Prefabulous

Tom Lenchek’s turnkey cabins bring Northwest style to the prefab movement.

By Jessica Voelker

Photo: Courtesy Lannie Boesiger

Then there’s the two-things-at-once factor: While construction workers are assembling John Jamnback’s cabin in Ferndale, Method’s contractor will be in Winthrop, prepping the site, excavating, and pouring the foundation. Once modules are trucked in, they’ll be pieced together within two months; Jamnback should be able to move in as early as September. “It’s simpler for the owner,” says Lenchek. Instead of finding an architect, contractor, and materials on their own, Jamnback and Salzarulo needed only flooring (they picked strand-woven bamboo), countertops (they went with laminate), and upgrades (the couple will cozy up to a Morso wood-burning stove), and they were done. “Honestly, I was happy with fewer decisions,” says Jamnback. “I didn’t want to be getting a call every day.”

But prefab is not for everyone. For one thing, though the Method team will tell you that their cabins are “entirely customizable,” there are limitations. If the building site is not accessible via a road where big trucks can travel, there’s still no way to get the components there. And while prefab homes present fewer hidden costs, the end price—$150 to $250 per square foot—is around the same as most site-built projects. But the real leap of faith for clients is trusting a company that has only one unit off the drawing board—though they do have contracts to build at least five more in 2009. “I’m pretty confident in these guys,” says Jamnback, “but call me again in August.”