Katrina Cottages Available at Lowe's
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 7.06
We have always liked Marianne Cusato's Katrina Cottage design, a small, attractive and affordable alternative for New Orleans. Now the designer has made a deal with Lowes to sell packages of plans and materials in four different designs ranging from 544 to 936 square feet, that will cost from $ 25,000 to $ 50,000. Good for floods (no drywall) and winds up to 140 miles an hour. Selling at Lowes may not sound like a big deal, but in fact is a huge step in the prefab business- a major mainstream retailer selling architect-designed, well resolved solutions at reasonable prices. Marianne says "Design makes a difference"- So do we.::Wall Street Journal
The picture shows a Katrina Cottage designed by Andres Duany and Steve Oubre. You can see a picture of Marianne's at http://www.peoplesdesignaward.org/most_popular.php, where it is leading the voting for "the People's Design Award" from Cooper Hewitt Museum and Smithsonian Institute.
i am interested in building a katrina cottage on a piece of property on the eastern shore of maryland i think that the concept is a terrific one in terms of the private sector stepping in when the government drops the ball. i also think that these cottages provide a great way for all of us to begin using fewer of the earth's dimiishing resources.
however here is the rub: here in the tristate area of delaware penn and new jersey i cannot get any consistent information from lowes about them. i have talked to more uneducated ,confused sales people then i can count. i have been given documents that indicate that what lowes provides in their kits is actually far less than what they indicate in their written material on the interenet.{buyers have to obtain their own flooring,appliances kitchen cabinets}
i have been stonewalled when i have called corporate headquarters
if a home of a poor family in delaware burned down tonight and they thought replacing it with a katrina cottage is the answer they are in for a surprise
so before i mail my letter to their ceo and members of the board does anyone have any information that miight enlighten me?
thanks much melissa huber wilmington delaware