The Coming Middle Class Mobile Home Transition

As Western economies are progressively reworked from energy intensive to energy restrictive, corresponding GDP declines will follow. The middle class wanting to live in a free standing SFR may wish to consider the mobile home industry for affordable options. VRT proposes a double long design where one mobile home unit contains kitchen, dining, and living room areas while a separate, connecting unit contains bed, bath, and laundry. As is common with mobile homes, a third site built portion serves as carport and there are site built stairs and decks as well.

VRT believes that by offering a spacious, modern, open plan, the middle class will not merely resign themselves to living in mobile homes but embrace the idea, will prefer them over 'stick built' homes.

The lots shown above are approximately 45 ft wide by 150 ft long or 6,750 sq ft which works out to around 1/6th acre. VRT is aware that positioning mobile homes on their pads is a tricky proposition and is very much open to advice as to how this impacts design.

VRT is a huge fan of the very large format projection TV which it incorporates in its living room design as shown below and which is also fitted with a long Frank Lloyd Wright style wraparound sofa banque:

By designing landscaped, built in, outdoor living space, the hope is to not merely soften the transition from site built to mobile home, but to make the mobile home solution the preferred choice. One of the long walls in each home is windowless and serves as a 'party wall', making for private outdoor living space between homes. VRT believes that an emphasis on the outdoor landscaping and amenities goes a long way in attracting / selling middle class homebuyers on the virtues of the mobile home and mobile home park development.

The home shown in the drawing is a 5 bed / 3 bath with a Frank Lloyd Wright / Usonian hallway storage setup. The thought was that the living / dining unit could work for everyone while the bed / bath unit could be offered in a couple of variations depending on the families needs. The plumbing in the bed / bath unit is concentrated near the front as is the plumbing in the kitchen unit so that the plumbing 'drops' are orderly and minimized in the mobile home crawl space as shown here:

Also note that the beds in the four bedrooms are placed in alcoves the better to make good use of the limited space in mobile homes. This space saving arrangement allows for incorporation of good size closets and a built in desk with shelves. In this way the four bedrooms can easily double as offices, an important consideration as office jobs are increasingly home based.

In the course of researching mobile homes, VRT has learned that drainage is a major concern. By the artful use of mounds, swales, and French drains the crawl space below the mobile home and the yards to the side should be able to shed water and quickly dry out after a rainstorm. French drains seem to be both art and science and one is

amazed at the ingenuity of both installers and the products which are available which include special 'geo fabrics' and 'socks'. These allow water to percolate into the underground piping but keep silt / soil out as explained in the French Drain video.

Now VRT is very keen on hi tech systems such as low pressure sewers which it hopes to incorporate in the modern middle class mobile home park. Here is a two minute video from E/One, the originator of pressurized sewer systems, explaining the idea:

The pressurized sewer has many advantages over the gravity sewer system. It is not susceptible to leaking or infiltration by ground water. It can handle virtually any terrain, and most surprisingly, is less expensive than gravity sewers.