Prefab Homes, Once Known as Cheap and Generic, Are Building on Quality, With Price Tags to Match
The new $2 million Colonial near Wellesley Center comes with plenty of the features considered standard in this high-end community.
A grand foyer opens into an oversize living room with an elegant bluestone fireplace and surround-sound speakers. It boasts six bathrooms, four bedrooms, a granite-marble kitchen, first- and second-floor decks, and mahogany floors throughout the 5,900-square-foot space.
But there is something dramatically different about the soon-to-be-occupied residence: It was prefabricated, brought to Wellesley in pieces from a Pennsylvania factory.
Manufactured housing, once considered to be cheap, drab construction and tarnished by a trailer-park image, has taken an upscale turn. In certain neighborhoods, prefab homes now blend in seamlessly with their conventional neighbors. They can be custom designed and loaded with luxury amenities, built to almost any size and shape.
Because the construction is done indoors, it’s not affected by weather. That means prefab homes can be built faster and with fewer delays and cost overruns than those constructed onsite.
Homeowners Scott and Alena Poirier and their two young children expect to move into the Wellesley modular home this month.
“We’re very excited,” said Scott Poirier. “We planned this as our dream house.”