Modular goes upscale

Mansions go modular as costs,
timeline lure high-end buyers

Washington Post, 3/3/10

"Custom modular -- it sounds like an oxymoron. But elite architects who've seen their business drop in the recession are teaming up with manufacturers across the country...

'Without the recession, nobody would be paying attention,' said Russell Versaci, a Middleburg architect specializing in farmhouses for wealthy clients who partnered with Haven [Homes] in 2008."

Read Washington Post article

Once the scourge of homebuilding, modular homes have gone upscale. Washington Post writer Lisa Rein tells of a "prefabricated, modular mansion, dropped in from the jib of a crane and set in place like a layer cake" in Bethesda, Maryland.

In a mere 32 hours, the $2.5 million, 7200 sf house was set in place and ready for finishing -- a process that would have taken at least 18 months and cost nearly $400,000 more had the house been built by a crew at the home site.

View comparison chart of modular vs. stick-built

In addition to time and cost savings, modular building stacks up environmentally, with advantages that include a tighter building envelope made possible by factory construction, increased energy efficiency, and reduced job site waste.

Until the recession, very little had changed in homebuilding since the Middle Ages. Men still trudged up and down ladders, toiled through inclement weather, and waited for parts arriving late.

Given the degree to which technological invention has altered every other facet of life, this stasis seemed counterintuitive. Modular construction has the potential to change homebuilding permanently, with quality and cost advantages achieved by controlled indoor production.

Builders who have been slow to embrace modular construction are gradually coming around, spurred by the need to offer more cost-effective building options to homebuyers. Likewise, homebuyers who never would have considered building modular homes in the past are realizing the real benefits offered by this method of building. Even architects, who have long turned up their noses at the very notion, are seeing the writing on the wall and are designing homes meant to be built in factories.

In the new economy, pragmatism trumps all other considerations.

Above: Currier Farmhouse, right: New Republic Cottage
Pennywise Houses, Russell Versaci Architecture

Classic Virginia Style, Part 2

More photos of the new estate in Fauquier County...

In this view of the front of the house, one can see the distinct parts that give the impression of a house that grew over time.

Doric columns with triglyphs grace the traditional Greek Revival entryway.
Designed in the style of a traditional tidewater cottage, a new shed on the property shows why it pays to wait a few years before photographing a project. By now ivy-covered and flanked by a cottage garden, the little outbuilding looks as if it was built 200 years ago.

Landscape design by Arentz Landscape Architecture

Classic Virginia Style, Part 1

Although we have been featuring prefab houses on this blog, we have a vigorous custom practice at Russell Versaci Architecture as well. Here are photos of a beautiful equestrian estate completed several years ago, which is just now being photographed for our firm's website and for publication. For a new custom home to become seasoned enough for the photo shoot, trees must grow, plantings fill in, materials weather, and the raw look must soften for the house to ease into its historic style.

Russell designed the buildings on the estate in classic Virginia style. The house, which sits on a 150-acre track of verdant Fauquier County farmland with mountain views, was built in parts in the manner of a real farmhouse expanded over several generations. The first photo shows the "earliest" part of the home, designed in 18th-century Jeffersonian classical style; it serves as the kitchen wing in the new old house.

The second photo shows the Greek Revival portion, which is the main part of the new house. In the fictional story, this part might have been added in the 19th century, along with the fieldstone carriage house, as the farm prospered and the family grew.

The narrative continues into the 20th century with a sunroom addition (not shown). Several smaller buildings complete the arrangement to make a farm compound with deep roots in Virginia tradition.

Working with Russell on this project were Rob Hale, who designed the interior cabinetry and casework, and project architect Kathleen Lofdahl. Horizon Builders was the contractor.

Traditional Details: Wood Shingles

On the tidewater cottage, the hipped-roof dormers are topped with wood shingles that are overlapped and fantailed in a manner as old as the Virginia colony. The illustration and description below are taken from The Houses of Williamsburg: Construction and Detail (1960), an excellent reference on traditional detail used often in our practice:

"At the hips of a roof, the shingles are 'fantailed"...laid so that those on one side projected about 2 in. above and over those on the other. The choice of which side of the ridge to carry up in this manner was not settled by chance or whim, but with a sound regard for orientation: it had to be the side that received the most prolonged rain. In Virginia, where it was common knowledge that the northeasterly storms were the ones to be feared, the 18th-century builder chose the north or east."

On our 21st-century tidewater cottage, the shingles crest to the east, since the heaviest rain hits the farm from the west.

Halfway in Halfway

Floor deck with waterproofing on foundation

Insulated precast concrete foundation panels and floor joists

1st-floor wall panels and 2nd-floor gable ends

Here are progress photos of the factory-fabricated Tidewater Cottage being built on a farm in Halfway, Virginia, named such because it is situated halfway between Middleburg and The Plains. The construction crew from University Homes was impeded by several days of rain and record-breaking heat and humidity, but the weather has stabilized now, and things are going quickly.

It's the first time this crew has built a prefab house. The four framers are experienced, and, while the process isn't difficult for them, it does require a shift in mindset. Working with factory-fabricated parts means assembling from instructions rather than cutting the parts themselves.

The folks in the factory at Connor Homes have marked the house parts clearly, bundled them sequentially, and provided clear instructions. Once the crew finds the needed parts, assembly is quick and easy.

A Precast Foundation

The precast concrete foundation for the Tidewater Cottage arrived and was installed in just three hours. The first photo shows the assembled foundation, which was manufactured by Superior Walls. You can see the chimney, basement window, and just about make out the ledges and ties that will help support the handmade brick veneer.

The second photo shows the crushed-stone bed awaiting the foundation. The manufacturer uses crushed stone for the footing rather than poured concrete because it's faster and easier to install and more flexible. We will be adding a liquid applied asphalt membrane to waterproof the foundation.

Roots of Home

The final cover design for my new book, Roots of Home, arrived from Taunton Press. The photo was taken at the Tillman house, a new old house designed by Ron Arnoult in Louisiana. It was shot by Erik Kvalsvik, who took the photos for Roots of Home as well as for Creating a New Old House. Between the two books, Erik and I logged a lot of miles together traveling across the country photographing new old houses. Fourteen-hour days, the uncertainties of weather, and the stresses of travel made for some hard times, but our shared love of red wine, old books, and vintage clothes made it bearable.