The foldable house is in the style of a studio room and comes with one bathroom. It has a built-in shower, kitchenette, windows, a septic outlet,
It comes in four different sizes, 13×20 ft, 15x20ft, 16.5×20 ft, and 19x20ft. For the proposer of this article, I will be referring to the most popular size 19x20ft.
Consider placing your foldable amazon home on land that is owned by you or someone who has granted you permission to live on their property.
Installation can take as quick as 10-15 minutes to an hour, depending on how many people you have helping you. That is insane!
The world is dealing with a housing crisis, which partly explains the recent boom in alternative housing solutions – affordable, preferably mobile, ideally sustainable homes that could be "the future." Rohe Homes would add other items on that list: foldable, easily transportable, "mobile but permanent," efficient, and high-quality.
Photo: Rohe Homes
Photo: Rohe Homes
Photo: Rohe Homes
Photo: Rohe Homes
Recent years have seen a surge in popularity for alternative housing, not because it's the "hip" thing to do to downsize and live as a (digital) nomad but because of the housing crisis. Mobile homes, once considered at best a halfway solution until you got the picket-fence dream house, have found new appeal in their ability to address several pressing issues at once.What tiny houses, van and bus conversions, RVs repurposed for permanent residency, and prefabricated houses have in common is this promise for a brighter, more affordable future Prefab houses stand out for their ability to bridge the gap between mobile homes and brick-and-mortar units while retaining a certain degree of mobility. It's a small one, but you can still pack up everything and move to a different location if you have to. That includes the house.Rohe Homes claims to have built the first foldable prefab house in Canada, and while it's hard to test the accuracy of that statement, it's definitely worth a closer look. Rohe Homes is a relatively young startup that got into the business of prefabs in 2019, only to have to pause operations once the international health crisis hit. They later resumed work and have since delivered the first units of their modular Lotus.Rohe Homes doesn't just make a foldable prefab house ; it's also modular, sustainable, efficient, convenient, and high-quality. Compared to a typical house, it's also more affordable, but don't take that to mean "cheap." In short, it's the perfect "mobile but permanent" home, as the builder describes it.The builder calls it Lotus, and it's offered in three possible configurations depending on planned occupancy and final utility.There's the Lotus Mini, which is the smallest model designed for 1-2 residents and offers the basics in creature comforts in 530 square feet/49.2 square meters of living space; there's the Lotus Extra, which adds another 100 square feet/9.2 square meters of space and a second bedroom; and there's the Lotus Rancher, which is two units combined, 1,050 square feet/97.5 square meters, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and one full kitchen, so space for the entire family.Where the Lotus differs from other prefab homes is in the way it's designed to fold flat during transport. It folds down a third of its original size, to be more exact.As CEO and founder Rohan Kulkarni explains in the video interview below, this means that they don't ship out air because the walls fold down to make a compact, space-efficient package. This adds to the sustainability of the product as they're able to transport an entire home, even a large unit, in a single shipment, so the carbon footprint is reduced.This also means that delivery can be made on a flatbed trailer , a barge, a train, or even by plane. For the record, though, Rohe Homes is only delivering locally for the time being, so unless you're in British Columbia, Canada, tough luck.A Lotus home, no matter its size and finishes, is constructed in factory in about six weeks and assembled to move in in a single day. The setting up takes about 4 hours, but weatherproofing and connecting it to the grid take time, too.Each unit uses dimensional lumber for interior framing, SIPs (structurally insulated panels) for insulation, and drywall for the interior, and is designed to be usable throughout the year, even in Canada's coldest weather. Engineered hinges allow the heavy walls to fold in and out, and the homes are designed to fit multiple foundation types.Though described as a "mobile" home , the Lotus entails land ownership or rental, which is not a prerequisite with the other types of mobile houses mentioned above. On the plus side, it can also work as an ADU (additional dwelling unit), a vacation home, or emergency housing in fire- or flood-affected areas.The Lotus is also "modern, sustainable, and efficient," and can be delivered as a shell/kit or a turnkey unit. Prices vary accordingly, just like they vary depending on which model you choose.For example, the Lotus Mini in the basic spec, which includes weatherproofing and plumbing but not the interior finishes or appliances, starts at CAD127,500 (US$94,400 at the current exchange rate). A turnkey unit of the Mini is CAD200,000 (US$148,000), while the bigger model, the Rancher, starts at CAD235,000 (US$174,000) as a shell.The promise of a foldable house you could pack down and plop onto a trailer for relocation in a worst-case scenario-type of situation should make up for the price tag.