Kit home facts you should know
The kit home experience is one that accommodates various lifestyles, with convenience, simplicity and quality. As opposed to modular homes, kit homes are the ultimate time saver, transferring one’s dream design into a stress-free reality in an amazingly reduced time frame. What is strikingly surprising is that kit homes were once plain old sheds with minimal style. So it’s important to best understand the interesting history of facts about kit homes, and how far they have come.
Brian Best, owner of IdeasWood and a 30-year shed kit specialist delves into the kit home facts that one should know and should familiarise themselves with to best understand the history and development of this extraordinary building type.
The first kit home was manufactured in London in the early 1800s, and was erected in Australia. With all the prefabricated material being shipped and reassembled, the very first cottage was created, attaining popularity and in essence, providing the foundations of the Kit Home industry in Australia. “With nearly two centuries of kit home presence, the designs of pre-cut houses or catalogue homes evolved and began to arouse the interest of the rest of the world,” says Best.
After the first World War, kit homes became popular in America as a means for the middle class to purchase and construct homes in affordable stages as mortgages were not readily available. Kit home orders officially commenced in the 1920s via mail in where one could order the entire kit home from a catalogue, and then have all the pieces delivered for assembly, thus, the name “Mail-order Homes” was coined.
Kit homes were originally comprised of non unique designs that reflected the architectural styles of its particular time. “The only additional touches that kit homeowners provided were extra windows, fireplaces and general colour scheme adjustments,” says Best. Kit Homes have now evolved into various custom-made designs and styles such as granny flats, log cabins, sauna pods, pavilions and an endless list of even unique kit home designs to cater for the human living experience conveniently and resourcefully.
As technology progressed in both building methods and materials, it led to a massive resurgence in kit home popularity. With an abundance of tailored designs, particularly in Australia, kit home manufacturers like IdeasWood specialise in taking a client’s design and giving them exactly what they desire in a kit home.
Kit homes have been expertly designed to be cyclone, termite and fire resistant, while still being environmentally friendly, and suitable for all climates. “Kit home materials have been designed with versatility to combat even the harshest, most turbulent and unfavourable conditions of their surroundings,” says Best.
The Kit Home industry has evolved into a multi-million dollar industry. For homeowners, it is budget friendly and enables the client to have creative freedom over designs, and reduced labour costs due to the availability of prepared materials that can positively affect construction timeframes. Overall, the emphasis is on simplicity.
IdeasWood specialises in the construction, financing and licensing of kit home materials and options. Browse through their wide range of standard and bespoke affordable kit home designs and services. IdeasWood specialists are keen to work with you and incorporate any kit home ideas you have in order to design the perfect kit home for you. IdeasWood- Simple living made easy!
Syndicated by YDMA News