The First Kit Home Was Built in Australia!
Did you know the first kit home was built in Australia? The home was called the “Manning Portable Colonial Cottage for Emigrants”. It was designed in the 1830s by doting father H. Manning who was a London carpenter. His son had decided to immigrate to Australia and his father wanted him to have a house when he arrived. The first kit home was pre-cut in London and then stored on a ship for delivery to Australia. Upon arrival the pieces were assembled into a house.
The kit home proved to be immediately popular. The son Manning sold many of them to Australians in the years after his arrival. From that point on the kit home has played a significant role in providing affordable housing to people around the world. Homes like those sold at OzKit Homes in Australia represent state-of-the-art design and construction techniques that have evolved over the last 179 years.
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The first prefabricated wall system was designed by Augustine Taylor in 1833 in Chicago. The wall could be built off-site and then delivered to the construction site. Mr. Manning took this concept and turned it into a whole house. By 1882, designers were making portable homes that could be placed virtually anywhere.
One of the most famous kit homes is the Sears mail-order kit home sold in the USA. You could order the kit home materials out of a catalogue and have all components and materials delivered to a construction site for owner assembly. The kit included everything from the flooring to the roofing. There were over 100,000 Sears kit homes sold in the US between 1908 and 1940 and many still stand today as a testament to construction ingenuity.
Modular, Pre-Fabricated or Kit?
There are a lot of terms used to describe homes that are not stick built. The terms are used interchangeably but the various types of homes are not identical. A pre-fabricated home is usually wholly assembled off-site and then delivered ready to be set on a foundation or support system. A modular home usually refers to homes built off-site in modules that are delivered to a lot and the modules connected after delivery.
A kit home is built on-site using some pre-assembled components. This provides a higher quality product which can be custom designed and assembled based on the design work. The pre-engineered parts are carefully constructed, but assembly is a step-by-step process that begins with a solid pier system that provides exceptional stability in all kinds of weather and all types of soil conditions.
Over the years, the kit home has evolved into a stylish home with a number of amenities. Most people can find a kit home that will suit their current needs while being easily expandable in the future as needs change. The affordable versatility of the kit home is unequalled by stick home construction. In other words, you get a lot more for your money with a kit home.
The history of the kit home is not over. Architects are constantly pushing kit home designs to the limit. But when you look at the variety of kit dwellings offered by OzKit Homes, you will be amazed at how the styles are indistinguishable from stick homes. Today you can buy a kit home and place it in the middle of an existing neighbourhood and know your house has a comfortable fit.
