Wilton Villager, Business Section, Issue: August 16, 2001

Douglas Cutler Architects

Architect practices modular home design

By Beth Longware Duff/Assistant Editor

            Looking to build a new home or expand an already existing one? Ready to venture outside the box? If so, Douglas Cutler Architects suggests that modular home design may be the way to go.

            Modular technology first hit the market in the United States after World War II, but didn’t really take off until the 1950’s and 60’s, Cutler describes it as “85 percent complete homes from from sill plate up, built in a factory – all the wood frame construction all the way up to the roof, with all th4 fixtures and finishes, including the carpet, the doors trim walls papered, windows in  place, all the electrical and plumbing.”

            All that’s left to be done once the modules are set in place on site is to make connections between the marriage, points or (seams). In the case of a new modular building from the ground up, the foundation must be poured, decks built and landscaping completed.

            We have specialized in it for 15 years, and we believe it is the wave of the future,” the self-described “guru of modular building, “ said in his Danbury Road office. In fact, he believes so strongly in this particular type of construction that his own contemporary style house on Rock House Road is modular.

            Back in 1987, The New York Times featured the first modular McMansion designed by Cutler. He has designed and completed numerous projects throughout lower Fairfield County, including the recent transformation of a ranch on Belden Hill Road. He estimates that approximately 65 percent of his business is modular.

            The firm is currently in the middle of building from the ground up modular home on Ridgefield Road. The original structure was raised, its foundation retained and expanded upon. The “boxes” containing elements of the new home are expected to arrive by truck within a few weeks.

            What surprises many clients is that modular sections can be used as part of an expansion project. Cutler referred to architectural plans for the transformation of a 1950’s ranch house on Henry Austin Drive into a Colonial using modular building units.

            The owners of the home, Karl and Mandy Maruyama were impressed by Cutler’s contemporary designs for their addition.  “We knew about modular, had already been to see a modular factory and were very interested in it, “Mandy said. “If it was going to come out all boxy looking, I would want to go in another direction.  We’ve enjoyed working with him so far and like his work a lot. I’m looking forward to seeing it happen.

            Cutler said the modular sections for Maruyamas’ home will be built in four to five days time at the factory and then set on the existing ranch within a day. Completing interior connections and building the roof will take additional time, but Cutler maintained that overall construction time on the project will be cut by two-thirds.

            Besides the savings in time, he noted that several other advantages to going modular in the residential construction.

            The quality controls are better than in stick building because there are third party firms that check the product as it comes off of the line and supervises all of the drawings and generally, it’s 15-2o percent cheaper, he said.  “There’s minimal theft and damage to materials, and construction finance time is less.”

            Cutler deals with a handful of factories, Sun Building Systems, Haven Homes, Epic Homes, Apex, Avis and New Era.  Most are located in Pennsylvania.  He offers also a collection of over 100 prototypical designs showcased at the affiliate website: modularcenter.com, which has also received over 10,000 emails in the past year.  He is also in the process of setting up a second web site as his own: http://www.modulararchitecture.com.

            Cutler admitted that modular technology is not applicable in every instance.  For example, he said the addition  must be a minimum of 800 square feet , before it pays to have the units shipped.  Likewise, if the client wants overly complex architectural drawings, it is advisable to go with a conventional stick building solution.

            As an architect, Cutler says modular technology provides more of a challenge because he has to work within the framework of modules. “Stick building offers infinite solutions because you can place the walls and the systems anywhere you like it.” He pointed out. “But a loot of architecture is in knowing what’s stylistically correct, and that can be done to a modular house, too and nobody would ever believe it’s modular.”