History of Mobile and Manufactured Housing
The mobile home evolved from a trailer. Trailers were originally designed to be hauled behind the family car for vacations. The first trailer was nothing more than a homemade, simple wooden tent on wheels.
In the 1930s Arthur G. Sherman, president of a pharmaceutical manufacturing company wanted to go on a camping vacation without the burden of setting up and putting away a tent, which could take up to an hour. He made his own simple six by nine foot trailer with folding upper and lower bunks and a coal burning stove.
In the 1930s he realized a demand and started his own trailer business. He rented a garage and hired a couple of cabinet makers and started building trailers for $300 per unit. Eventually, the method of production turned into an assembly line, similar to automobile manufacturers. In 1936 he sold 6,000 units and grossed 3 million.
At the time, the image of the trailer was glamorized as a return to nature, physical mobility, roaming freely and individuality. Also, there was a fascination with the new technology the trailers offered.
Soon, there was a demand for places to park overnight while on vacation. Parks were created, some with drinking water, toilets, showers, laundry facilities and street lights.
Although the manufacturers created the trailers as vacation vehicles, an increasing number of people were using trailer parks as a permanent residence.
Many parks were less than optimal. Many workers moved from city to city seeking employment and crowding into congested trailer parks.
In the late 1930s, there was a housing shortage due to the depression. In 1938, the first mobile home was described in an issue of Travel Trailer as “not intended to be towed across the country generally . . . constructed as regular homes . . . the person who will buy the house will contemplate remaining at one site for a considerable period of time, but that circumstance at some future date may require removal.”
During World War II the perception of mobile homes changed from vehicles to permanent residences. There were acute housing shortages where defense-related activities occurred. This caused the increase use and advance design of mobile homes.
In the 1940s various governments used mobile homes for temporary housing until conventional housing could be built.
In the 1950s and 1960s the designs of mobile homes improved. The interior was designed to look more like a traditional home than a trailer.
In the 1970s sales of mobile homes escalated due to an inadequate supply of low income housing. Mobile homes were the main form of affordable housing available to buy.
However, the safety and quality of many homes was inadequate. In response, in 1974 the congress passed the Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act. This authorized the Department of Housing and Urban Development to establish and enforce a national building code that would ensure that mobile homes satisfied minimal standards of safety and durability.
Today the mobile homes have come a long way in quality and design. According to Consumer Reports, “manufactured housing can last as long as site-built housing”. Many look like regular conventional homes. Some are much larger, double or triple wide, two story, some have regular garages.
Many people choose to live in a mobile home as a more affordable alternative. Others enjoy the sense of community.
From humble beginnings to elegant dwellings.
The manufactured home of today is an evolution of style and amenities that has its roots in a history of answering the American public's demand for quality housing at an exceptional value.
In the 1920s, "trailer coaches" were built to serve the American traveler who wanted the ability, when vacationing, of having a ready-made place to sleep at a campsite. During Word War II, these temporary dwellings were used to house factory workers who came from miles around to aid in the war effort.
When the war ended, veterans came home to find affordable housing in short supply. The industry answered this call by building homes that were large enough to house a veteran and his family. However, these homes could still be moved from one location to another to provide the mobility that the family desired.
In the1960s, American consumers wanted even more out of the industry. The demand was for bigger trailers with more amenities and the new appliances that were rapidly coming on the market. And still, it had to be mobile. History buffs may remember Lucille Ball in the movie, "The Long, Long Trailer."
From this demand was born the mobile home. Mobile homes were bigger in size, nicer in appearance and met the needs of prospective young American homeowners.
In 1974, Congress passed the National Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act, also known as the HUD Code. This watershed legislation made mobile homes the only form of private and single-family building subject to federal regulation. Even site-built homes did not enjoy such strict regulation. These regulations, which became effective in June of 1976, preempted any existing state or local construction and safety codes applying to the product.
The effect of federal regulation was to more clearly define mobile homes as buildings, rather than vehicles. The Housing Act of 1980 adopted this change officially, mandating the use of "manufactured housing" (factory-built homes) to replace "mobile homes" in all federal law and literature for homes built since 1976.
The manufactured home you see today is truly a home and it bears little resemblance to its 'tin-box' predecessor, the trailer. Often, you may not even recognize a manufactured home - so close is it in design and structure to its "site-built" counterpart. Thanks to sophisticated production processes and the demands of the consumer, manufactured homes have become a model of efficiency, affordability, and innovative design options.
Manufactured Housing
History of Mobile and Manufactured Housing
The mobile home evolved from a trailer. Trailers were originally designed to be hauled behind the family car for vacations. The first trailer was nothing more than a homemade, simple wooden tent on wheels.
In the 1930s Arthur G. Sherman, president of a pharmaceutical manufacturing company wanted to go on a camping vacation without the burden of setting up and putting away a tent, which could take up to an hour. He made his own simple six by nine foot trailer with folding upper and lower bunks and a coal burning stove.
In the 1930s he realized a demand and started his own trailer business. He rented a garage and hired a couple of cabinet makers and started building trailers for $300 per unit. Eventually, the method of production turned into an assembly line, similar to automobile manufacturers. In 1936 he sold 6,000 units and grossed 3 million.
At the time, the image of the trailer was glamorized as a return to nature, physical mobility, roaming freely and individuality. Also, there was a fascination with the new technology the trailers offered.
Soon, there was a demand for places to park overnight while on vacation. Parks were created, some with drinking water, toilets, showers, laundry facilities and street lights.
Although the manufacturers created the trailers as vacation vehicles, an increasing number of people were using trailer parks as a permanent residence.
Many parks were less than optimal. Many workers moved from city to city seeking employment and crowding into congested trailer parks.
In the late 1930s, there was a housing shortage due to the depression. In 1938, the first mobile home was described in an issue of Travel Trailer as “not intended to be towed across the country generally . . . constructed as regular homes . . . the person who will buy the house will contemplate remaining at one site for a considerable period of time, but that circumstance at some future date may require removal.”
During World War II the perception of mobile homes changed from vehicles to permanent residences. There were acute housing shortages where defense-related activities occurred. This caused the increase use and advance design of mobile homes.
In the 1940s various governments used mobile homes for temporary housing until conventional housing could be built.
In the 1950s and 1960s the designs of mobile homes improved. The interior was designed to look more like a traditional home than a trailer.
In the 1970s sales of mobile homes escalated due to an inadequate supply of low income housing. Mobile homes were the main form of affordable housing available to buy.
However, the safety and quality of many homes was inadequate. In response, in 1974 the congress passed the Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act. This authorized the Department of Housing and Urban Development to establish and enforce a national building code that would ensure that mobile homes satisfied minimal standards of safety and durability.
Today the mobile homes have come a long way in quality and design. According to Consumer Reports, “manufactured housing can last as long as site-built housing”. Many look like regular conventional homes. Some are much larger, double or triple wide, two story, some have regular garages.
Many people choose to live in a mobile home as a more affordable alternative. Others enjoy the sense of community.
From humble beginnings to elegant dwellings.
The manufactured home of today is an evolution of style and amenities that has its roots in a history of answering the American public's demand for quality housing at an exceptional value.
In the 1920s, "trailer coaches" were built to serve the American traveler who wanted the ability, when vacationing, of having a ready-made place to sleep at a campsite. During Word War II, these temporary dwellings were used to house factory workers who came from miles around to aid in the war effort.
When the war ended, veterans came home to find affordable housing in short supply. The industry answered this call by building homes that were large enough to house a veteran and his family. However, these homes could still be moved from one location to another to provide the mobility that the family desired.
In the1960s, American consumers wanted even more out of the industry. The demand was for bigger trailers with more amenities and the new appliances that were rapidly coming on the market. And still, it had to be mobile. History buffs may remember Lucille Ball in the movie, "The Long, Long Trailer."
From this demand was born the mobile home. Mobile homes were bigger in size, nicer in appearance and met the needs of prospective young American homeowners.
In 1974, Congress passed the National Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act, also known as the HUD Code. This watershed legislation made mobile homes the only form of private and single-family building subject to federal regulation. Even site-built homes did not enjoy such strict regulation. These regulations, which became effective in June of 1976, preempted any existing state or local construction and safety codes applying to the product.
The effect of federal regulation was to more clearly define mobile homes as buildings, rather than vehicles. The Housing Act of 1980 adopted this change officially, mandating the use of "manufactured housing" (factory-built homes) to replace "mobile homes" in all federal law and literature for homes built since 1976.
The manufactured home you see today is truly a home and it bears little resemblance to its 'tin-box' predecessor, the trailer. Often, you may not even recognize a manufactured home - so close is it in design and structure to its "site-built" counterpart. Thanks to sophisticated production processes and the demands of the consumer, manufactured homes have become a model of efficiency, affordability, and innovative design options.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Manufactured homes
Manufactured housing (also known as prefab housing) is a type of housing unit that is largely assembled in factories and then transported to sites of use.
The term "manufactured home" specifically refers to a home built entirely in a protected environment under a federal code set by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Manufactured homes are not mobile homes. The term "mobile home" describes factory-built homes produced prior to the 1976 HUD Code enactment.[1]
The original focus of this form of housing was its mobility. Units were initially marketed primarily to people whose lifestyle required mobility. However, beginning in the 1950s, mobile homes began to be marketed primarily as an inexpensive form of housing designed to be set up and left in a location for long periods of time, or even permanently installed with a masonry foundation. Previously, units had been eight feet or less in width, but in 1956, the introduction of the 10-foot wide mobile home was made. This helped solidify the line between mobile homes and house/travel trailers, since the smaller units could be moved simply with an automobile, but the larger, wider units required the services of a professional trucking company. In the 1960s and '70s, mobile homes became even longer and wider, making the mobility of the units more difficult. Today, when a manufactured home is moved to a location, it is usually kept there permanently. Since the 1970s, the term "manufactured home" has largely replaced "mobile home," since the mobility of the units has considerably decreased.
The manufactured homes of the past (mobile homes) developed a negative stereotype because of their lower cost and the tendency for their value to depreciate more quickly than site-built homes. The tendency of these homes to rapidly depreciate in resale value made using them as collateral for loans far riskier than traditional home loans. Terms were usually limited to less than the thirty year term typical of the general home-loan market, and interest rates were considerably higher. In other words, mobile home loans resembled motor vehicle loans far more than traditional home mortgages. They have been consistently linked to lower-income families, which has led to prejudice and zoning restrictions, which include: limitations on the number and density of manufactured homes permitted on any given site, minimum size requirements, limitations on exterior colors and finishes, and foundation mandates. There are many jurisdictions that will not allow the placement of any additional manufactured homes, while others have strongly limited or forbidden all single-wide models, which tend to depreciate in value more rapidly than modern double-wide models. The derogatory concept of a "trailer park" is typically older mobile homes occupying small, rented lots and remaining on wheels, even if the home stays in one place for decades. Modern manufactured homes, especially modular homes, belie this image and can be identical in appearance to site-built homes. Newer manufactured homes, particularly double-wides, tend to be built to much higher standards than their predecessors and meet the building codes applicable to most areas. This has led to a reduction in the rate of value depreciation of most used units.[2]
Both manufactured (mobile) homes and modular homes are commonly referred to as manufactured housing, but they are not identical. Modular homes are transported on flatbed trucks rather than being towed, and lack axles and an automotive-type frame typical of manufactured homes. However, like manufactured homes, some modular houses are towed behind a semi-truck on a frame similar to that of a manufactured home. The house is usually in two pieces and is hauled by two separate trucks. Each frame has five or more axles, depending on the size of the house. Once the house has reached its location, unlike a manufactured home, the axles and the tongue of the frame are then removed, and the house is set on a concrete foundation by a large crane. Most zoning restrictions on modular homes have been found to be inapplicable or only applicable to manufactured homes. This occurs often after considerable litigation on the topic by affected jurisdictions and by plaintiffs failing to ascertain the difference. Most modern modular homes, once fully assembled, are indistinguishable from site-built homes. Their roofs are usually transported as separate units, eradicating the telltale roofline of the manufactured home. As the legal differentiation between the two becomes more codified, the market for modular homes is likely to grow. The traditional manufactured home industry would seem to have a bright future as well. As the demand for housing continues to grow, the price of housing continues to increase rapidly. The constant improvement of quality and features of manufactured homes has led to greater acceptance by a growing segment of the marketplace. Additionally, insurers and lenders are now more likely to treat the higher-end manufactured home as they would a traditional home.
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