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Prefab homes have always been a part of the Dwell DNA. Here you will find prefab homes published in dwell magazine as well as great prefab home ideas. Prefabricated means either panelized, modular, or kit homes. Prefab architecture works for both remote sites and dense urban spaces. Modular homes are popular but can be the most expensive to customize. It is best to change as little as possible when buying prefab. Possible advantages of pre fab include lower cost, higher degree of precision, and less construction waste.

Prefab Units Cluster Together in This Off-the-Grid Guesthouse
Sustainable features keep this prefabricated building, designed by MOS Architects, cool and energy-efficient despite its New...
14 Totally Off-the-Grid Cabins
Operating entirely off the grid, these homes match renewable energy sources with modern design.
A Magical, Off-Grid Guesthouse Disappears Into the South African Bushveld
Inspired by ancient ruins, Frankie Pappas crafts a green-roofed, brick guesthouse that connects deeply with nature.
A Prefab Tiny Home Is Pieced Together in a Brazilian Forest
The compact, modular design was originally showcased at an exhibition before finding a permanent location in the village of...
A $185K Prefab Guesthouse Pops Up on a Tricky Hollywood Hillside
L.A.-based prefab company Cover rises above steep terrain to deliver a custom office/guesthouse without breaking the bank.
Meet the Prefab Unit That's Smart, Mobile, and Sustainable
These self-sufficient, modular prefab housing units from Germany offer smart home technology and are designed to meet the Passive...
This Off-Grid Prefab Is All About Location, Location, Location
The sleek design from Stockholm-based iOhouse doesn’t rely on utility hookups, allowing you to live in luxury wherever you want.
This Off-Grid Prefab Cabin Boasts a Hidden Hot Tub
Dramatically wrapped in dark spruce panels, this self-sustaining tiny home in North Slovakia is the ultimate escape.
These Luxe New Prefab Homes Are Designed for Off-Grid Living
Tiny living meets luxury in these Bauhaus-inspired shipping container homes.
6 Off-Grid Prefab Homes For Self-Sufficient Living
Whether you’re looking to lower your carbon footprint, retreat into nature, or simply reduce your utility bills, get inspiration...
An Off-the-Grid Prefab in Australia Uses Salvaged Iron as Camo
Disguised as a humble farm shed, the prefabricated Tintaldra Cabin is a cool, contemporary home that goes completely off the grid...
A New Prefab Company Is Offering a Cluster of Scandinavian-Inspired Cabins Starting at $70K
Latvia’s My Cabin has created three prefab structures—a sauna, an office space, and a home—that can be purchased à la carte, or...
Go Off-Grid in Russia With This Bright Red Prefab Cabin
Airlifted into place via a helicopter, this energy-efficient alpine shelter adds a vibrant pop of color to a snow-covered...
Go Stargazing in This Off-Grid Glass Prefab Nestled in the Desert
An idyllic glass house that's perfect for stargazing offers a surprisingly comfortable immersion in one of Europe’s most extreme...
These New $49K Prefabs Can Snap Together Like LEGO Bricks
Boxabl’s flat-pack Casita ADUs are designed to combine for (virtually) infinite square footage.
12 Prefab Guesthouses You’ll Want to Put in Your Own Backyard
Looking to build your own backyard house? These ready-made retreats are packed full of inspiration.
This Floating, Off-Grid Prefab Can Be Assembled in Just Two Days
Ready for life on land or water, the net-zero LilliHaus is a plug-and-play prefab by SysHaus.
An Off-Grid Prefab Home Slides Wide Open to the Australian Bush
The self-sufficient Courtyard House embraces the bush landscape in all directions.
This Tiny, Off-Grid Prefab Home Grows Its Own Food
Gray Organschi Architecture and the Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture team up to create the Ecological Living Module, a...
An Off-the-Grid Prefab that Combines Open Plan Living With Rugged Durability
In Tasmania, an eco-conscious architect builds a vacation home that can stand up to an untamed island.
Two Families Embrace Off-Grid Living in This Sustainable Prefab Home
Two families live large and comfortably in this beautiful, self-sufficient prefab in rural Australia.
Prefab, Proven
In January 2003, we issued a challenge to 16 architects: Design a modern prefab home for $200,000.
Prefab for Humanity
In inner-city Baltimore, Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake paves a path to affordable prefab.
This Kitchen Brings It All Together
A modest kitchen addition to a couple’s cottage outside of Brisbane proves that one 376-square-foot room can revive an entire...
The Timber Screens of This Off-Grid Prefab in Italy Lift Up Like Wings
Designed for a couple needing a temporary home, MU50 is a modular cabin whose moving sunshades create a dappled effect, called...
A Gorgeous, Off-Grid Guesthouse Perches Lightly on a California Ranch
On an undulating stretch of California coastline, a hidden guesthouse runs free of the grid.
This 3D-Printed Prefab Home Lets You Live Off-Grid Almost Anywhere
Tapping into the power of prefabrication, the haus.me smart home can be delivered with everything you need—from built-in...
A Picturesque Desert Prefab
Jim Murren’s prefab house in Sin City, designed by Marmol Radziner, is as artful as it is art-filled, thanks to an asymmetrical...
This Corn Crib Guesthouse Honors Agrarian Architecture
The nostalgic shape gets a modern update at a guesthouse in central Ohio.
Rose House Blooms in Ukraine’s Carpathian Mountains
In the proposed guesthouse, water joins concrete, weathering steel, and glass as another building material.
A Tiny Guesthouse Hides in a Lush Australian Rainforest
Nestled within a rainforest on a private 20-acre plot in New South Wales, this compact Cor-Ten steel and glass guest retreat is a...
Not Ready For a Prefab House? How About a Prefab Kitchen.
Kitchen systems are a lot like prefab housing: they're designed to be modular but they're endlessly customizable—not that that's...
Resembling the Inverted Hull of a Ship, an English Guesthouse Pays Homage to the Harbor
Designed for an architect and developer, the Houseboat is a curved, split-level structure brimming with evocative textures.
We Dream of Prefabs...
...and wake up, every so often, to a project that fulfills the potential of mass-produced housing. Here are six examples.
How to Build an Off-the-Grid Cabin
Suzanne Shelton’s life work is making sustainable lifestyles attractive and accessible.
8 Modern In-Law Units
You may recognize an Accessory Dwelling Unit (or ADU) by one of its many other names, including in-law unit, granny flat, laneway...

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