Military and Government Housing
Modular Architect Fights It Forward for Our Men and Women in the Military!
The quality of living accommodations is one of the single most important influences for an all volunteer service member. Families want to live in clean, stylish housing. Deciding whether to continue to serve is often a family decision. Often built in 5 days for less than $75 per square foot, our out of the factory homes delight the eye.
Give them what they deserve. Provide the best quality housing money can buy. If a great home is provided, military personnel are often encouraged by family to reconsider another tour of duty.
See all of our handsome home plans at Modular Architecture.
Douglas Cutler Architects designs the finest quality housing, utilizing the latest in modular building systems technologies. See our highly stylized homes and learn more about what we can do for our men and women serving America.
If the Family is Happy, Everyone is Happy!
“Military housing has come a very long way since the days of old when a soldier had to leave his wife and children in housing that often resembled the worst of an inner city slum. Even 2009, we need to take a step up. This economy is dictating a patriotic, and green, changeover in military housing construction,” says Douglas Cutler, a Wilton, CT architect who recently launched his vision of modular home building online at The Moduluar Blog.
Cutler has developed a line of over seventy-five modular plans to satisfy almost any architectural preference: Victorian, Contemporary, Colonial, Adirondack, Cape Cod and many more. Each of these homes can be viewed in detail on the Cutler website: http://www.modulararchitecture.com. Imagine allowing a military family choose the style of home they want and have that home up with keys available within weeks of signing on the dotted line.
History of Military Housing
When military-life became a choice after the Vietnam War, the cheap, unpleasant, track housing built by the military branches was still being used. Up to then, the homes on bases, or surrounding them, were put up in over long periods of time with unskilled labor and sub quality materials. There were no aesthetics and none of technology that makes housing energy efficient and appealing to live in. The military required one hundred percent of a soldier’s time, but did little to provide that man or woman’s family with a respectable lifestyle as they raise their family
Competition for better-educated personnel, engineers and computer technicians, became the increasing norm. The more sophisticated families of Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine personnel became more involved in the decision to volunteer. Families wanted to live as well just as the rest of American society was living.
Understandably, the military needed to put their resources elsewhere. Equipment, clothing, vehicles, and arms are obviously the most important expenditures and the American People will not tolerate a soldier being under-protected when going into harms way.
When Congress established the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) in 1996 it became a tool to help the military improve the quality of life for its service members by improving the condition of their housing. The MHPI was designed and developed to attract private sector financing, expertise and innovation to provide necessary housing faster and more efficiently than the traditional Military Construction processes would allow. The Office of the Secretary of Defense has delegated the MHPI to the individual military service and it is authorized to enter into agreements with private developers selected in a competitive process to own, maintain and operate family housing via a fifty-year lease.
MHPI addresses two significant problems concerning housing for military service members and their families: (1) the poor condition of DOD owned housing, and (2) a shortage of quality affordable private housing. Under the MHPI authorities, DOD works with the private sector to revitalize our military family housing through a variety of financial tools-direct loans, loan guarantees, equity investments, conveyance or leasing of land and/or housing/and other facilities. Members receive a Basic Allowance where they can choose to live in private sector housing, or privatized housing.
Now, because homes can be built in factories, our men and women in uniform do not have sacrifice a comfortable home for their families.
“Modular homes are built in factories with materials that are of finer quality” says Randy Scott of Modular Architecture. “They are built out of the weather so they are tighter and constructed with no tolerance for gaps and weather damaged materials by people who are not fighting rain, snow, sleet and gloom of night. They often come assembled with the best of electric wiring and plumbing, fitting together on the site quickly and inexpensively. They can even come painted and with architectural touches that are so appealing to occupants everywhere.”
“It does not matter if a family is renting, provided with housing or a home owner, the quality of life and experience in the home can change a family’s dynamic for the better and make families closer even when one member is far away,” says Doug Cutler.
It is well known that children of military personnel suffer from the upheaval of the many moves required during their short childhoods. Part of this problem is the friendships they have to break in order to stay with the family but more important is the stigma associated with being a military family and living in a home that is uninviting. “Inexpensive and efficient modular housing, can provide all of the features that can make a family proud of their home at far less cost and time that traditional home building.”
Douglas Cutler believes that this alone will change the poor self-perception of military families, and drastically increase in the number of potential military career volunteers. “The military offers many, many benefits and career opportunities. The only piece missing up until now is the prestige that only a green and beautiful modular house can provide. It’s time we respected our military personnel’s voluntary status. We need to attract men and women to defend our country who are better educated and better equipped than ever before.”
Douglas Cutler, one of the most celebrated modular architects in the nation, is known for his work in modular architectural design for home buyers who want it all: style, energy efficiency and the cost savings that come with a beautiful, factory-fresh home. The military branches are fast becoming very interested in this new form of competition that differentiates them from employers who offer higher salaries.
Doug Cutler’s architectural offices are located in Wilton, CT. (203) 761-9561
If you would like more information on this topic or to schedule an interview with Douglas Cutler, please contact Catherine Ann Stone at cstone@modulararchitecture.com.
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About Douglas Cutler Architects: Douglas Cutler is one of the nation’s most celebrated architects for his work in addition construction, modular design, and high end architecture. He is often recognized by the media for his outstanding work including many articles in Better Homes and Gardens, Automated Builder Magazine, and many other modular industry periodicals. He was also recently featured on the cover of Greenwich Magazine, as well as HGTV and BusinessWeek. His offices are located in Wilton, CT.