Contemplating Concrete Floors

Really liking the idea of concrete floors. Low maintenance. Easy to clean. Simple, modern look. Hygienic.

I am a little concerned about the affects it may have on us, and the animals, in terms of standing and walking on it all the time. If you're ever worked a job where you stood on concrete all day, you'll know what I mean. There is absolutely no give, making it hard on feet and leg joints.

I also wonder about the noise. Again a hard surface will likely echo everything, making noises seem louder than they are.

I realize you can use rugs and floor coverings, but I don't think it's going to provide the same level of softening that you get with carpet + pad on plywood (which has some give of its own).

Video of LV Home in Pope Valley

A very interesting and insightful video of the LV Home in Pope Valley, CA. Doesn't look like the HGTV Show "Beyond the Box" is being broadcast anymore.

Living with Galvalume

I'm curious about living in a house covered with Galvalume. It's Aluminum-Zinc alloy coated sheet steel. Popular for a number of prefab homes, including the LV House. I'm guessing due to durability. Not sure on cost.

Having grown up in the Midwest, it reminds me of the ubiquitous corrugated metal barn. If you've been inside one during a rainstorm, forget about a hailstorm, it can be deafening. Not sure I could stand to be inside one for any length of time...

First Hand Prefab Modern Experiences

It's been refreshing, and somewhat reassuring, to find some first-hand accounts of the prefab modern building experience shared online. This Internet thing might actually catch on.

• Diary of a Prefab Rocio Romero LVM in Tuscon: Sounds like building might be the easy part, when compared to finding a contractor, getting permits, and dealing with the local government.
• Rocio Romero LV House in Richmond
• Rocio Romero LV "Minnie House" in Pacifica
• Nashville Modern Prefab working on Hive Modular. Unfortunately looks like it's on permanent hold.
• Res4-designed modern prefab cabin in Lost River, West Virginia

Is anyone aware of any others?

Narrowing Our Choices

There certainly appear to be a lot of Prefab Modern choices, and all of them are slightly different in process, what is included, and pricing. To save our sanity, I think we're going to narrow our candidate list to 2-3 that seem the most promising from a style, approach, and budget perspective. Try to build out an apples to apples comparison for completed project.

Right now the favorites seem to be Rocio Romero's LV Series, and what is/was Michelle Kaufmann designs.

Rocio Romero is an interesting mix of prefab kit and onsite building and finishing. Also offer custom design services. They have photos from a lot of finished projects. Some include client questionnaires, and even construction costs. Also just ran across an LVHome Fans Yahoo! Group that appears to reasonably active with over 1k members.

We were lucky enough to see the Michelle Kaufmann Design Breeze House first hand at Celebration weekend in 2005. We like the layouts, but at 250-300 per sq. foot it may exceed our budget.

Prefab is Not the Answer?

As you have probably noticed, the title of this blog is "Modern Wine Country". Not "Prefab Modern Wine Country". To be honest, that's partially the result of just trying to have a shorter more manageable title. But, it's also indicative of what the real focus is here. Modern is the style of home we're looking for. To us, "modern" means clean, uncluttered, open.

Prefab is really just one means to that end. Certainly Prefab + Modern, and sometimes "Green" seems to be a popular pairing. We also like the designs of several firms that are proponents of this approach. That said, we're not necessarily stuck on prefab. In fact, according to this article that we ran across last night Prefab is Not The Answer to Affordable, Modern & Green Homes. Food for thought.

If you take the time to read the article above, it also warrants reading the equally well written rebuttle What good is Prefab…if it is Not the Answer to Affordable, Modern, Traditional & Green Homes? If you follow his "Shell Package" theory, this appears to be the approach of the Rocio Romero LV Series.

On a related note, Michelle Kaufmann has a new modern home project going on in NorCal.  Anyone know where this is? Of particular interest is while Michelle is one of the best known faces of prefab, and up until recently had a company focused on delivering factory built homes, they are "looking into site built". Hmmm.

Any Other Modernists Out There?

While it's fun to think of one's self as a pioneer, it's probably a royal pain in the ass as well. If someone else has already blazed the trail, in theory it will make it easier for those that follow after. So to that end, and also to satisfy our curiousity, we thought we'd try to find out if there was any existing prefab and/or modern in wine country. Here's what we've found so far.

Stillwater Dwellings apparently has something planned for Healdsburg. Who are you? Where in Healdsburg? How is it going? When will it be done?

Doesn't look Prefab, but perhaps Nick Noyes Modern Barn has warmed the community to modern architecture?

Marmol Radziner "Dry Creek" house in Napa Valley?

Is anybody else out there?