A Place in the Woods
Charlie Lazor has been designing some of the loveliest modern prefab houses in the country since the beginning of the start of the prefab meme. But there is something really special about his latest, the Week’nder, on Madeline Island in Lake Superior. I have been staring at it for hours. First of all, it is not really a flatpack like Charlie Lazor is known for, but it appears to be made of two prefabricated modules with a site built roof installed between them.
I have always thought that this was perhaps the most efficient way to build modular; one is not shipping a lot of air in empty boxes. Instead, one is putting the complicated stuff in the boxes and just adding a roof over. Michelle Kaufmann did this in the Breezehouse and it was done in the early sixties as well.
But these modules are not very wide; barely more than container width, and the planning is fascinating, the way Charlie squeezes those sleeping niches into such a small space.
As long as you’re not the person who has to make the bed, they are very cute and space efficient. When so many summer homes are over-the-top air conditioned city houses plunked in the country, this is a real throwback to the designs of the ’50s and ’60s with modest room sizes, simple materials, basic detailing, put together with real style. It is economical too; according to the facebook site it comes in at about $180 per square foot; that’s cheap for building on an island in recreational areas. It could be right out of the 1960 Second homes for leisure living. I love it.
By Lloyd Alter.
More on Charlie Lazor:
Flatpak House
Best Of TH: Sustainable Designers, Part I
Perils of Prefab
Images: George Heinrich Photography with permission from Lazor Office
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One of my favorite parts in this home is that lovely freestanding fireplace which can also serve as a counter for all manner of things. Great design on a prefab unit.