The lowly
prefabricated house has experienced a renaissance in the past few years, with
modern manufacturers designing prefab homes that have all the conveniences of
factory-built housing with cutting-edge style. In fact, prefab homes have
always been on the cutting edge of architecture.

Before the
Industrial Revolution, prefabricated housing was unheard of and nearly impossible.
However, as machinery became more and more sophisticated, so did the items that
assembly lines were able to produce, and homes became one of those items. The
first major development in the history of the prefabricated house was the
Manning Portable Cottage, designed in England to assist with housing in the
colony of Australia. Then, by 1837, the Manning Portable Cottage had become a
successful venture into prefabricated housing, with several models available
for shipment to England’s colonial interests throughout the world.

At the turn
of the 20th century, if there was a constant in every American home, it was the
Sears & Roebuck catalog. Everything from stockings to cars were available
through, and eventually the home itself was available. From 1908 to 1940, each
year’s edition of the Sears & Roebuck catalog featured prefabricated houses
for sale in an astounding variety of styles and sizes. Everything from a
vacation cottage to a multi-family residence could be ordered, delivered and
set up, all without leaving home. From the simplest family residence to a
veritable mansion, nearly any type of home imaginable could be ordered through
Sears & Roebuck.

In
practice, Frank Lloyd Wright was the first major architect to try his hand at
prefab housing. Beginning in 1911, Wright began designing homes that could be
constructed in pieces in a factory and assembled at the house site, making the
homes more affordable by reducing labor costs. These houses bore the
unmistakable stamp of Wright’s vision, setting them apart from the
assembly-line homes of Sears & Roebuck. Well, another architect, Walter
Gropius, had a similar idea. In Weimar, Germany, Gropius worked on several
different prefabricated housing that would solve post-war Germany’s housing
shortage problems. Modern, almost Art-Deco in design, Gropius’ prefabricated
homes influenced not only prefab houses but architecture in total for years to
come.

During
Depression-era, Americans were more than ever concerned with affordable
housing. Prefabricated home design gained interest throughout the country, both
through mail-order catalogs and other outlets. Designs of prefab houses also
began to expand. New materials were used, such as glass in the Keck Crystal
house, and steel and iron in the Stran-Steel Houses. The metal prefab became
most recognizable in the Quonset hut, which, developed during World War II for
quick housing needs, did more to damage the reputation of the prefab house than
to further it.

Although
such distinguished architects as Wright, Buckminster Fuller and Marcel Breuer
worked on prefabricated houses during the 1930s and 1940s, by the end of World
War II, the era of prefab houses seemed to be over. The newly affluent middle
class in America lost interest, for the most part, in these inexpensive dwellings.
An done notable exception was the Lustron house. Similar to the Stran-Steel
homes of the 1930s, the Lustron house was constructed of metal panels.
Available in several different configurations, Lustron constructed around 3,000
homes between 1947 and 1950, when the company ceased production. Although
construction took many cues from prefabricated homes after 1950, including the
use of modular construction, after 1950, prefabricated homes became synonymous
with mobile homes.

Today, many architects and designers have revitalized the prefabricated home, designing
products that incorporate the best features of prefabrication and the
individuality of traditionally built homes. Available in a variety of building
materials, styles and price points, modern prefabricated homes build on the
rich history of their predecessors.