A modular home can solve a lot of problems

We have just completed out first year in our stick-built-in-a-factory modular home and it has been a hugely successful choice for us. We wanted a custom designed home to be completed in four months so we could move in for Christmas.

We needed a compact, single level home with a deck that would have enough open space to entertain friends and yet be small enough for two people to manage comfortably.

Our experience with Southern Heritage Homes of Rocky Mount Virginia  was interesting and occasionally challenging, but the final result was fantastic.

Their designs were so modular that we created many different combinations with the four modules that would be used for our home. It was like playing with a giant LEGO set where we could shuffle, flip and tweak every module until we had a result that felt right for us.

We ended up with a compact 1650 square foot home with enough open floor space to host our first party with enough room left over for an extemporaneous performance by Bernie Coveney, Chris Luster, and Sally Walker.

The house is so well insulated that we stay comfortable in sub-zero weather with this one wood stove and a few electric heaters in the distant bathrooms.

The workmanship was excellent, the on-site finishing up was extremely professional and we have been very happy with the results.

There are more and more modular home builders on the scene every year,
so buyers would seem to be getting a wider choice of suppliers. I suggest visiting the factories, not just the model homes, in order to get a real feeling for the quality of the home.

I have been getting a number of requests to share everything we know about modular homes and have been replying to emails in this way:

I have written many posts about our modular home and the process of clearing the lot, etc. The articles begin here:

http://www.making-ripples.com/2005/09/buildingmoving__2.html

You can move forward in the thread or look in the Moving to Floyd category. There are approximately 30 articles about the modular aspect of the house. Let me know if you need more help.

In order to make the information more accessible, I am going to create a separate website with home site preparation, home building, moving, and heating tips for those who plan to move to a rural location.

You will all be invited to chime in with suggestions and requests once the site is live. Stay tuned…