Paul Livornese’s HomeIt’s day one on Paul Livornese’s home build in Kerhonkson, New York. There won’t be a day two or three or twelve - just today. Right now all that’s here is a concrete crawl space foundation and some concrete pilings. In just a few hours, there will be 1800 square feet of ‘weathered-in’ house. Fast builds are not that uncommon in the modular home building world, but this won’t be a trailer home or a quaint colonial. By the end of this day, Paul will have a contemporary, custom, architect designed home. It’s called – a Resolution: 4 modern modular house (figure A).
The same rustic atmosphere that makes the Catskill Mountains a desirable place to live creates some obstacles for builders. The dense forest, unpaved roads and snow can all make it tricky to bring in and assemble the large modules. This home will be a unique fusion of a traditional modular home structure, with contemporary design and customizations, courtesy of the architects from Resolution: 4. Art meets function in this mass customization. It is a challenge for architects Joe Tanney and Rob Luntz to find ways to make classic influences, such as Frank Lloyd Wright’s Clerestory windows (figure B), factory functional. The result is what modern prefab is all about.
Tanney and Luntz used aspects of their beach house and suburban prototypes, but tweak them to work with Paul’s site while maximizing views of the Catskills. The result is structurally complex. The inverted structure includes an expansive upstairs module wrapped in glass, an add-on panelized section for a stairway and butterfly roof.
As the daylight dwindles, and a piece of Paul’s home dangles in the air from a crane, the crew has to find a way to account for concrete pilings that are almost three inches away from where they should be. Quickly, the crew devises a way to get module "B" set into place and begin work on the roof module. After the setback, the pressure is on to make it fit.
Such obstacles are to be expected in this blend of modular and modern, which made it difficult to find a modular home factory willing to produce a unique design with customized materials. Apex Homes took on the challenge, and once Paul gave the green light on his home’s design, the guys from Res4 personally checked in on each phase of the construction.
The beauty of Paul Livornese’s house comes to life as a roof panel flies above a snowy mountain landscape. After two years of design and factory work, Paul and the Resolution: 4 architects watch the "mountain retreat" modern modular home come together (figure C). This pioneering project in architecture—and prefab—is worth the wait.
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