Clayton Homes

Clayton Homes has a pretty intriguing modular home right now. It purports to be a great green option, with energy-saving features in the basic model and add-ons for the "deep green" set. It's begging the green living crew to put its money where its mouth is. The house comes in two packages: the $74,900, 723-square-foot i-house I, and the $93,300, 1,023-square-foot i-house II. Both homes can be configured in at least seven different ways and come with a number of standard features, including galvanized metal roofing, corrugated steel siding, a butterfly roof with rainwater collection, and non-VOC paints.

Following the lead about just about every other company in the world, where introducing a product is of paramount importance, Clayton Homes this week introduced its ihouse (or ihome), which it says is at least 30% more energy- efficient than a traditional home. Clayton Homes is the largest manufacturer of modular homes in the U.S., and officially introduced its ihome at Berkshire Hathaway's recent annual shareholder meeting. The new offering features all the amenities required to reduce your carbon footprint (some optional).

There are two versions of the ihome: the 723-square-foot i-house I, ($74,900) and the 1,023-square-foot i-house II $93,300). As they are modular (meaning mobile, right?) both can be configured in many different ways. While the words "mobile home" have been used in a somewhat derogatory manner in the past, these Clayton Homes ihomes are certainly as far removed from what you might remember from an old movie as an iPod is from a reel-to-reel tape recorder. They come with a number of standard features, including galvanized metal roofing, corrugated steel siding, a butterfly roof with rainwater collection, and non-VOC paints.

IHouse

IHouse goes for $100 to $130 a square foot, depending on extras in what’s billed as “a moderately-priced plug and play dwelling” for the eco-conscious. The ribbon was cut on the iHouse in the US a few days ago at the annual shareholders’ meeting of investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire-Hathaway Inc. in Omaha, Neb.

There are two versions of the ihome: the 723-square-foot i-house I, ($74,900) and the 1,023-square-foot i-house II $93,300). As they are modular (meaning mobile, right?) both can be configured in many different ways. While the words "mobile home" have been used in a somewhat derogatory manner in the past, these Clayton Homes ihomes are certainly as far removed from what you might remember from an old movie as an iPod is from a reel-to-reel tape recorder. They come with a number of standard features, including galvanized metal roofing, corrugated steel siding, a butterfly roof with rainwater collection, and non-VOC paints.

The greenness, I hate to say, of the Clayton homes ihome appears to come from the many options, such as solar panels, tankless water heaters, and low-flow faucets. Speaking of the iPod, I'm surprised the name of the Clayton Homes' offering is ihouse (or ihome) rather than ehouse, say. Apple is fiercely defensive of its iPod and will sue over what it considers anything that will possibly harm the image or cause confusion. At any rate, these new Clayton Homes iHouse offer a federal rebate for first time buyers, so pricing and the rebate make it something to be looked at.

Clayton Homes

Clayton Homes' new industrial-chic "i-house" is about as far removed from a mobile home as an iPod from a record player. Architects at the country's largest manufactured home company embraced the basic rectangular form of what began as housing on wheels and gave it a postmodern turn with a distinctive v-shaped roofline, energy efficiency and luxury appointments.

Stylistically, the "i-house" might be more at home in the pages of a cutting-edge architectural magazine like Dwell - an inspirational source - than among the Cape Cods and ranchers in the suburbs. The layout of the long main "core" house and a separate box-shaped guestroom-office "flex room" resemble the letter "i" and its dot. Yet Clayton CEO and President Kevin Clayton said "i-house" stands for more than its footprint.

With a nod to the iPod and iPhone, Clayton said, "We love what it represents. We are fans of Apple and all that they have done. But the 'I' stands for innovation, inspiration, intelligence and integration." Clayton's "i-house" was conceived as a moderately priced "plug and play" dwelling for environmentally conscious homebuyers. It went on sale nationwide Saturday with its presentation at the annual shareholders' meeting of investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire-Hathaway Inc. in Omaha, Neb.