RSS FeedApr 22 2009
Logical Homes-Making the Most Out of Tough Materials
Logical Homes takes an approach that is not surprisingly, rather logical. They are designing homes of various sizes, and clearly one of their goals is to be different.
Logical Homes decided that the way homes are being built just doesn’t make much sense. Homes have been built basically the same way for decades. The designs at Logical Homes are very much in keeping with the age in which we live. For example, these homes incorporate recycled and repurposed materials.
While Logical Homes builds homes of all sizes, they have two designs that roughly fall into the tiny home category. One is the Aegean 640, a one bedroom and one bathroom house that comes in at 640 square feet. The look of the home is really striking with a large overhanging porch that has a built in “skylight” to accommodate a tall tree or two. This single story house cost $270,000, which breaks down to about $156 per square foot.
The Aegean 896,a slightly larger version of the Aegean 640, costs $298,000, (which breaks down to $172 per square foot.) The main difference with the Aegean 896 is that it has a second bedroom. Logical Homes has three basic different designs, the Aegean, the Catalan and the Seto. The size of homes varies tremendously. The largest model, the Seto comes in at a very spacious 3,580, with five bedrooms, three and half baths, and with a cost of $620,000.
What makes Logical Homes a real interesting contender in the tiny home market is their choice of materials and approach. They primarily use converted steel cargo containers, which have a wide variety of benefits for would be homeowners. The steel frame of cargo container is largely immune to terrible things like… mold, rot, termites and pests. If you really hate bugs, a modular home made out of steel may be a good fit as bugs, generally don’t eat metal. Because you are replacing brick and wood with metal (in this case steel), Cargo containers also exceed most residential building codes.
Right now Logical Homes are serving California, Nevada and Arizona. But with a concept this strong, don’t be surprised to see a rapid expansion.
Logical Homes takes an approach that is not surprisingly, rather logical. They are designing homes of various sizes, and clearly one of their goals is to be different.
Logical Homes decided that the way homes are being built just doesn’t make much sense. Homes have been built basically the same way for decades. The designs at Logical Homes are very much in keeping with the age in which we live. For example, these homes incorporate recycled and repurposed materials.
While Logical Homes builds homes of all sizes, they have two designs that roughly fall into the tiny home category. One is the Aegean 640, a one bedroom and one bathroom house that comes in at 640 square feet. The look of the home is really striking with a large overhanging porch that has a built in “skylight” to accommodate a tall tree or two. This single story house cost $270,000, which breaks down to about $156 per square foot.
The Aegean 896,a slightly larger version of the Aegean 640, costs $298,000, (which breaks down to $172 per square foot.) The main difference with the Aegean 896 is that it has a second bedroom. Logical Homes has three basic different designs, the Aegean, the Catalan and the Seto. The size of homes varies tremendously. The largest model, the Seto comes in at a very spacious 3,580, with five bedrooms, three and half baths, and with a cost of $620,000.
What makes Logical Homes a real interesting contender in the tiny home market is their choice of materials and approach. They primarily use converted steel cargo containers, which have a wide variety of benefits for would be homeowners. The steel frame of cargo container is largely immune to terrible things like… mold, rot, termites and pests. If you really hate bugs, a modular home made out of steel may be a good fit as bugs, generally don’t eat metal. Because you are replacing brick and wood with metal (in this case steel), Cargo containers also exceed most residential building codes.
Right now Logical Homes are serving California, Nevada and Arizona. But with a concept this strong, don’t be surprised to see a rapid expansion.
I’ve been reading about these cargo container projects from all around the world and finally this company has created buildings that are quite elegant. I’ve witnessed a home like these being built in Redondo Beach, CA and it was remarkable. Keep us posted on any other news related to Logical. Thanks!
I think either Logical Homes or the writer of the blog (or both) may need to re-do those cost-per-sq-ft figures… at $270,000 for the 640 sq ft version of the Aegean, that’s more like $420/sq ft, not $156.
And the 896 sq ft version of the Aegean, at $298,000, would come in at around $330 sq/ft, not $172/sq ft.
Either we’re dealing with some very poor math here, or it could be some marketing spin… perhaps Logical Homes isn’t counting the cost of the foundation and their GC and architectural fees in their per-square-foot calculation. Certainly other custom home builders have been guilty of same, in my experience.
Still, they should all realize that all the home buyer cares about is the final cost, which is how I’d figure cost-per-sq-ft, anyway.