Some assembly required

Do you shiver with anticipation at the prospect of assembling a 12-piece Ikea desk? Great! How about a 12,000-piece home meant to shelter your family for generations?

From the early 1900s until 1942, Sears Roebuck sold nearly 100,000 ready-to-build homes, which were known as “kit homes.” The kits, shipped nationwide and directly to customers, offered affordability, structural integrity, and for some, the romantic notion of physically constructing a family home nail by nail.

Mail-order Sears homes fell out of fashion just before the age of the poodle skirt, but as home prices stay stuck in the stratosphere—and the fate of the housing market seems murkier by the day—kit homes are once again attracting would-be homeowners.

From prefabricated tiny home kits sold on Amazon and luxury “barndominiums” to renter-friendly accessory dwelling units (ADUs), today’s kit home companies are recycling a vintage idea for modern buyers.

The popularity of Sears homes was based on the idea that, with a little elbow grease, anyone could build their own home. From teachers and accountants to gardeners and mechanics, any average Joe could moonlight as their own home contractor during the heyday of Sears kit homes, explained Rosemary Thornton, an architecture historian and author of The Houses That Sears Built: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sears Catalog Homes.

Per Thornton, Sears homeowners saw the kits as more than just a convenience—they were a means for working-class families to construct their own homes with care. “More than 50% [of Sears homes] were actually built by the people who bought them, and they were built with love,” she said.

Today, a slew of mail-order kit home companies offer a similar experience, allowing homeowners to stick-build their structures piece by piece. And for the less DIY savvy (🙋‍♀️), there are even companies like Cottage in California that boast lightning-fast onsite assembly.

But Cottage isn’t a kit home company per se. The company’s founder and CEO, Alex Czarnecki, said the company’s goal is to “redefine the residential design-build process through its marketplace that unites homeowners and contractors” to build customizable ADUs on permanent foundations like modular homes.

Unlike a kit home, which can be built on an empty lot, an ADU is meant to be an addition to an existing structure as a guest house or a renter-friendly income property similar to a coach house. The latter is especially appealing in Cottage’s high-density service areas (San Diego, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area). “We think that there’s a huge opportunity to innovate in multiple different ways to produce additional housing in the areas that need it most,” said Czarnecki.

Ryan Jantz, president and co-founder of Proteus Homes, agreed. Proteus is another ADU company operating in the Bay Area (which, by the way, is home to two of the most expensive rental markets in the country). For Jantz, the appeal of ADUs lies largely in the speedy construction.

“We assemble homes in one to two days, are ready to insulate, drywall, and clad the house in one week, and have the house move-in ready three months after the permit is issued,” Jantz said. “That is about one-third less time than traditional construction.” That’s great news for families looking to quickly add a guest house for, say, an aging relative. (Note that the overall planning process typically takes about six months.)

Finally, customizable ADUs are a solid bet for oddly shaped lots, which may not be large or uniform enough to accommodate traditional kit homes. “I looked at prefabricated units and kit homes, but nothing impressed me,” said Jocelyn Combs, who purchased a Cottage ADU with the goal of “aging in place” on her existing property.

“[Other options] couldn’t be modified to fit my unusually shaped lot or accommodate the floor plan I had in mind. I chose a company that would help me customize the design and footprint of my ADU.”

ADUs are a handy way to make the most of irregular city lot shapes, but they’re unfortunately out of the question for potential homeowners hoping to build on empty lots.

So customers with empty lots might look to a company like Stillwater Dwellings, which offers a wide range of sustainable and contemporary modular kit homes with outdoor-oriented living in mind. And for the truly adventurous kit home builder, there are alternative structures like barndominiums, or “barndos,” which are exactly what they sound like: a barn that’s been converted into a home.

“Barndominiums definitely have an advantage in that they’re much more durable than your typical home [because] they’re all metal,” explained Don Howe, editor-at-large of the Barndominium Life blog. “Even the roofs tend to be metal, [and those last] considerably longer than shingle-style roofs.” Howe added that barndominium builds can be as much as 80% cheaper than traditional homes—a stunning figure for homebuilders hoping to save a buck on destination properties.

Customers can expect similar savings with other types of ready-to-build structures, like a geodesic dome home. Although this looks like it belongs on Tatooine with Luke Skywalker, it’s still a great alternative for earthlings. 👽

“People use them a lot for luxury glamping, but we’ve seen a huge rise in people interested in using them to live in—many temporarily for two to three years on the property they plan to build on, but also [some] permanently,” said Will Stewart, owner of alternative building supplier Cedar Spring Recreation.

“With ongoing global supply chain issues and labor shortages, the complexities of a traditional build can make timelines extremely hard to keep. Prefabricated kit homes and alternative ready-to-build structures can provide a lot more certainty for homeowners.”

Kit homes may sound dreamy, but it’s not all sunshine and Lego bricks. First, Czarnecki cautions against taking the price of a prefabricated ADU or kit home at face value.

“Prefab ADUs will advertise the ‘base price,’ but the move-in ready cost is commonly twice what’s on their websites,” warned Czarnecki. “When comparing costs, it’s important to make an apples-to-apples comparison. It’s common to see certain costs left out including permitting, pouring a foundation, installation fees, utility connections, and finishes.”

It’s also important to acknowledge your own skill set and attention to detail when deciding whether to hire a contractor or construct a kit yourself. You might rock an Ikea desk assembly, but failing to properly insulate your home could have disastrous consequences even if you follow the kit instructions to the letter.

Finally, you’ll want to carefully review local, state, and regional building codes (here’s an example from Illinois) to ensure you have permission to build and you build up to code for your desired style of home.

Ultimately, kit homes are an attractive option in an increasingly hazardous housing market. For some creative would-be homeowners, these out-of-the-box structures provide shelter, style, and pride—there’s just some assembly required, of course.—Lillian