photo by satguru

The Huf Houses come, for lack of a better term, in a box.  All the pieces are prefabricated at the factory in Germany, and shipped to the final location along with instructions to put them together.  Of course, most people hire contractors to do the work.  So, in essence, the Huf House is a kit house, but it’s a very, very high quality kit house.

The company was founded in 1912 as a carpentry company that build churches and other structures.  In the seventies, with the help of an architect named Manfred Adams, the Huf Haus company designed the prototype for today’s Huf Houses, and a whole new type of business was born.  In 1996, Georg and Thomas Huf took over running the company (their grandfather, Johann Huff, was the founder) and they started marketing the Huf House to markets other than Germany.  It caught on, and now there are lots of people in Switzerland and the UK who are proud owners of Huf Houses.

What’s the appeal?  Obviously, since they come in a kit, they are easy to put together.  They have lots of windows, so they let in a lot of natural light.  Another bonus is that they don’t have a dependency on load-bearing walls like traditionally-built houses have, so there is a lot of opportunity for open floor plans.

Also, since there are so many windows and skylights, there is a great deal of solar energy going on.  The houses are well-insulated – those windows and skylights are not drafty, and because so much natural light makes it into the home it certainly cuts down on heating costs.

In fact, there are lots of things about a Huf House that are “green.”  The U.S. company that acts as the distributor for Huf states that the materials used are sustainable and that the Huf Haus provides “ecologically friendly” living through these sustainable materials and furthermore claim that by living in a Huf Haus you can avoid carbon emissions.  As with most companies who partner with Huf, the people there have such a thorough knowledge of Huf’s offerings that they can offer ways to put the materials together that will make your Huf house one-of-a-kind.

And truly, the people that live in Huh Hauses love them.  There is also an independent site for owners that offers tips on where to find compatible furniture, and even how to prevent bird strikes on the windows.  It is a commitment, however, and it isn’t cheap.  But if you’re in the market to spend a half mil on a house, why not make it a Huf Haus?

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