December 10, 2007—Park Model Expose, Part II

As last left off we were just about set for moving the park model to its permanent location in Coos Bay. Our move actually did occur on schedule on September 11^th but we were unable to update our website due to leaving the computer with the program software in Bend. Marc was almost immediately sent back out of town to work so only ended up having about four days to make the move and get us set up so it was a very hectic time.

We thought the professional mover was to show up about 7 a.m. but in actuality didn’t appear until about 9 a.m. It was a nice morning in Bend and hitching up and attaching lights, etc. took about 45 minutes and then we were set to go. I followed in the Saturn and Marc followed in the Freightliner pulling the cargo trailer full of belongings for the park model. The trip over to Coos Bay experienced fairly light traffic and the man’s wife in a pilot car cleared the way for our oversized load through the tunnels and narrow bridges. Before we left Bend, I handed them certified funds to make the 265 mile journey--$1495.

Upon arrival at Midway RV Park, the driver did an excellent job of backing the unit up an incline and around a cabin and into our space. He jockeyed a couple of times back and forth as we decided just how much free space to leave on the hookup side so I would have room to wash the windows. Once this baby gets set, it doesn’t move, so get it right the first time!

Next on the agenda for Marc was to get sewer, water and electrical hookup completed, which is much the same as doing it for an RV with the exception that Marc hard piped the sewer with PVC. Since our arrival was fairly late in the day that’s about all we accomplished the first day.

The next day, one of our friends kindly came and helped Marc with the tongue removal and the blocking for set up. On a second day of work they even got OSB cut and nailed around most of the outside as the first stage of skirting the unit. Once Marc had left, I attached Tyvek wrap over the OSB to protect it from the rain. Marc will follow up at a later date with covering everything with vinyl siding in a contrasting color to the unit. All of this gives a lot of sheer strength to the sidewalls and makes the unit very stable with no discernable movement inside.

Knowing we also needed immediate storage, we purchased a hard plastic storage building by phone call to a hardware store in Eugene that carried the brand we wanted. On closeout, we got a deal on this at $999. Marc’s father was kind enough to pick it up and bring it to us and helped erect it.  It’s fairly large at 10x13’ but we wanted room not only for storage but also as a place to connect our freezer and clothes dryer. Marc wired the shed for electrical as well before he had to leave. In a pinch, it will also serve as the motorcycle garage when the Wing is here.

Still to come is the permanent setup of Marc’s outdoor clamming and crab table. A job leftover from Wisconsin, a stainless steel table, shelving and sink will make for a wonderful area to keep the cleaning and cooking mess outside as there is a convenient sewer connection right at the rear where its placement will be. Naturally, Marc had to make one sojourn to the clamming fields before he left and we both got our limit!

Inside, we moved all the furniture back into the unit from the cargo trailer (the movers prefer to move these unfurnished) and I worked at getting things settled. Some things were still temporary when Marc left as there just wasn’t time to do them properly, like the cable wire running in through the furnace hole to the back of the TV. I also used temporary space heaters as Marc was not able to install a permanent wall mounted electrical unit until his first visit back in November. (When we ordered the unit we had the standard propane type RV heater omitted. They are inefficient and noisy. Our unit is plumbed for central heat and air but of course there is no need for a/c here at the coast so we are going with electrical wall units at this time.) Marc did have time to install our new bead board ceiling fan (which still needs the light kit) and hook up our washing machine which we had grabbed out of our storage in Bend. We had the park model customized for hookup of a stack washer/dryer but then got to thinking why be out the $1000 when we still had a full size set? The dryer sits outside in the storage shed but it is not such a long walk and is not nearly as inconvenient as if I had none at all and had to use the Laundromat!

All in all, we have been very happy with our spacious and very private site and we’re receiving many compliments from passersby on our new home. There is still much to complete but we will work on it as time and Marc’s presence allows. In terms of the quality of this unit, we have had nothing wrong with it to turn in under warranty as yet. I particularly watched the windows fearing perhaps some leaks as one of our major recent storms had winds and driving rain in excess of 60 mph but the home is staying cozy, warm, and dry.

As a recap for those of you considering a purchase, here are our figures:

Cost of unit w/options:                                                   $38,200

Shipping IN to OR:                                                              6,800

Shipping Bend to CB:                                                          1,495

Supply own appliances                                                           275 (after credits)

Furniture                                                                            2,056

Décor & misc (kitchen & window furnishings)                                  647

Shed                                                                                               999

Setup lumber, electrical, blocks, misc                                               343

Heaters (2)                                                                            454                         

Total:                                                                                $51,269

Site cost: includes water, sewer, garbage, cable, WIFI             325/mo.

(Discounted 10% if paid annually=$3510.)

Electric: billed at .085/kwh; Site size: 28x45’

Living directly across from the clamming bay:                    PRICELESS

As an addition to this entry I thought it might be interesting to add a recent article that appeared in the NY Times, written by Kate Murphy, on the ever-increasing popularity of park models. In fact, it is the only segment of the RV industry which continues to grow during this economic downturn. As fuel costs increase, I suspect the industry will continue to enjoy excellent growth as more and more baby boomers opt for a park model or two in various resort locations in lieu of expensive RVs and stick built vacation homes. Even though it is virtually probably only 50 square feet larger than our fifth wheel, the livability of the park model is probably 50% better. The key is twofold: the volume of the space (since we have ten foot ceilings) and the width factor being 11.5 foot throughout.  As good friend and fellow RVer Julie asked me: “Doesn’t it make you feel like you are living in a castle as compared to your fifth wheel? That’s the way we feel when we return to ours.” Actually, ours is so cute it makes me feel like I’m living in a dollhouse! I absolutely love it!

Resort Cottage to Go

WHEN it became unbearably hot and humid last month in Houston, Jane Moore, a 60-year-old primary school reading consultant, left her house to stay in her park model trailer in South Fork, Colo. “It’s very cool and beautiful here,” she said in a telephone interview, snug in her park model, which looks like an elongated cottage, is surrounded by a white picket fence and overlooks the Rio Grande. She bought the land and the park model in October. “People don’t understand what park models are,” she said. “They’re not tacky.”

Say trailer home and many people think of low-income housing or temporary quarters for those displaced by natural disasters. But in the last decade an upscale version has emerged, in various architectural styles.

Called park models because they can be parked anywhere, they are a maximum of 400 square feet under federal guidelines and therefore not taxed as permanent dwellings, making them an attractive option for beach, lake or mountain retreats. Manufacturers say they are having trouble meeting the demand for park models destined for private property, gated communities, resort campgrounds and even marinas.

“It’s like having a million-dollar home but at a fraction of the price,” said Luanne DeMatto, 54, the director of consumer lending at a bank in Mystic, Conn. She and her husband, Enrico, 61, a retired school administrator, placed their park model in a woodsy camping resort in Westerly, R.I., in 2002. The DeMattos pay $3,550 a year for a shaded and grassy 100-by-60-foot lot that is walking distance from the beach. “I couldn’t rent a place in the area for a week for that amount,” Ms. DeMatto said.

Though they are considered recreational vehicles, they look more like small houses. Lumber or a brick skirt around the bottom can hide their wheels, and additions, like a screened porch, can effectively double the square footage. Floor plans can include a wet bar, an island kitchen and a media room.

Smaller and less well insulated than manufactured houses, park models are intended for temporary or recreational use and are therefore considered personal property like cars and boats. But they can be winterized for use in all seasons. Costing $20,000 to $80,000, they are subject to sales tax when purchased, and depending on the state or the municipality, they may require annual licensing and registration, for fees from $30 to about $300.

Park models’ affordability and their improved design from the generic boxy look of 20 years ago have resulted in a 46 percent increase in sales since 1997, according to the Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association. They can look like English country cottages, log cabins and even Modernist glass houses.

The association reported that 10,100 were sold last year. Growing demand in the last couple of years has caused manufacturer backlogs. “We’re in a real boom period,” said Roger Byce, sales manager for Trophy Homes, a park model builder in Elkhart, Ind., the Detroit of park model manufacturing.

Their popularity led to the publication of a new magazine in March called Park Model Living, which highlights design trends and reviews resorts, communities and developments that sell or lease lots to park model owners. “It’s a growing and a very upscale market that we thought deserved coverage,” said Kaeth Gauthier, who edits and publishes the magazine with her husband, Frank, once a park model owner.

Ms. DeMatto said her park model was custom-built by Trophy Homes with demilune and dormer windows. She specified the interior layout, down to the placement of electrical outlets, and added a 400-square-foot screened porch. The camping resort where it is situated has a clubhouse, a pool and a golf driving range. “It’s country club living,” said Ms. DeMatto, who spends almost every weekend there from May through October.

The campsite fee includes water, but the DeMattos are billed separately for electricity and cable television service, which were hooked up the same day their park model arrived five years ago, towed by a heavy-duty pickup truck. The unit has central heat, air-conditioning and all major appliances except a stackable washer/dryer, which is an option in many models. There is Berber carpeting in the living room and bedroom and ceramic tile in the bathroom and kitchen.

Kristine and Peter F. Kilmartin’s park model is on oceanfront property in Point Judith, R.I., about 25 miles east of the DeMattos’. It has hardwood floors, track lighting, two sliding glass doors, a bay window seating area and a large kitchen with an island and stools. The unit also has surround-sound speakers inside and outside, where there is a deck and patio.

Although many owners buy furniture from park model manufacturers because it is sized to fit, Ms. Kilmartin furnished hers with items from Ikea, including sofas, chairs, tables and a bed. “I wanted a different look than what they offered,” she said, referring to the park model manufacturers.

“We know people who have bought beach cottages just up the way and can’t afford them now because of the property taxes,” said Ms. Kilmartin, 46, a database administrator for the Rhode Island State Legislature who lives in Pawtucket and spends holidays and spring and summer weekends at her park model. Mr. Kilmartin, 45, is a police officer and a state representative.

“We couldn’t have afforded to build” in the area, she said, much less pay the resulting higher property taxes on their Point Judith land. Their $150,000 lot, bought in 2005 and measuring 30 feet by 50 feet, is one of 33 in a gated park model community that opened three years ago, after years of being a trailer park.

The number of park model communities is growing. They charge monthly co-op fees of $150 to $500 and are being developed throughout the country, but particularly in areas that are attractive for vacation or retirement homes, like Maine, Rhode Island, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Texas.

Families often buy several lots together to create vacation compounds. Ms. Kilmartin’s parents and Mr. Kilmartin’s brother and sister-in-law have lots and park models in their Point Judith enclave.

While the Kilmartins and the DeMattos have traditional houses as primary residences, it is not uncommon for people to divide their time between two park models. For example, Sue Cantara, a secretary, and her husband, Roland, a carpenter, took early retirement in 2005, when she was 54 and he was 58, and replaced their 2,100-square-foot three-bedroom ranch-style house in Allenstown, N.H., with two park models.

One, a clapboard-style unit manufactured by Woodland Park, with sliding French doors and surrounded by daylilies, sits on a resort campground in Contoocook, N.H., where they spend May through October. The rest of the year they live in one made by Chariot Eagle in a park model community in Hudson, Fla. It has more of a beach-house look to it, with storm shutters and a wooden deck.

They pay a total of $6,000 a year to rent the two properties and $35 a year to renew the registration for the unit in Florida. They are not required to pay registration fees on their park model in New Hampshire. Utility costs at each place average $40 a month.

“It’s a great lifestyle,” Ms. Cantara said. “We’ve cut our expenses so much we are able to do more,” like travel to San Diego and Providence to see their sons. She said the size of the living space did not bother her because “we spend 90 percent of our time outside anyway.”

Her husband fishes most days, in a pond when he is in New Hampshire and in the Gulf of Mexico when he is in Florida, and she likes to shop and to read on the screened porch attached to each house.

Pam Schaefer, 41, a pharmaceutical representative who lives year-round in a park model floating on the Illinois River in Channahon, Ill., said 400 square feet was more than enough space for her. Her home is attached to a buoyant base, which is moored to a dock at a marina. Having lived in a 7,200-square-foot house and a 1,800-square-foot condo, she said, “larger just means more to clean and take care of.”

“I’ve always wanted to live on the water and couldn’t afford to otherwise,” said Ms. Schaefer, who bought her place last year. “This is the perfect size and no hassle or maintenance.”

For families, the space can be tight, but it’s all relative. Mike Hawkins, 45, the director of business development for a mail order tire company in Elkhart, used to travel with his wife, Jennifer, and their family in a camper. But five years ago he bought a park model and put it on a resort campground in Howe, Ind., where there are miles of hiking trails and a lake for swimming, fishing and canoeing.

“For the money, park models are much more comfortable and nicer, and you save a ton on gas,” he said.

With a full-size bathtub and shower, a complete kitchen and satellite TV, Mr. Hawkins said, “it’s not quite camping but we still feel like we’re getting away from it all.”