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

Make It Wrong?

What have we here?

Why, it's one of the 13 choices of new home designs for residents of the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans. This project of Brad Pitt's states the following goal: “Because local cultural influences gave rise to the pre-Katrina architecture so emblematic of the area, preserving that identity remains vital in reclaiming the spirit of the neighborhood.” But it's mighty hard to find any attempt to preserve the area's architectural identity in this bizarre design from MVRDV, a firm from The Netherlands.

To view all 13 design offerings, visit the Make It Right website. Like so many other modernist attempts at low-income housing in the U.S., these houses look like sure-fire candidates for the wrecking ball in 20 years.

While the Make It Right project is certainly well-intended, the designs seem so out of touch with the intended recipients, even though community leaders were involved in the project. It's hard to imagine that the people who will be living in these houses would actually choose these designs over the vernacular styles — the shotguns, camelbacks, and creole cottages — that for 100 years have meant home to this culturally-rich, close-knit, vibrant community now in tatters.

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.

Marianne Cusato, "Get Your House Right"

This may be the best handbook on traditional design published since the 1920s, informative for both layman and professional alike. If you wonder what makes today's so-called "traditional" houses look so ugly, Marianne Cusato provides answers in a guidebook that walks you through "how things go wrong" (avoid) and "how to do it right" (use). In meticulously-drawn illustrations, she charts the course of design from first concepts to fine details, providing pearls of wisdom on things that can make or break the authenticity of a home design. Notations accompany each drawing, describing essential building elements and how they go together. Never before have I seen a more comprehensive or practical guide through the minefield of traditional design. Clear, insightful directions make Get Your House Right the perfect learning tool for builders at all levels, whether novices or those needing a refresher course. This book should become the primary text to teach architects the fundamental building blocks of the classical tradition.