Got the Land; What to Build?

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After buying our land and patting ourselves on the back for how easily and inexpensively we accomplished that process, the fun truly began. We weren't really sure what we wanted to build or how it should look. Instead, we were oriented toward our vision for living in the place. This vision consisted variably of periodic, extended stays; both with and without our extended family. Summers would be filled with great meals both cooked and eaten indoors and out. Fall and Winters would consist of me taking advantage of the best surf of the year, most frequently by myself. We were convinced the most important feature would have to be uninterrupted connection between cooking, dining, and relaxing space. Secondarily, we thought about a flexible, loft-like space that could be both guest quarters and studio when desired. Finally, we were open to any form of construction.

These factors lead us to the cedar chalet style houses that come in pre-cut kits by many manufacturers. Lindal is the most popular such manufacturer of such homes in the Pacific Northwest and they offer a range of homes that met our desired layout and size. The problem with the kit cedar house started with the price and sales model used in the industry.

First, price: we were reuglarly quoted a price range between $85 and $100 a square foot for a completed, dryed in shell with no mechanicals or finish work! Apparently there was no value to be had here. The price issue was compounded for me by the sales model which makes the cedar homes kit sales entity entirely separate from the construction entity. Sure, the various manufacturers offer "turnkey packages" in which they act as a middle man (accruing a fee in addition to the kit sale price) to contractors that build these kits. Without fail, even these turnkey packages require the kit purchaser to organize all of the site work and permitting before the cedar home contractor arrives on site to receive the kit and start construction.

Thus, in buying a pre-sawn cedar kit, the home owner must act as a general contractor for one of the most difficult steps in the contracting process, gets to pay additional fees to be connected to a general contractor only after the initial contracting is completed, and gets little or no input in the design of the house. To me these downsides outweighed the utility of the designs and the apparent quality of the kits themselves, and definitively defeated the point of seeking alternative construction in the first place.

Thus the cedar kit home idea bit the dust, even while we stayed interested in the chalet design concept. Next: Discovering prefab before we discovered modern prefab!