> New Homes
'Glidehouse' Pushes Prefab Envelope
by Broderick Perkins
The $160,000 price tag (plus land and site preparation costs) belies the architectural flavors of Joseph Eichler and Frank Lloyd Wright found in this low-slung, sleek new two-bedroom home. Beneath the slanted, solar panel-ready roof of steel, clerestory windows overlook a continuous expanse that includes a stainless steel and concrete counter top kitchen, dining area and living room. The model home, 1,344 square feet in all, includes two bedrooms -- one outfitted with more stainless and a slate shower. In a collaboration with nature, the home uses passive solar and natural ventilation and lighting designs to reduce the need for electricity, green materials, including bamboo flooring, and maintenance-free exterior walls of still more steel. This environmentally-friendly, modernist design home, pitched as an affordable alternative in one of the nation's highest priced home markets is called the Glidehouse. It's prefabricated. Don't, however, mistake this factory-built home for a conventional double-wide. Worth the $10 cost of admission, the home is the centerpiece of Sunset Magazine's Celebration Weekend, Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, May 16, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., 80 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA. Glidehouse, one of the hottest new designs in the growing new-home field that goes far beyond stamping out modules, is the brainchild of San Francisco architect Michelle Kaufmann and her contractor husband, Kevin Cullen. Unable to find suitable housing beyond fixer-uppers for $600,000 after a 6-month search amid the infamous bidding battles in the San Francisco Bay Area market, the couple decided to build their own affordable home. Glidehouse comes in 9 different floor plans from a 1-bedroom cottage to a 4-bedroom spread with courtyards and a reflecting pool, for about $110 to $130 per square foot compared to the going $240 per square foot for site-built custom-constructed homes in the area. Canadian manufacturers, Royal Homes of Ontario and Britco of Vancouver, are geared up to produce the Glidehouse and Redmond, Wash.-based Construction Resource Group (CRG) manages sales and site installation. CRG's managing partner, Timi Starkweather says buyers for installation at individual sites must work with real estate agents or otherwise find lots to install the home, but developers in Seattle and San Diego are looking at Glidehouse tracts. The kit home arrives on a flatbed truck 90 percent complete, approximately 6 months after ordering. It comes with a 2-year warranty on plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems, plus 10 years on structural and exterior finishes. Once the site is prepared, it takes only days to connect the modules and complete finishing work, says Starkweather. The per square foot price includes all factory construction costs for labor and materials, including windows, plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems, state permits and all exterior and interior finishes, including flooring, wall finishes, cabinetry and fixtures. Options are available. Not included are site preparation costs including local permits, foundations, transportation and installation fees, as well as options that include decks, garage, louvered window coverings, major kitchen appliances and solar or other energy systems. The model is open for touring this weekend. | 
