If you like modern, green, and affordable, click here

I had the amazing experience lately of one of my listings collapsing. Yes, it actually fell down, under the weight of snow on the roof, and believe me, the neighbors and the city were NOT happy. It's kind of funny, most of my friends were delighted when they heard of it...this is a house we were going to remodel EXTENSIVELY anyway, but somehow right now doesn't seem like a good time for us to start a spec house project.

Anyway, in looking for affordable housing alternatives to replace this little (former) shanty, a/k/a pile of lumber, I looked into two interesting options: The wee house, by Alchemy Architects, and the FlatPak house by Jeff Lazor. Both of these ideas have been featured in Dwell magazine and have been shown at the Walker Museum in Minneapolis, at Yale and there was even a variation at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Pre-fab to an extent, architect-designed, affordable to build (depending on your municipality, and their willingness to go along with the whole idea), these homes are small, green, modern alternatives to the hulking suburban museums that many of us live in now. I must admit, I fell in love...I was ready for a new affair, as my kids have all recently left the nest and we need so much less space than we used to. My husband has modern sensitivities, too, and loved the idea of the small carbon footprint, low costs and abundant sunlight that characterize these homes.

Reality impinged on my happy reverie when I showed the websites to two of my girlfriends, both of whom have great taste and one of whom is the daughter of an architect and an interior designer. "Ick" they said. "I could never live there!" Oh, well...what was I thinking?

Even "This Old House" recently featured a pre-fab home. It went up so nicely, all built inside under perfect conditions, with every contingency planned for ahead of time. I'd be happy to hear from other people on this issue. Am I completely off base for loving these little gems?