Clayton I-House

Published: 19 May 2009 22:08:38 PST

While prefabricated homes--or houses shipped in pieces and then assembled by the owner, much like a set of building blocks--have never penetrated the mass market, modernist architects and designers continue to obsess over the idea.

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Most recently, Clayton--one of America's largest mobile home and prefab housing manufacturers--created a 1,023-square-foot, two-bedroom home called the I-House, inspired by the design aesthetic of Swedish cheap-and-chic furniture retailer IKEA. While the design of the long, rectangular I-House is sharp and modern, the true standout feature is its energy efficiency. Equipped with solar roof panels, a tank-less hot water heater--which provides hot water only as it is needed--and zero-emission insulation, the manufacturers claim that the I-House, when used correctly, can be run on just $1 a day.