Friday, July 09, 2021
Elon, you've got my attention now.
Elon is living in a tiny house. Of course it's a stunt, but he seems to be part serious as well. The house rings all sorts of bells.
First, the exterior looks something like my actual house, which is the same size but has a less efficient floor plan. I think my house was a kit, not a prefab. There are a dozen originally identical units around town.
Elon's house is built by Boxabl, and we can assume Elon has an interest in the company. They call this model the Casita.
Here's the stronger bell. The Casita has the same plan as the Homette, built by a Texas company in the late '40s. The Homette was fully prefab and modular, just like the Casita. Same name, same house, same construction method, same plan.
I discussed the Homette here, then "built" one for Polistra to live in.
The original Homette. (This was the "double" model, just two units jammed together.)
Homette's interior:
Casita's interior:
Homette's floor plan:
Casita's floor plan:
= = = = =
Elon is bringing back a system that was common around 1910. Here's a Sears ad showing how their prefabs were constructed:
And here's how the Casita is constructed:
Elon is continuing his tradition of RESTORING old inventions. He has a misplaced reputation as a revolutionary. In fact he's a counter-revolutionary. 1910 cars, 1910 housing construction.
Sidenote on price: Boxabl lists the price, without transportation and assembly and lot, as $50k. This includes all the appliances. Aladdin's 1917 catalog had similar sized houses (kit, not modular) for about $500, NOT including any plumbing or wiring or appliances. $500 would be $10k after inflation. Seems about right, accounting for the equipment and kit vs modular.
Homette's interior:
Casita's interior:
Homette's floor plan:
Casita's floor plan:
= = = = =
Elon is bringing back a system that was common around 1910. Here's a Sears ad showing how their prefabs were constructed:
And here's how the Casita is constructed:
Elon is continuing his tradition of RESTORING old inventions. He has a misplaced reputation as a revolutionary. In fact he's a counter-revolutionary. 1910 cars, 1910 housing construction.
Sidenote on price: Boxabl lists the price, without transportation and assembly and lot, as $50k. This includes all the appliances. Aladdin's 1917 catalog had similar sized houses (kit, not modular) for about $500, NOT including any plumbing or wiring or appliances. $500 would be $10k after inflation. Seems about right, accounting for the equipment and kit vs modular.Labels: NOT alternate universe
¶ 10:00 AM
