PREtty FAB Homes

Are you looking to have your dream home custom built at your leisure? Its ECO-Friendly home with high-efficiency lighting, neighbor friendly while being built, lower water consumption, Energy Star appliances and ready to move in 3-4 months; all for under $350,000 or less. Sounds good? Stillwater Dwellings can make this your reality and more.

Still Water Dwellings is a Prefab home manufacture in Seattle, Washington. Stillwater Dwellings was founded by 2 architects, and 1 builder/ex-developer on these Fundamental Beliefs:

• Quality, contemporary, prefabricated homes do not need to be expensive
• Building a new home should be fun, not stressful
• Eco-friendly building is not a luxury, it is our responsibility
• Construction costs can (and should) be predictable. Careful, thorough planning and intelligent building processes make this possible.
• Less ‘house’, more ‘home’

Stillwater Dwellings’ Brad Conway was kind enough to answer these questions:

How did you come up with the name “Stillwater Dwellings”?

We wanted a name that represented our home styles well. Our homes have always been focused on having an understated elegance about them, and we’ve always believed our homes and our company culture have a calming, serene feel about them. We felt the name Stillwater really symbolized that feeling. Our homes are different than most, and we felt our name should be as well.

Why should house buyers invest in a Prefab home?

Prefab homes are new territory for most people. It’s hard for them to grasp this seemingly new way of building home. Our belief is that prefab home gets you a number of things that a traditional site-built home cannot. The quality is exceptional. Floors and walls are built on giant steel, laser leveled tables, so they are as square and true as can be. That just doesn’t happen on-site. The home spends 100% of it’s construction cycle protected from the elements in a climate controlled facility. This means no moisture gets behind the walls, which can cause mold. This is huge if you live in wet climates.

Prefab homes also provide buyers with an exceptionally fast building cycle. We talk in terms of days and weeks, not months and years. Typically the construction schedule is one step after another, and can take almost a year. When you start a Prefab home, you begin building the home itself at the same time you install the foundation. The home is completed in the factory in about 2 weeks, and spends another week or so in quality control. We literally can have a home completed in a month. If you are financing your home, this is a huge savings, as typically you’d be paying construction interest expense throughout the entire build.

We think the value of our homes is incredible. We think our homes offer a great design, with fantastic finish packages, and a pretty great price. Lastly: predictability. With a Prefab home, you know exactly what your home is going to cost before you sign a contract and start. Gone are the days of budgets or estimates that only seem to go up as you build.

On your site, you have the verbiage: “Eco-friendly building is not a luxury, it is our responsibility”. Explain why this is important?

It’s our nature. We’ve been builders and architects for quite awhile, and have seen the waste that comes out of typical construction. It’s unbelievable. We know that prefab homes eliminate a huge amount of that waste, and that allows us all to enjoy our resources much longer. We’ve also sent the waste that goes into maintaining and operating a poorly built or overly large home. Gas, electric, and water bills are astronomical, and the maintenance on the home is awful. We designed all of our homes to be very energy efficient, and be quite low maintenance. We do this because we know that preserving those resources means they will be around for our children to enjoy, and to do the things we love to do.

What separates you from the growing number up Prefab home builders each year?

It seems like every new Prefab company is named after a color or one of architect partners in the firm. Often it also seems like they are very expensive, with wildly modern designs. We launched Stillwater Dwellings under the premise that Prefab home market was only being served on two ends of the spectrum: very entry level, low quality mobile homes, or very high end homes that we’re really custom homes and that only the elite could afford. We also felt that most other Prefab homes were aggressively modern, and only appealed to a small, finite market. Our home designs really serve that middle-ground.a very high level of architectural design, with tons of great finishes and features, but at a price point that is realistic to most people. I think we’re also quite easy to work with. We’re genuinely excited to help people with their home, and really get excited about their project.

We also have a truly unique line of homes that no one else has: a ‘design-your-own’ Prefab line. Our sd-i series of homes includes 34 pre-designed Living, Bedroom, and Connector modules that fit together with
a universal connector. It’s as easy as A-B-C: start with your favorite Living Module (A.). Add a Connector Module (B), then complete your design by attaching your desired Bedroom Module (C). Its as easy as that! Each module is designed with a universal connector location so they all fit together. You can arrange them in any A-B-C combination you want. This allows our customers to design and build a custom home, without the huge costs typically associated with a custom home. With this line, the client truly gets to be the architect.

What are some to the misconceptions of Prefab homes?

Everyone always says, ‘so, it’s like a mobile home?” That couldn’t be further from the truth. Prefab homes are built to exactly the same code (the International Residential Code or IRC) as a site-built, stick-framed home, not the HUD code used for mobile or manufactured homes. So, walls are usually 2×6 wood, floors built using trusses, and the insulation is extensive. The reality is that if you walk into a Prefab home, you most likely would think it was built on-site.

Another common misconception is cost. We do believe the price points of our Stillwater homes are the best value in the market. However, a lot of our competitors price their home well into the $200/square foot range, which in our opinion is hardly affordable for most people. We think our prices fit much better into the mass market, but it really is the whole package that makes it attractive: quality, time, and cost.

Why should home buyers purchase a Prefab home from Stillwater Dwellings?

Without question our designs and overall value. We think we’ve come up with floor plans that really ‘work’, and are designed for real living, not just a magazine cover. They are contemporary, but not too modern. Our finishes are outstanding, and we think we include a lot of high end finishes and features that you would normally pay top dollar for. Couple this with our great price points, and we really think we have the best value in a Prefab home.

If someone is interested in purchasing a Prefab home, what things should they make note of before purchasing?

Their lot and site situation is key. A pretty large truck carrying 95% of your home needs to make it down your driveway. The truck drivers are amazing, but it has to be realistic.

Buyers should also plan to be very decisive, and plan well ahead. Unlike a custom home, we decide every single finish and feature before we ever sign a contract. The nice thing is you know exactly what your home will cost before you sign an agreement or start.

Before we get really serious with clients, we help them make sure a Prefab home will work on their specific lot and location. We ask for a lot of digital photos, and a site plan.

What are the final step before closing?

Right after we ‘install’ a home, we begin the final detailing and button up of the home. In multi-module homes, we typically install the hardwood flooring, carpets, and appliances onsite, to avoid any damage during transportation. After that, we send a crew in that completely details the home: drywall & paint touch-ups, final door and cabinet adjustments, and a thorough home cleaning. This usually takes about 2-3 weeks. After that, we just ask for an invite to the first cocktail or wine party. This is it.

For more information about Stillwater Dwellings, please visit: www.stillwaterdwellings.com