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How many times have you dreamed about having that perfect home? You picture the entry with white and black checker board tile on the floor, which opens to the foyer facing the split staircase. How many times have you imagined yourself in front of the fireplace in the family room with a vaulted beam ceiling?

You know in your mind every inch of the perfect kitchen. A kitchen that has superbly finished oak cabinets and granite counter tops; the center island with a cook-top and breakfast bar on the back side with beautiful wood stools. You've designed over and over in thought and dream how the professional stainless steel range set in the perfect spot with plenty of counter space and all the other appliances in just the right space will look and feel.

More and more the thought of a small conservatory off of a den is speaking to your inner being. The soft warmth of a plush master bedroom with master bath, and oh that whirlpool tub.

And then you fall into that pattern of thinking that there is no way on your family income could you ever afford a home like that. Well, that dream home may be closer then you think. Closer and more affordable without having to make a lot of concessions, or give up all those nice aspects, because building it might be a lot cheaper then you think

First off, let's get that old concept of modular homes out of your mind. The one where you see that rectangular home split in two halves going down the highway kind of concept. Is that a modular home? Technically yes, but modular homes have progressed so much farther in the past decade that the old spit-it-in-two type modular home is a distant relative of the modern custom designed and constructed modular homes of today.

Let's look at the term modular. Something is modular if it includes or uses modules which can be interchanged as units. Modular homes of the past were built from standard floor plans usually Then the home was constructed in a factory usually using a modified one piece construction, split in two, and shipped out to the erection site location. What's modular about that? Not much in my opinion.

Today's modular homes are built truly from modules. The larger the home plan is, the more modules that will be incorporated into it. Each module can be split out of the over all design and replace with another for the most part.

Sure there are some constraints, but with computer aided design the building of modular homes is better able to make a home buyers ideal design take place. By plugging in pre-designed rooms or spaces one at a time the computer can formulate a plan that follows input design to a much greater extent then every before. More so the computer can allow the buyer to pick the rooms or spaces they want incorporated into a design allowing the program to select those finished designs that best utilize chosen design aspects.

Because most of all the work of construction including plumbing and electrical is done under controlled conditions, there are no construction design surprises halfway through the completed project. With the aid of the computer, the buyer knows right from design inception if there will be problems with structural layout. Elaborate designs that were once only able to the very wealthy who could afford to hire top flight architectural firms to work with construction crews during construction, are now available to almost everyone.

Then after the plan is formulated, the modules are assembled by design to be transported to the work site, where they will be assembled by a crew proficient in on site modular construction. It is not uncommon to have a Modular home delivered to the erection site in 4, 5 or more modules to be assembled.

So you see the 'Modular home' has come into its own, and fulfilled its mission concept of truly making homes modular. But more over it has helped to make the American dream of the perfect home that much more obtainable