i think that part of washington is pretty inflated $$ wise right now, so that would explain some of the high cost. interior finishes also seem to be pretty decent - so that accounts for some as well.

i think the code provision is interesting, and provides a valid route to increase density w/o scaring people away with a duplex, or triplex. in the context of a more dense urban setting, where people could walk to work - the cottage idea w/ community gardens, etc.. could be one reasonable solution to provide single family housing w/o forcing their inhabitants to drive to the burbs - it doesn't work in every scenario, but in the context of pedestrianism, and seeking to increase density w/o sticking everyone in a highrise, it does.

i work for a firm who is (starting) to do something similar in southwest montana, which is seeing a pretty steady influx of money (ie wealthy people) from the west coast (ie california). yes, they are expensive... but right now, the only people that can afford new houses are wealthy. they are also more likely to be in the mindset to try living in a community like this. the beauty of this type of design is that it is easily repeatable... so its expensive at first, but if it takes off, it will get cheaper and cheaper (as far as design cost goes, and possibly construction costs too, if the same builder is used).

i dont think its the most cutting edge stuff, but i the designs are indisputably better than developer homes.

another thing to add to wgp3's entry... these developments actually foster a "sense of community"

I'm afraid this is not strictly relevant, but I went past a wee basement fast food outlet today in Edinburgh. It was called 'Chicken Cottage'. Somehow the associated imageries clashed terribly in my head and I felt quite ill as a result.

the firm i work for is beginning to talk a lot about applications of pre-fab housing in an urban-infill context. most of the lots we're looking at would be too small to handle a development like this, but some would would work well, and i think that these types of developments make a lot of sense throughout a city - not everywhere, but in pockets throughout.

I think the cottage's are very generic. Look at the interior photo's, too.

I don't see anything that would prompt my 800,000$ spending habits!

they're not generic compared to most single family projects on the market right now. agreed that the price per sq. ft. is incredible for these - however, i think the point here is that people desire genuine community, and like sandmansd said - these living arrangement do foster that. when no one else is offering it - people (who can) will pay a steep price to get it. whether you like the architecture or not is somewhat irrelevant when you're looking at the living arrangment as a whole. i'm not saying that i think this project is perfect - all i know about it is what read from 3 min. on their site. but, it does at least begin to address some important issues regarding urban design, etc.. .

Am I missing something? These seem as generic as any KB or Pulte development. Honestly, I've seen tons of developments that look more interesting than these.

Oldfogey, It's great to hear your first hand experiences. I plan to take a look next weekend. I heard a lot of condos in downtown sold to rich people as second homes too. It's hard to imagine how to build real community with people hardly being there.

that's a good point reason - i agree that real community requires presence and consistent interaction. the thing about this though that i find interesting is the code provision mentioned on the site. i think there could be a lot of interesting applications w/ such a provision - in spite of whether one likes the architecture w/ this project, or even how this particular project is being used.