Name: James and Rui
Location: Eliot, Maine
Type: Modern Prefab Home
Size: 2,000 square feet of finished living space
Years lived in: One-and-a-half
When James and Rui were ready to build on their lakefront land, they contacted architect Rocio Romero. The Missouri-based designer is well known for her minimalist prefab homes, which arrive flat-packed and can go up in a few months' time. James and Rui worked with Rocio to develop a standard LV Home (Rocio's trademark design) with a custom interior that would make the most of their incredible natural surroundings. The highlight of this home is definitely the views.
Thanks to James, Rui, and Donna at Rocio Romero for sending us the pictures and giving us a peek inside their home from start to finish. Enjoy the slideshow (and click below for more information on how this home was built).
Although the minimalist design of a prefab house is not for everyone, it works for James and Rui. Their main priority was to showcase the landscape around their home, and the spare aesthetic makes the views the focal point in this house.
There are also some advantages to prefab building. It's greener in some ways than traditional construction: the materials come flat-packed to minimize shipping costs and emissions, many prefab homes are designed to accommodate green heating and cooling systems, and the deep walls in James and Rui's home increase energy efficiency by almost 50 percent compared to traditional homes.
James and Rui's Survey:
our Style: Clean and simple.
the Inspiration: The water front site and the use of natural light.
favorite Element: The amount of natural light.
biggest Challenge: The site and access to it.
what Friends Say: I love it or not my style but the connection to the outside and the amount of natural light is great!
proudest DIY: The tile floor.
biggest Indulgence: Full height doors and frames.
best Advice: Do it!
our Dream Source: Rocio Romero
Resources: IKEA, IKEA, IKEA
When James and Rui ordered their home, it took about a month for the prefab parts to be made in Perryville, Missouri. They were shipped to Maine on a flatbed truck and assembled bit by bit. James and Rui hired a contractor to build the home, take care of electric and sewage hookups, and install windows. They saved a little money by tiling the floors themselves. (We think they did a great job.)
Although a lot of prefab homes aren't mass-produced on a scale that allows for low prices, the LV Home comes in on par with or slightly below the cost of constructing a normal stick-built home. In comparison to custom modern designs, the price is relatively affordable, averaging about $120-$195/square foot including shipping, foundation, and finishing costs.
Thanks to James and Rui for sharing their home with us!
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Comments (34)
so cool.
would love to see more on these houses.
If only there were affordable land in the city.
has anyone seen the pre-fab A-frame for sale at Menard's?
I think it's around 28k.
I like pre fab homes and I like minimalist architecture. All of that red with no other contrasting colors is another story though.
frick! this is so beautiful! the land and site is impressive, and the interiors are very clean and crisp. i even like all the ikea! it jives well. what a spot, though, damn. how's the house for insulation and heating this winter?
anyone know if those chairs are ikea? or jens?
gorgeous!!! i've been secretly dreaming of a very modern pre-fab house out in the middle of nowhere, but still along a metra line into the city. sigh!
taracakes, they look like jens to me.
thank you for presenting this. buying a prefab house is my dream for retirement. i've been gathering files on them. what is the square footage on this on? and would it be impolite to ask the ballbark price from start to finish, not including the land?
thanks so much. i can only hope i can make this happen, too.
i just saw that it's 2,000 sf.
BB, Rocio Romero lists pricing on their site. They only provide the prefabricated "bones" of the home (which for the standard 1150 sf LV is under $40k). When you add floors, hookups, shipping etc into the cost, they estimate that it adds up to about $120-$195/sf.
I would imagine that with double or triple glazed insulated windows and doors, the heating may not be too bad although it also looks like some of the bedrooms/baths get clearstory windows to bring in light and yet allow for maximum insulation and privacy as well.
and I should say, I love this house with all that light coming in, the crisp clean look although I'd have liked more artwork on the walls but that's me but the overall look is wonderful.
I'm with taracakes: where are those couches from?
Those prefabs are just amazing.
eh on the house. The Maine surrounding, beautiful!
looks like a cheap ikea showroom... completely tasteless.
What a gorgeous space! I love the juxtaposition of the clean lined prefab against the green surroundings!
And if you're curious, quietglow, the couches look like they are from Room & Board.
I think the couches are the Petrie from Crate and Barrel. I don't think the red woven chairs are IKEA.
There is an open house coming up soon in upstate new york of one of Rocio's homes.
I adore her work.
"looks like a cheap ikea showroom... completely tasteless." Just like you, sag123. *rolls eyes* What a rude thing to say about someone's home.
This house looks very sleek, what a beautiful integration of nature. Interesting concept of pre fab home.
To sag123... If you don't like it, go back to better homes and gardens.
I love this place! It would make a great country place when I win the Lotto. Too bad I don't play Lotto...
katie,
I think about the same thing.
The metra will be extended to Sugar Grove soon which is roughly an hour straight west of Chicago. Lots of countryside, creeks, woods. Mies' Farnsworth house is near there.
I've been a fan, of sorts, of these style of homes for quite awhile. I'd love to find out what the final cost of this project is, as eventually I'd love to build a pre-fab home similar to this in Michigan.
Modern Hive has the red chairs for almost 1000 bucks. Does anyone know a cheaper alternative?
Jim here, the owner of the LV home featured in this posting. Thanks for all the comment, we love the place and would encourage anyone to take the plunge and build one. If you have questions, let me know and I will try to answer them.
Great floor plan.
Very appropriate and functional layout.
I have a sloping, no-view, lot I plan to build on.
Off the grid.
Q: why did you dig out a foundation instead of the house built on posts?
Was the pre-fab a kit?
What would you do differently?
Jim; I must wonder, what about the snow load ?..... you do live in Maine, and we are in the UP-Mi. , with 70lb. requirements. I am ready to build , quickly....... looks great !
Hi darstar,
The LVL kit home comes with an option for a structurally reinforced roof which is rated for 50 lbs per square foot. In our area that meets code. If you are interested in building one of these homes the architect Rocio Romero can work with you and her structural engineer to come up with a solution for you. The home is very solid and I would encourage you to consider building one.
Best of luck
Jim
Hi paulmuscat,
We decided to build the house on a full basement so that we could locate our systems in basement as so that we could have additional living space.
There is not much I would do different, the only thing I tell people is that if you are building in a cold climate to face the bulk of the glass exposure South. Because of our site the glass exposure is facing East which is not great as far as passive heating and cooling.
Jim
Hi Jim
Love your house. We are planning on doing an LVL with a basement as well. We like your staircase very much and were wondering if you could let us know where you got it.
Also we are planning on using radiant heat and are getting feedback it will not be sufficient because of the amount of glass in the house. Our land is in the Catskills, NY so similar to Maine in the winter. Do you use radiant heat? Any problems?
Any help appreciated.
Thx
Pieter
Hi Pieter,
Sorry to get back to you so late.
The staircase was custom built from a company the I would not recommed. They were hard to work with and not very responsive.
The radiant heat does struggle to maintain the set temperture of 65 in the zone that does the large open area with the most glass, the kitchen/dining/living room area. The other two zones work well. We have central air conditioning and are thinking of adding a heat coil to that system to help boost the heat in the largerest zone. We do love the radiant heat and I would suggest that you work with a company that specializes in that type of system. The heating contractor that we used did a good job but I think we would of had a better outcome if we would of worked with a company that specializes in just radiant systems.
Facing the glass exsposure to the south is the best advice I can give.
Good luck,
Jim
Hi Jim
Thanks for your answers and tips.
This is very helpful.
Do you have radiant heat in the basement as well?
Best
Pieter
Hi Pieter,
We do have Radiant in the basement and that zone works great since the basement is very insulated and has only two small window.
Jim
It's gorgeous, I especially love the light!
Modern, simple, elegant yet warm. Beats those houses designed by so-called name architects.
i love pre-fab modern homes...and this one is gorgeous!!!
~victor
http://urbanshedstudio.com/victor.cfm