Lindal Cedar Homes Dispels Poor Image of ‘Prefab’
In a word-association game, prefab (formally: prefabrication) will likely arouse images of poor craftsmanship, suspect quality and yuck! “Kit homes” may elicit a lesser frown but still emit a sense of inferiority.
As a Lindal Cedar Homes dealer, part of our business consists of building beautifully designed kit homes with prefab framing and construction. This means that the home’s skeleton is factory-built – salient terminology absent negative connotation.
It’s a simple understanding.
Would you prefer building something of significant size and complexity in your garage, or your back yard?
You have climate control and protection from the elements inside your garage. You’re at the mercy of Mother Nature in your backyard, especially if the project requires several days to complete.
You’re also likely to have access to bigger, more powerful and sophisticated machinery in your garage, compared to what tools you can haul to the backyard. Remember, too, that your garage and backyard are a lot closer to each other than the Lindal factory and your homestead.
If you’re a conscientious recycler, sweeping up the garage floor will produce a greater harvest than recapturing what has spilled onto your lawn.
Author Sheri Koones, who wrote a feature on Lindal for Forbes magazine in 2020, claimed in a recently published book that factory framing results in:
- 75 percent fewer manhours onsite
- 25 percent reduction in lumber
- 75 percent less scrap
That recent book was Better Than Tiny (2022, Gibbs-Smith) and one of the homes highlighted was the Quick Ship Georgia built by Modern Dwellings.
The title of an earlier book Koones wrote construed prefab into what better suits her view of these homes – prefabulous. With this upgrade in mind, let’s review history.
Along Came Cars And Mail-Order Homes
Although mostly north of the Mason-Dixon Line and east of the Mississippi, Americans began purchasing kit homes from a Sears catalog about the time a Model T Ford could be put into the driveway – 1908. By 1940 sales reached and estimated 75,000, many of which are still standing and inhabited according to reports.
Sir Walter Lindal birthed his enterprise as WWII ended in 1945. He was fascinated with A-frame designs, some of which he patented, and one was featured on the cover of Popular Mechanics in April 1966. An article on Lindal’s website traces the evolution of the A-frame to a modified A-frame to prow fronts to Lindal Elements that features a variety of styles and rooflines, interchangeable on many designs.
Recorded almost 30 years ago, the short clip at right features Sir Walter Lindal talking about the building system he developed. It’s worth a listen, even if the visual is blurry.
Lindal has shipped more than 50,000 prefabricated homes worldwide as it nears completion of its 8th decade. Its sustained success is attributed to an ingenious system utilizing architectural grade lumber – laminated to make it stronger than steel, pound for pound – among a kit of highly refined and sustainable components for which there is a lifetime structural warranty.
A Lindal package consists of everything needed to create a weather-tight shell, except for roof shingles and garage doors, if those are included in the design. the lumber for framing as well as doors, windows, siding, stairs, roof liner, baseboard trim, rails, and decks . Electrical, plumbing, appliances, HVAC, sheetrock, lighting, and whatever special finishes the client desires are sourced locally.
Design Makes the Difference
The vast library of unique and innovative modern home designs is the hallmark of Lindal. Many of these are reviewed in webinars featuring one or more of Aris Georges, Michael Harris, and/or Trina Lindal.
Georges heads Lindal’s OM Studios and is the go-to source for modifying a Lindal design or even starting from scratch. Prior to connecting with Lindal, Georges spent 30 years as a professor at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.
Harris, who holds an architectural degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is now an independent consultant and Lindal dealer after previously serving the company’s as CEO and on its board of directors. Harris is principally responsible for developing the Lindal Elements system.
Trina Lindal is a chief designer at the company and granddaughter of Sir Walter. She studied and taught architecture at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin, Wisconsin, home, studio and school.
Not Modular
Lindal Cedar Homes can be described as kit or prefab but they are not modular. While modular also reaps the benefits of factory construction, designs are limited to what can be loaded onto a trailer and fit inside the lanes and underneath the overpasses of highways, roads and dirt paths leading to a home site.
Kits can be bundled into one shipment while the individual rooms of most modular homes require multiple “wide load” (16 feet maximum width) roadway adventures, an added expense.
Almost 30-Year Heritage
Modern Dwellings has been a Lindal dealer since 1993, operating previously as Blue Ridge Cedar Homes. Our founder, Manson Peppers, has served on the company’s board of directors.
We build custom homes of our own design, or those from independent architects, but have great reverence for Lindal’s extraordinary portfolio and the ease of assembling its packaged components onsite.
In our view, Lindal Cedar Homes can be summed up in one word – prefabulous!