Cue the flying house

Cue the flying house.

Replacing a home lost in the North Bay Wildfires of 2017, a custom prefabricated home — assembled in Southern California and trucked to its Sonoma Valley construction site — was installed in just two days this week along Napa Road near Highway 12.

The project is the work of Plant Prefab, which says its methodology makes it possible to build custom, high-quality homes faster and more cost-effectively than traditional, site-based construction.

“With our offsite construction process and knowledge of fire-resilient materials and methods, we can offer a huge advantage for victims of California’s wildfires who want to rebuild sustainably, as quickly as possible, and cost-effectively,” states Plant Prefab founder and CEO Steve Glenn.

The company has completed several fire rebuilds in the area, with more than a dozen more in development for victims of other wildfires throughout the state.

The Sonoma residence, designed by Piechota Architecture, is set on a rolling hillside, with a working vineyard and a pond. The modern design retains beloved elements of the client’s original home, including custom cabinetry and countertops milled from reclaimed Redwood and Oak trees lost in the fire.

The homeowners felt the design elements they wanted would be a challenge to modulize, but are quite happy with the results.  “This has been a complex project,” the client said. “There’s no question that our new home, designed to high-quality finishing specifications, is coming at considerably less cost and at least months earlier than if we had relied solely on a general contractor.”

Fire resilience was a primary consideration in the home’s design, siting, materials choices, and construction. Non-combustible materials were used in the most vulnerable areas of the home, and the large, expressive overhangs of the class A-rated roof provide added protection.

“Our goal was to capture the spirit of the original residence while accomplishing the homeowner’s desires for key upgrades, like enhanced fire resiliency, upscale finishes, and larger, more open living spaces,” says Daniel Piechota, Principal of Piechota Architecture. “The offsite building system was able to help us achieve these goals in a more cost-effective manner than typical, site-based construction.”

The Plant Prefab factory is located in Rialto, CA.

Photos courtesy Plant Prefab