Design awards for modular housing are given annually by the National Modular Housing Council in order to recognize innovations and creativity in new home designs. Applicants submit home designs in production and concept categories, and the winners are chosen by an independent panel of experts in the fields of architecture, development, construction, housing management, real estate, public relations, and land planning. The winners were recognized earlier this year at the National Congress for Manufactured and Modular Housing in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Discovery Custom Homes “Sawgrass”

Size: 1,290 square feet

Judges’ comments: Very attractive entry-level modular.

Palm Harbor Homes, and its Discovery Custom Homes division, won two production home categories in this year’s round of awards. Tony Lucas, vice president of design, likes to see his designs do well, and he likes to look for similar things spreading through the industry.

“There are some great people at MHI who are very supporting and encouraging, and it’s often a chance to move the industry forward,” Lucas said. “The awards allow for some national recognition not only for the companies involved but for the industry as a whole.”

Palm Harbor, which is based in Dallas, Texas, was founded in 1977 by Chairman Lee Posey. Its vertically integrated operations include 15 manufacturing facilities, 136 superstores and relationships with more than 300 independent retailers. Palm Harbor trades on the NASDAQ; it became a public company in 1995. Its Discovery Custom Homes division was launched in late 2003.

Discovery Custom Homes relates its Sawgrass model to a small Mercedes: A classy and elegant home, not outrageously costly, that will endure for years.

“We needed a house to represent a specific price point,” Lucas said. “We wanted to start at $79,000.” The front-and-rear, three-bedroom home is designed to accommodate garages and to fit on a typical lot. The choice of three exterior elevations allows the home to be used attractively in subdivisions.

“There’s a nice entry into a great room, a kitchen-dining room combination that plays into the backyard,” Lucas said. The target market for the home was first-time homebuyers and conscientious buyers looking for attractive quality at a reasonable price.

The Sawgrass was first built in Sabina, Ohio, one of seven Discovery plants across the country – reception has been extremely positive since the home was introduced in Nov. 2003, Lucas said. “We’re getting a lot of great opportunities to build more.”

The Discovery Custom line starts with the Sawgrass and reaches well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Genesis Homes “The Jefferson”

Size: Two-story modular home, 1,921 square feet, with roof pitches of 7/12 and 10/12.

Judges’ comments: This highly customizable design is appropriate for rural and suburban applications in every region. The presentation showed its versatility very well.

According to its designer, Roberto Kritzer, The Jefferson has one purpose –to be multipurpose. “It can be offered as a ranch and as a two-story home. Within those two major categories there are a variety of options,” he said. “It can be offered in different markets – as an entry house as well as for baby boomers. It fits well on narrow lots but also is very conducive to larger landscapes. It’s pretty flexible.”

The home’s remarkable exterior feature is its transverse roof, running parallel to the depth of the home, with an A-frame roof in the front of the home.

“We use a roof system that’s very different than the traditional roof used in manufactured homes," Kritzer said. “It allows for those interesting roof lines.”

The home is ideal for narrow lots and supports an attached, site-built garage. Several exterior elevations are available. Inside, the goal was an open floor plan with minimal traffic areas: The kitchen opens to the great room. The master suite opens onto the rear deck. Access to the two-bedroom, one-bath upstairs is off the great room and entryway.

The flexibility of The Jefferson is easy to devise by using the Customer Design Technology software package Genesis has to show all the design possibilities and options they offer on the home, Kritzer said.

The Jefferson was constructed on-site at the 2004 International Builders’ show in Las Vegas, Nev. The CDT software was debuted there, as well. The Jefferson is sold on spec through Genesis’ builders, according to Kevin Flaherty, vice president of sales and marketing. Two are complete and 12 are in production.

Four-year-old Genesis Homes, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mich., is a division of Champion Enterprises. It operates manufacturing plants across the nation.

New Era Building Systems “The Newberry”

Size: approximately 1,216 square feet.

Judges’ comments: Good massing, great floor plan, very good use of innovative technology in assembling parts.

New Era Building Systems took two MHI design awards in the concept categories of this year’s competition. New Era, which operates in 18 states, is based in Strattanville, Penn.

“It’s always nice when we win concept categories,” Sales Manager Ryan Bish said. “It’s putting on your thinking cap and saying ‘What if?’ And we’ve never been known as the one who would pick the easy way out.” And today’s concept designs are tomorrow’s standards. “If you keep trying, little by little, even though we’re building on production lines, changes can be made. Comparing today with 10 years ago, there’s almost limitless customization. And that translates into sales.”

What New Era wanted to do with The Newberry was to create the appearance of size. “The exterior of the house appears much larger than 1,216 square feet because of the overall height of the home,” Ryan Bish said. “We created a larger appearance while maintaining the maximum efficiencies of our type of construction.”

The two-story home is in three sections, but the modules are designed to be of a size that all of them can be shipped on one, 80-foot carrier, where a typical home might have to ship on as many as four transporters. “That equates to considerable savings in transportation costs to the builder and the buyer.”

The home, designed to appeal to the entry-level or midrange buyer, has amenities typically found on much larger homes – an attractive roof line, reverse-gable dormers incorporated into open, vaulted ceilings and loft areas. “It’s aesthetically pleasing enough to fit into existing urban communities, on up to the more distinctive suburban development, or even in a scattered-site, rural setting,” Bish said.

The design also calls for a site-built porch on the front of the home, and for a roof to be built over the rear deck after the home is placed.

There is no production date scheduled for The Newberry, Bish said. In fact, he added, it might not even be possible to produce it just yet.

“We’re trying to create things even knowing that we have issues in our industry that might not allow everything that’s involved in this concept home,” Bish said. “But as we evolve, these things can be changed.”

R-Anell Homes "Universal Design"

Size: Cottage design from 1,245 to 2,075 square feet, with a 6/12 roof pitch. Contemporary design: 3,099 square feet with a 9/12 roof pitch.

Judges’ comments: The cottage designs are especially attractive. This home offers nice flexibility of design – it’s great that someone is thinking of accessibility and livability when designing modulars.

When looking for a way to integrate the universal design concept – a home that is suitable for people of all ages and levels of ability – with systems-built housing, R-Anell Homes partnered with the experts.

At North Carolina State University, the 15-year-old Center for Universal Design was looking for a design partner to incorporate its work into affordable and accessible housing. R-Anell stepped up.

The cottage design, in three configurations, is suitable for individual placement or planned communities. The contemporary design, in three elevations, works in rural and urban settings. Its floor plan provides a “home within a home.”

The downstairs has features that accommodate everyone – entryways with no stairs either into the home from outdoors or from the foyer to the living area, an open floor plan with three-foot doors, raised work counters and appliances, pull-out cabinetry and shelving, walk-in closets with wider doorways, curbless showers and space in the bathrooms for mobility devices or for two people to easily maneuver at once.

The home’s upper floor is a more conventional space, complete with galley kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and sitting room. The set-up is ideal for non-impaired family members or even for live-in caregivers.

“We feel very strongly that now is a crucial time to provide a universal design plan that allows the home to fit all aspects, and all stages, of a homebuyer’s life,” said Dennis Jones, president of R-Anell Homes. “With an aging population that continues to grow dramatically, this home concept anticipates what the future will bring with a home design that literally works for everyone.”

While R-Anell plans to build its concept homes, there is neither a target date nor an estimated price.
R-Anell Homes, founded in 1972 by Rollan Jones, is based in Denver, N.C. President Dennis Jones is Rollan’s son.