Katrina Cottages

Recent comments

LL... thanks for "telling it like it is" ... i never understood all the hoopla about the Katrina Cottage. i looked at a few of the display models, and spoke to the reps when doing research for my prototype modern day Thoreau / disaster relief shelter, and most Katrina Houses were coming in at around $350 /SF. when i inquired why they were so expensive to build (and not even close to the $35K advertised in articles), the reps noted that it was still considered a prototype, and that prototypes are always expensive at first. the houses are "cute", but there isn't much "design" or "prototyping" to speak of... in many of the designs, the kitchen & bath are at opposite ends of the house (inefficient), and the kitchen is poorly placed and too big for such a small space. closets are odd dimensions... too narrow and too deep in many of the designs... etc.
zoe outdoor cottages is a more real world alternative. find your local "zoe" equivalent & give them your hard earned bux, before paying for the Katrina brand.

for anyone interested... for more than a Zoe, but less than a Katrina, our small systems-built shelter designs will be posted at www.objetdesign.com and www.the revolutioncorporation.com sometime before 01/09. the first round modules are: a self sustaining pod (with bath & kitchenette) for $15K, an efficiency for $30K, a 2/1 for $60K and a 3/2 for $75K (complete structure, minus construction site and footings). the future goal is to design a high-design 1000 SF 3/2 systems built house, that can compete with the current double-wide hud homes (trailers) that retail for $39K.

//b/ The Revolution Corporatio on Jul 21, 2008

Jezebella (et al): these are NOT pre fab. not at all. when lowe's was selling the kits, it basically was a set of plans & incremental delivery of everything you need to build a house, and the cost was estimated at anywhere from $75 and up per square foot, for materials only (didn't include the cost of land). you still have to find a contractor, which doesn't put you ahead of anyone else who is trying to build/rebuild. i toured one of them at the lowe's elysian fields store & asked plenty of questions. i also ascertained that there are many, MANY alternatives that would cost less, and that by the time one got one of these babies finished (including plumbing, a/c, etc.), you could buy a tract house in the 'burbs that has 2-to-3 times as much square footage for about the same price. (no. i don't want to live in the burbs, either. but touting these as a low-cost pre-fab alternative to traditional housing is misleading. terribly misleading.)

plus, i'm pretty sure the cost of developing the plans for the cottage was subsidized by the government. while the feds were busy contracting for formaldehyde-laden fema trailers, i happen to know that the people from zoe outdoor cottages were trying like the dickens to get someone to talk to them about a *really* low cost alternative. (their base price doesn't include plumbing out the cottage but it does include a fully constructed tiny house for much less than $20k.)

to everyone oowing & ahhing over the bamboo floors & tiled bathrooms, ect.: those are NOT included in the price of the basic cottage. you can pimp it out any way you want, as long as you've got the bucks to do it. just like in any home you'd build anywhere.

and yes: i AM from new orleans & i'm *still* in the process of rebuilding. there's a reason people aren't building katrina cottages in new orleans. before publishing another 'whee! it' so cute !' article, i wish people would do a little research. if it really was that cute and affordable, they'd be all over the place. loislane on Jul 14, 2008