where is the status/name with this house? Maybe if they slapped Telsa on it...