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The TIMES ... at the Jersey Shore, February 10, 2000
Ocean Grove – A crowd gathered on Bath Avenue to watch as four 10,000 pound modular units containing an eat-in kitchen, full baths and even two master suites were lifted by crane nearly 100 feet overhead on Tuesday, February 1st.
Modular Home Construction
The large, nondescript rectangular boxes
were assembled into place by a huge crane,
and in only eight hours, Judith and Harry Isaksen’s
new three-story Victorian style
home, complete with roof skylights, a mezzanine and a Jacuzzi, stood on the Bath Avenue lot.
The home also includes two additional bedrooms, a living room with cathedral
ceilings and a two-car garage.
The construction marks the first modular home to be erected in Ocean Grove, according to owner Harry Isaksen, Ocean Grove painting
and remodeling contractor.
Isaksen, who became interested in building a modular residence at a home improvement show, says that he sees several benefits to owning a modular home.
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“It’s substantially less money than building from scratch, and most of the work is done already,” says Isaksen, who has owned a summer home in the Grove since 1986, and has been a permanent resident since 1995, “The electric in the house has already been wired, the plumbing is already in the house, all we need to do is connect it.”
Bill Lashovitz, CPA and President of Red Bank Area Development Corporation (the modular home construction builder responsible for the Bath Avenue project), says that modular homes are in demand more than they’ve ever been. |
“Once older properties are demolished, it’s becoming increasingly popular to have modular homes put in the empty lots these days,” says Lashovitz.
Lashovitz says the homes are less expensive because assembly factories can buy in tremendous bulk, and production within a factory is cheaper than it would be on-site.
Modular Home Construction
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“They once built cars by hand,” says Lashovitz, “When Henry Ford built cars on an assembly line, he revolutionized the industry. It’s the same idea for modular homes.”
Modular homes are also built to a better standard than site-built homes, according to Lashovitz, since they have to be sturdy in order to be transported and lifted.
Bill Lashovitz adds that building modular homes takes far less time than actual outdoor construction would take. “We can build in two months what would take six months to build on-site,” he assures. |
Costs of modular homes can range anywhere from $60,000 to over $700,000, as builders have developed methods of assembling more complex, upscale homes.
“I’m very happy with the modular home, it has everything I wanted at the price I wanted to pay,” says Isaksen, who expects to rent the home out once electric wiring, plumbing and siding on the house are completed. Bill Lashovitz and RBA Homes did a great job.
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