Boulder, Colorado (Moved to Arkansas)
489 sq. ft. (not including patio area)
Michael Hughes (Assistant Professor of Architecture, Arkansas)
When it comes to small spaces, nothing conjures up images of design-impaired living like the words “mobile home.” Add to that a reputation for flimsy construction, and the bad rap seems well deserved.
Yet when architecture professor Michael Hughes talks about trailers and the traditional urban trailer park, he sees another picture: affordable, small-scale homes in a high-density neighborhood. “Mobile homes came into being as a low-cost housing solution, serving that niche in between an apartment or condo and a standard suburban home,” says Hughes. “Their typical design, however, has been fundamentally flawed, with structural and spatial issues.”
Hughes was given the chance to retool a trailer into his vision of a well-designed, budget-friendly residence when a defunct 1960s-era unit in Boulder’s Mapleton Mobile Home Park was donated to the design/build architecture program at the University of Colorado. (Hughes has since relocated to the University of Arkansas.) With a leaking roof, rotting wood and pitted metal siding, the two-bedroom, 489-square-foot unit had little left to salvage. Since local zoning codes required that dwellings within a mobile-home park must remain portable, the team kept the original steel chassis and sent the rest of the dilapidated structure to the scrap yard. Read More >>
Can I buy one??? I love them I'm in the New York area
Posted by: Keylogger Software | April 07, 2010 at 10:58 AM
Can I buy one??? I love them I'm in the New York area
Posted by: Sal | January 25, 2010 at 08:56 AM
I , along with a lot of people Im sure , have always thought about doing this. There are the thinkers and then there are the DO - ERS!!!!! Awesome!!! Can I work for you?
Posted by: Marjorie | August 05, 2009 at 05:27 PM
This is incredible! Would never have envisioned this beautiful home coming out of an old trailer. Very inspirational - the place looks huge. “In a small space, if you can increase your view and access to the outdoors, your place feels larger.”
Posted by: Rebecca | March 26, 2009 at 03:06 PM
This is actually really inspiring. It's nice to stumble on a project that takes something inexpensive (or even free) like an old mobile home and transforms it into something new. This particular house looks like it's on the expensive end but I bet you could do something very nice for very little money.
Posted by: Michael | March 08, 2009 at 09:11 PM