Lowe's Makes "Katrina Cottages" Available Nationwide
The small cottages designed to replace FEMA trailers after Hurricane Katrina are popular, so popular that Lowe's has decided to offer them in their stores.
"We had so many requests that the company decided to make them available nationwide," said Chris Ahearn, spokeswoman for Lowe's at the company's Mooresville, N.C., corporate office, told the Contra Costa Times.
Katrina Cottage plans can be purchased from Lowe's for $700, with the lowest priced "building kit" starting at $17,000. The kit includes all the materials needed for the construction of the cottage. More upscale customers can choose more upscale finishes.
The cottages are cute and come in a variety of styles and sizes from 1.5-5 bedrooms. Lowe's says people have been using them as vacation homes, guest houses, and, yes regular homes, too.
Would you buy a Katrina Cottage? We have to admit they're pretty cute... A lot cuter than a FEMA trailer. It's kinda, you know, creepy though. A little.
The first step toward building a Katrina Cottage is to stop by Lowe's Project Desk, Porterfield said. After selecting and purchasing a plan, customers are told to find their own contractor and submit blueprints for approval to their local building or planning departments. After they secure local permits, Lowe's provides the customer with all building materials, from nails to the kitchen sink, which can be delivered to the job site.Although some say the plans can be made a reality in six weeks, waiting for permits and inspections usually increases the time to several months. Porterfield also made it clear that the homes are not weekend projects.
"These are not designed for a do-it-yourself-er," he said. "These are made for a licensed contractor."
Although the base materials packages cost from $17,000 to $36,000, they do not include the foundation, piers, heating and cooling systems, septic or sewer systems, cost of labor or permits.
Cottage industry: Lowe's sells 'Katrina' home plans [Mercury News]
Lowe's Katrina Cottages
This is a test using rich text formatting and html links. It's the generic "company" ad that should appear on all posts with the Company category if they don't have an ad attached to a specific company.
Post a comment
Comments:
hmm...my name is Katrina, maybe I could go in Lowe's and get a kit for free.
I did that when a local bar was offering beer mugs with "Katrina" on them, and the date of the hurricane, told them that was my name, showed them my ID, and got one for free. :]
Why not?
I'd have to see inside one first, but the picture looks like it would be nice for a vacation home or something like that.
I couldn't say for absolute certain without seeing a floor plan, but it looks pretty cozy. Given the right location and situation, I could definitely see living in something like that. Of course, I was always the type for little log cabins and such.
Are these toxic like the trailers too!?
I cant see why not, I have seen apartments in NYC smaller than that go for 5 times the cost to build it.
Actually, I could not design a house that meets our needs better than the modest, compact, countrified, 3 bedroom, master-suite-with-corner-tub, computer area, big attic storage, simply-designed KC 1185. It's just what I would design if I dreamed it. I could build it myself. I can actually afford it. Three cheers to Designer Marianne Cusato!!!
One of the best ways to sell your product is to name it after a huge disaster.
Why not?
Heck, it worked for Sears Roebuck 100 years ago.
Cute, yes. Just not big on traditional stick construction.
And, yeah, if land where I lived was not so OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive, I'd probably do this in a heartbeat!
@ancientsociety: ah yes, named after the terrible Sears Roebuck Earthquake of Ought One.
remember, people, this was designed as an alternative to FEMA trailers which turn out to be not as temporary as people thought; it's been 15 years, and thousands of people are still living in Hurricane Andrew FEMA trailers.
Lest you folks forget the great retail giant Sears used to sell homes from their catalogs. I'm not saying that these homes will last as long as the Sears models that are still around today, but the idea of retail shopping for a home is not unheard of.
Does it come with unemployable dirty people too? If so, I'll take two!
@anatak:
Actually, some of these plans would be ideal for conversion to a plan using a post-and-beam foundation and structurally-insulated-panel walls. I can even see some of these being built using cheap, sturdy, long-lasting cordwood masonry. They have the necessary simple, square design to make the most of common plywood decking, and straightforward, nonfancy roof lines. The roof pitches are reasonable for most climates, and you can get under the house to fix the utilities if you're a D-I-Y type. I am.
[snark]
Hey, we're taxpayers. Why did we have to leave it up to profiteering capitalists to design and build decent, modest homes for homeless refugees who lost everything because of a natural disaster, when someone in the government could have passed a law or something for their relief.
Oooops, guess we've already found THAT out.
[/snark]
The small size and wood siding make it look very vulnerable to a hurricane or tornado. (It may be better engineered than it looks, though.)
I think that dirt-cheap houses are destined to become the next wave, given the way the housing market has gone through the ionosphere. Land is relatively cheap compared to housing. They might not be suitable for a soccer-mom / 3-kid / SUV existence but for a lot of bachelors and older folks, the McMansions and Pulte Cookie Cutters are WAY overkill.
Love it. I was going to mention the Sears bungalows too. Around here, there's a severe shortage of small family homes. But the land is so expensive that I can't see it working unless you already had a lot. Also, most people here have basements, so that's an additional expense to consider.
@segfault: Yes, the looks are deceptive. The houses look sturdy and well-engineered. Using plywood sheathing or structural panels adds tremendous bracing to the frame. Column-type foundations, driven several feet into the ground, looks like what they're using here, is exactly the sort of foundation that pins the house to the ground, and is mandated by code in many hurricane-prone areas (like Galveston, for example).
Most of the damage caused by wind is not ripping the house literally apart (though I saw that in a tornado in Illinois, not much you can do about it) or tearing off the roof. It's usually caused by literally twisting a house on its foundation until it collapses ("shear" forces). A short, square, stiff wall and roof resist shear forces much better than fancy long walls that go in and out and roofs with gables and protrusions for the wind to catch.
I doubt it is real wood siding, and the claim is 140 MPH wind loading.
Okay, but I like these better (not sold by a retail giant and not affiliated with a natural disaster):
I've been working on a project with the State of Mississippi to replace FEMA trailers with these cottages, so I have first hand experience with them. The cottage designs are based on Gulf Coast architecture (for example, the cheaper ones are modelled on shotgun houses). They're well insulated; I was in one a few weeks ago when it was 95 outside and 73 inside, and that was without the a/c hooked up. And they're sturdy too - the windows are supposedly designed to resist the impact of a 2x4 at 100 mph. They are very well built for manufactured homes.
How are the cottages creepy? Am I missing something?
I like the Lowe's houses. The Tumbleweed houses? Way too small.
Now the interesting thing is that in Hurricane Katrina territory, I myself have never seen ANY of these (however, I haven't been to the coast near the Mississippi waterfront lately).
I'm really uneasy giving this item the name "katrina cottage"...its kinda disturbing
that, and buying a "home in a box"...
v2 of katrina cottage: buy a box the size of a large pallet, bring it to an empty lot, press the big red button and you're new McMansion unfolds right before your eyes, in under sixty seconds
WANT.
The Tumbleweed houses are cool too, but pretty damned expensive compared to this one.
Need a place to put it, tho. Land prices in New England? aaaaahahaha!
Maybe the creepy comment was because they look a bit stepford...It's like an entire neighbourhood of cookie cutter houses could spring up in any location.
Also, whenever people complimented your house you'd have to be like "yeah, sure beats a trailer!"
@hollerhither: Dang, you beat me to it! While I don't know if I could do it, I love the idea of a house small enough to be parked in a parking space.
@discounteggroll: Not sixty seconds, but how about more like six hours from pallet to shell?
[www.alternativebuildings.com]
You basically put them together with a screwdriver. You can face them with stone, and their durability and hurricane resistance is outstanding. The foundation can be temporary (like a wood deck, for example) or permanent. They're a bit hard to finish out, though, because they are not square.
@jurijuri:
Yeah, full shameful disclosure: I love the idea, too, but currently I own so many books and kitchen tools that I could probably use them to build my own McMansion...and yet I rent. Someday I'll learn!
What are demographics of the people still displaced by Katrina? Property owners, renters- what?
The problem with helping the Katrina people isn't lack of laws, it's a lack of implementation. Congress could pass a law right now that says everyone in Louisiana gets $1,000,000, but the executive branch has to make it happen...
You know, you don't have to live like a refugee.
@pelagius:
Great song reference, man. :)
No basement for the cold climates and no stucco for the hot? FAIL
By the time you pay off all the contractors and buy all the supplies you might as well buy a pre-existing home and fix it up. Especially in the areas where the housing market has bombed.
These look great, I wouldn't mind living in one, the rooms are bigger then my condo and I bet that even with nice fixtures and such and land it could be had for a relatively decent price (if you put it together yourself)
Why do you have to have a basement for cold climates? I've seen more than my share of slab houses. And since you have to have the foundation done anyway, you can opt for a basement to be done.
I guess you haven't endured the fun of a "previously enjoyed" house. I'd pay a little more to have one done from scratch to know everything is right in it.
i think they're beautiful and would love to live in one. . .
A friend of mine is looking at these:
The Weehouse (check out Stephanie Arado's which is remarkably beautiful)
I think these are lovely and I'd love to live in one. It's a welcome change of pace after years and years of horrifcally tacky McMansion building. Perhaps this is the beginning of a trend toward simpler and more manageable living. Probably not, though....
A superb roundup of innovative and experimental small homes and shelters (some of them are really practical too): [www.fabprefab.com]
Does anyone else see the irony here in the "style" of the houses? Many of the homes that these are intended to replace were built in the 20's from Sears and Aladdin kits. The more things change...
Look at KC697 and tell me that isn't a Craftsman bungalow lookalike? :)
It's also a neat concept to think the creole shotgun style, once unique to New Orleans, will be exported around the country. Just like my friends and neighbors.
A guy on the Next Amrican Inventor show didn't win but had an idea for an indestructible home. I'd prefer to hold out for that... though THESE arre more within my budget (sans the land). I'd rather see parks of these than trailers - no offense to anyone who lives in a trailer park. (my only trailer park views have been in connecticut, and the one on Roseanne)
My question is that will it last as long as my grandparents Sears House (built back in the 1940's)?
DO WANT!!!