So what if I were to tell you that it’s possible to avoid the whole house decorating madness and jump straight into a pre-made home fully furnished and built with sustainable building materials? That’s exactly what Harvard School of Design graduates are attempting to do with their company, Connect Homes.
They have designed an online program where you can literally build your dream home right in front of your eyes, using only the best of environmentally conscious building supplies and energy efficient appliances. Then all you have to do is pay for your new home, and before you know it, your magic house will be sitting in your lot ready for you throw a Mexican fiesta!
You might be asking, “How did prefabricated homes even make a comeback?” Main reason is that technology today is making them more customizable than ever. Connect Homes claim their unique offer is the future homeowner’s capability to choose every last detail of their home, down to the light bulbs (LED lights) and wood sealant (flax seed oil) you use. In addition, they go above and beyond to make sure your home is energy efficient and built with the environment in mind.
The Connect Homes Process
1. Choose a model. You start by going to the Connect Homes website and choosing from a variety of different starter plans they have for you. Connect Homes has a plethora of options, ranging from single unit homes with one bedroom and one bath at a grand total of 64o square-feet. To the large and luxurious two-story buildings with three bedrooms, two baths, totaling to about 2,560 square-feet of living space.
2. Choose materials. Once you’ve decided on a model, you then begin by choosing the materials for your house. That means you get to choose every single last detail and building material that will be used on your new home. Connect Homes has made this feature easy for you by providing over 46 different options that are environmentally conscious and sustainable.
3. Choose systems. After you’ve hand selected every building material you can think of, then comes the design part. Here you choose everything that goes inside your house like a hot water recycling pump or solar powered panels that provide energy for your entire home. Wouldn’t you want a net-zero energy home where you don’t have to go through the fuss of having to specially order solar panels and set them up yourself? That’s why manufacturers like Connect homes is a terrific option for many who don’t like to wait and go through the trials and tribulations of building your own house. You get to look at all the different options and then select what you truly want, not what your builder thinks you need and what’s “do-able” or “realistic”.
4. Design & decor. One of my personally favorite features about Connect Homes is that they are gearing towards offering completely recycled and refurbished furniture and decorations for your new place. So that you can decide if you want a couch made of recycled cloth or a chandelier made from refurbished glass bottles. All available to you at your fingertips through the Connect Homes website.
5. Pay. Finally once you’ve gone through all the steps of selecting the materials to be used on your new house and just about everything that will go in the interior, you go through the “fun” part of paying for it all or the even more “exciting” path of getting a mortgage. But don’t fret, your dream prefab is much more within the reach of your wallet’s depth.
How Much Does it Cost?
Now you may be thinking this is all too good to be true: a beautifully custom built house to your exact liking that’s also environmentally aware. But the truth of the matter is that your new home is much more affordable than you might even think.
The starting home that contains one bedroom and one bath is currently only a bit over $200,000. That includes taxes, building materials, labor, and even the actual installation. All you have to do when you arrive to your new house is connect the utilities.
But if you want something bigger and more of a family home then naturally the price increases to about $325,000 for a two story 1,600 square-foot home with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Which, in my opinion, is quite affordable for a family home that contains solar panels and other waste recycling appliances that will ultimately save you a good amount of money in utilities costs.
To those who don’t like to stress much but like to design and pick the toppings on their cake, a prefab can be an awesome option. Environmentally inclined will enjoy an added benefit of prefab’s production being easy on carbon footprint and pollution.
You can be a figurative and literal pioneer with your new per-fabricated home. And hey, if you change your mind about the neighborhood, you can always just pack everything up and move your fab-home to that grassy hilltop off the coast of Italy that you’ve always dreamt about. (Image source: Connect Homes)