--- title: See Photos of Prefab Vacation Homes From the 1970s description: As more Americans looked to build second homes in the 1970s, many resorted to prefabricated vacation homes. canonical: https://time.com/3948300/prefab-vacation-homes/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-14T12:00:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:17.901Z og:title: These Vintage Prefab Vacation Homes Will Make You Long for the Woods og:description: As more Americans looked to build second homes in the 1970s, many resorted to prefabricated vacation homes. og:url: https://time.com/3948300/prefab-vacation-homes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt187f5f129ca1e16e/698859e9f887dc0bc5e91440/150707-prefab-vacations-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Prefab Vacation homes from 1970 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Vintage Prefab Vacation Homes Will Make You Long for the Woods twitter:description: As more Americans looked to build second homes in the 1970s, many resorted to prefabricated vacation homes. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt187f5f129ca1e16e/698859e9f887dc0bc5e91440/150707-prefab-vacations-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Vintage Prefab Vacation Homes Will Make You Long for the Woods > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 14, 2015 12:00 PM UTC  Caption from LIFE. $5,000\. Tired of competing for campsites on weekends, John and Janet Smith finally built a vacation house on the Pend Orielle River near Spokane, Wash. From a magazine they ordered a $25 set of plans by Architect Robert Martin Engelbrecht of Princeton, N.J., then made adapatations—exposed beams and wood instead of plasterboard, a larger kitchen. By picking up bargains—such as hand-split shingles at half price—and doing the work themselves, the Smiths wound up with a handsome $12,800 house for only $5,000. Caption from LIFE. $5,000\. Tired of competing for campsites on weekends, John and Janet Smith finally built a vacation house on the Pend Orielle River near Spokane, Wash. From a magazine they ordered a $25 set of plans by Architect Robert Martin Engelbrecht of Princeton, N.J., then made adapatations—exposed beams and wood instead of plasterboard, a larger kitchen. By picking up bargains—such as hand-split shingles at half price—and doing the work themselves, the Smiths wound up with a handsome $12,800 house for only $5,000. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 14, 2015 12:00 PM UTC Prefabricated homes are on the rise. Thanks to the recession and an increased interest in green building techniques, easy-to-assemble structures of all shapes and sizes appeal not only to those looking to save a buck, but also to those who prioritize the use of eco-friendly materials and creative design. But this is not the first time the out-of-the-box house, first offered in the early 20th century by companies like Sears, has enjoyed a boost in popularity. Back in 1970, when an increasing number of Americans were looking to build vacation homes, prefab structures offered an affordable way to take the American dream to the next level. LIFE’s John Dominis traveled around the country photographing the range of styles cropping up in forests and lake shores, from a bird-watching hideaway in North Carolina to a geodesic dome in the desert of Arizona. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Caption from LIFE. $5,000\. Tired of competing for campsites on weekends, John and Janet Smith finally built a vacation house on the Pend Orielle River near Spokane, Wash. From a magazine they ordered a $25 set of plans by Architect Robert Martin Engelbrecht of Princeton, N.J., then made adapatations—exposed beams and wood instead of plasterboard, a larger kitchen. By picking up bargains—such as hand-split shingles at half price—and doing the work themselves, the Smiths wound up with a handsome $12,800 house for only $5,000. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Interior of previous photo. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. $14,800\. A far cry from its roughhewn ancestor, this cabin in Groom Creek, Ariz. is fashioned of evenly shaped pine logs, which have been tongue-and-grooved to fit together with minimum caulking and cored (see next photo). The dead air space within the log acts as insulation. A customer who orders the house from Air-Lock Log Co. of Prescott, Ariz. gets just enough materials to build his cabin. Usually, in fact, there is not even enough wood left over to kindle a blaze in the fireplace, which is usually constructed, like this one, of local stone. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  See previous photo. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Interior view of the log cabin. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. $11,200\. Looking like a giant golf ball half-buried in the desert near Phoenix, Ariz., this fiber glass-covered plywood house serves as a weekend retreat and art studio. The structure went up quickly, thanks to a system of 68 spiderlike hubs (next photo) sold by Dyna-Dome of Phoenix as a $490 "connector kit." The framing pieces are clamped into the hubs. By using only a half floor for the loft, the owner, a physician, retains a view of the arched ceiling with its triangular sky-view windows. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  See previous photo. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. $10,600\. When Carol and David Smith of Greensboro, Vt. decided they wanted to put up a vacation house near Caspian Lake, Carol spent weeks poring over house magazines, then made sketches and talked them over with local builders Kim Inglehart and Hank Merrill. The builders suggested a few changes (such as a deck, to add some extra area), but otherwise worked from Carol's ideas. The result, sturdily built of local materials, is a house that is virtually maintenance free. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. $12,500\. Perched on steel stilts on a hillside in Asheville, N.C., this 12-sided house offers lazy bird watchers a fine vantage point. Made of redwood panels constructed by Rondesics, Inc. of Asheville, the leafy hideaway has one third more space inside its wall perimeter than a standard rectangular house. For anyone who needs still more room, two or three such houses may be built side by side or stacked one atop the other. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Interior view of previous home. 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