California Manufactured Homes: Setting the Trend
(Bias Alert: The writer of this posting is a 40 year veteran of the California Manufactured Housing industry).
Southern California is credited with many of the fads, pop culture, technologies, and innovations that have been copied and adopted across the country.
Today’s manufactured home is an example of creativity and innovation originating in Southern California’s housing industry and influencing the construction and perception of manufactured homes in the rest of the country.
Prior to 1976, the mobile home appealed primarily to consumers desiring low cost shelter yet unable to afford a so called “real home.” To meet public demand, mobile home factories were producing homes in states with few or limited construction requirements, often contributing to sub-standard housing.
In 1976 the U.S. congress passed legislation that mandated construction standards for mobile homes (HUD CODE), which remains the only federally mandated construction code for any form of housing in the country.
Conversely, manufactured homes produced in California have, for many years, been subject to building standards similar to those imposed by HUD regulations, resulting in higher quality homes with strict health and safety requirements.
Long before the enactment of the HUD code, there were two manufacturers in Southern California: Golden West Homes and Silvercrest Industries. Both excelled in producing multi-sectional, high quality manufactured homes, with shingle roofs and hardwood or aluminum lap siding. Later on, these two companies (among others) pioneered the use of tape and textured finished drywall in their homes long before it was considered the norm statewide. During this period, manufacturers nationwide were building single section mobile homes with metal siding and metal roofs.
At the time, real estate cost in California eclipsed the rest of the nation. Potential buyers preferred the metropolitan landscape, but the availability of affordable housing was virtually non-existent. The booming industry, spearheaded by fierce competitors Golden West and Silvercrest, filled that void through the design and production of quality and affordable manufactured homes, virtually indistinguishable from expensive site built homes.
Presently, manufactured home builders across the country are producing high quality homes, equal or superior to the comparable stick-built model, and offer features and amenities only available in expensive, customized site-built homes.
As a result of new-found affordability, thousands of Americans are selecting manufactured homes as their preferred choice of housing. The value of manufactured housing is enhanced by the quality, livability, and convenience of the Golden State.
Editor’s note: Golden West Homes and Silvercrest Industries are still producing innovative manufactured housing on the west coast.
