PARADISE IN A BOX

ACORN

Architectural Firm: Empyrean

Size: 3,398 square feet

Bedrooms: Three

Baths: Two

Cost: $175 to $225 per square foot, including construction and finishes.

This house customized a model floor plan, adding a barrel vault ceiling. It was manufactured in an Acton, Mass., factory and was delivered on several flatbed trucks. Designer Empyrean has a network of about 300 builders nationwide who are trained to assemble its homes.

WEEHOUSE

Architectural Firm: Alchemy Architects

Size: About 1,550 square feet

Bedrooms: Three

Baths: Two

Cost: About $150,000

This cottage in Cawaja Beach, Ontario, was fashioned from two modular units. (When this photo was taken, the patio had not yet been finished.) The firm that designed this home, Alchemy Architects, delivers units that arrive on flatbed trucks with electrical wiring, plumbing and other details built in and ready for hook-up.

TAKE HOME

Architectural Firm: Office of Mobile Design

Size: 2,880 square feet

Bedrooms: Four

Baths: Three

Cost: $519,000

This modular home is designed to be environmentally friendly. For example, its bamboo flooring can be replaced upon wear with more bamboo, a renewable resource. A series of similar homes designed by architect Jennifer Siegal are being built in a development in Desert Palm Springs, Calif.

CH1

Architectural Firm: CleverHomes

Size: 2,400 square feet

Bedrooms: Four

Baths: Three

Cost: About $420,000 to $600,000

This two-story home is made of about 40% windows, maximizing sunlight. Architecture firm CleverHomes says its CH1 home is energy efficient and will lower your energy bills through sophisticated insulation. The home arrives in sections and is assembled on site, with custom configurations possible.

FLATPAK HOUSE

Architectural Firm: Lazor Office

Size: 2,600 square foot

Bedrooms: Three

Baths: Three

Cost: About $175 to $250 a square foot, including construction and finishes

Built of cedar, metal and glass, this two-story home arrives as a kit of parts that contractors assemble on your lot. Pictured is one of three floor plans the firm offers for you to tweak and reconfigure. The firm also offers an interior design package that supplies modernist fixtures, such as faucets, cabinetry and lighting. FlatPak house is part of a series of homes built by Empyrean and co-branded as one of the Dwell Homes.

FORJLOFTS

Architectural Firm: Northern Steel

Size: 2,400 square feet, excluding garage

Bedrooms: Four

Baths: Three

Cost: $398,000 to $485,000

This eight-unit complex in Rehoboth Beach, Del., is called the ForjLofts, developed from a steel panel building system manufactured by Northern Steel. The steel panels can withstand 120 mile-per-hour winds from coastal storms and drastically reduce ambient noise. Individual residential units can be placed in different configurations on properties anywhere in the United States.

IT HOUSE

Architectural Firm: Taalman Koch

Size: About 1,100 square feet

Bedrooms: One

Baths: One

Cost: About $175,000, with additional finishing work adding about $100,000 to $150,000 to the tab

This glass house with an aluminum frame has a Japanese-garden theme. It is built from insulated glass units, which are two panes of glass sandwiching a layer of transparent insulation. The glass is coated in your choice of replaceable design patterns, offering privacy and shade in a clever way.

THE DWELL HOME

Architectural Firm: Resolution: 4 Architecture

Size: 2,635 square feet

Bedrooms: Three

Baths: Three

Cost: About $461,000 to $593,000. Prices vary by your home's design and local construction costs

This home arrives at your lot in sections stuffed with wiring and insulation. Its award-winning design was created by Resolution: 4 Architecture, built by Empyrean and co-branded one of the Dwell Homes.

GLIDEHOUSE

Architectural Firm: Michelle Kaufmann Designs

Size: 1,344 square feet

Bedrooms: Two

Baths: One

Cost: $175 to $240 a square foot, including construction and finishes

This modular home can eliminate your utility bills with its optional solar panels, geothermal, wind power or hybrid power equipment. The home comes in several floor plans with different sizes, including a two-story option, but all of its floor plans maximize natural ventilation. The home is for sale in 13 states).

LV HOME

Architectural Firm: Rocio Romero

Size: 1,150 square feet

Bedrooms: Two

Baths: Two

Cost: About $32,900, plus delivery costs of about $2,000 to $5,000

This kit home is the least expensive prefab option on the market. But the firm's package only includes the shell of your house, leaving it to you to finish the job, including roofing. The LV150 model can withstand 150 mile-per-hour winds. Smaller models are also for sale.

Find more modernist prefabs at the FabPrefab Web site

By Sean O'Neill

Photos compiled by Beth Rosenfeld