PRINTThe Prefabulous Rocio Romero
Timeless and simple sustainable living
Courtesy of Matthew Meek, Frank DiPiazza and Richard Sprengler
Romero’s prefab home in Perryville, Mo
April 10, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
For many, leaving the office at 5 p.m. doesn’t necessarily mean leaving work altogether. For the go-getters of America’s working class, separation between dwelling and working space is an evaporating concept. But designer Rocio Romero is taking major, and stylish, strides toward reversing this drift and giving today’s customized homes a much-needed detox.
Romero offers building kits that are assembled on-site into modern, chic and efficient abodes. Romero says that five years ago, no one had caught on to this concept in the U.S. Her stylish interpretation of the evolving prefab movement might be attributed to her Southern California roots. She was born and raised in San Diego and went on to study architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. She received her master’s from the Southern California Institute of Architecture. Her husband’s career brought Romero to Missouri in 1999. A year later she began selling her designs from Perryville, which is southeast of St. Louis and three hours from Columbia. Her personal prefab home sits on a hill outside of town. In the past, it served as the firm’s primary showroom. Her dwelling offered a hands-on experience for prefab followers. The intrusion could be considered a clever marketing move.
Second bedroom at the Romero's home.
Rocio Romero at her home.
Home designed by Romero in Perryville, Mo.
A design by Romero shown at the National Open House Tour, Gallatin, N.Y. Romero’s kits ...
Although she imagined her clients would be young hipsters, her demographic ranges from 20-somethings to those approaching their 90s. “We have a really nice mix of people,” says Romero. “What brings them together is their love of design and their wanting to live in a home that is well-connected to nature and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to build.”
Although her homes have a modular frame, the mod and minimalistic style shouldn’t be mistaken as an average mobile home. Romero’s granola-meets-industrial designs have received significant media attention in the past few years from prominent publications including the New York Times, The New Yorker and Dwell — the Vogue of the design and architecture worlds.
Midwest minimalism comes in a box
Romero’s eco-chic agenda is clear and simple — much like the homes she offers. Rocio Romero LLC strives to offer housing that’s modern and affordable. Her designs breathe new life into modern-day living and generate homes that value simplicity above all else. “There’s a good saying — a clean space is a clean mind,” Romero says. “The more clutter you have in your life, the more clutter you have in your head.” Most of her models are one level with an emphasis on bedrooms and living rooms and less on the kitchen and bathrooms for energy-saving purposes. Fewer bathrooms and a main kitchen could cut back on the energy and water used throughout the house. Production of the parts is also eco-friendly.
Some assembly required
In the past eight years, Romero has discovered that people don’t just like her designs — they love them. Her clientele has doubled every year since she began her prefab empire. Rocio Romero LLC offers multiple models to cater to the diverse needs of her market. The LV series — a name that evolved from the second home she designed for her parents in Laguna Verde, Chile — comes with plans, instructions and a kit of parts for the exterior shell of the home.
The smallest LV model, called LVM, is a basic space comparable to a studio apartment. The largest model, LVL, has three bedrooms and two bathrooms; it’s more appropriate for a family. A new development from the company is the 150 series, which is named for its ability to resist hurricane winds up to 150 mph. Romero says some of her most recent clients have purchased multiple units and combined them to create their own entirely customized living space. For example, they’ll connect an LVL to an LVM for a total of 625 square feet, which creates a larger home with a master suite. This method offers the same minimal living but in larger doses.
After the home is manufactured and assembled, a general contractor of the client’s choice is responsible for the interior customization of the space. “The load-bearing walls are all exterior except for one small wall in the middle, so it’s easy for our customers to rearrange,” says Romero. “Think of the interior as a blank canvas.” Her kits are user-friendly regardless of the builder or location. “It’s a very straightforward kit that any general contractor can put together, and that’s the secret to our success,” Romero says. “We have a methodology that can be replicated over and over again.”
Clients are located in all regions of the United States, and the firm continues to acquire more. Ethan Whitehill, originally from Columbia, built an LVL kit for his vacation home in Northwest Arkansas. Whitehill says the best part of Romero’s kit is the design; it allows you to put her homes anywhere. While her business continues to expand, Romero opts to remain in southeast Missouri because it enables affordable shipping to the East and West coasts.
Romero’s homes are practical, visually pleasing and remarkably low-priced. “My kit costs, at least with the LVL home, about $40,000,” says Romero. “If you were to go to an architect and ask them to custom design a home, that’s how much they would charge you. You can’t get something out there today in the market that even approximates the affordability aspect. It just doesn’t exist.”
With the recent slump in the housing market, Romero says it is cheaper and easier to find a general contractor to complete the finishing touches on her homes. A few years ago when the real estate business thrived, contractors were either charging premiums or simply not accepting jobs.
The novelty of the prefab movement poses the question — is new-wave living just a trend? “Five years ago, people thought this might be a novel idea, but now that we’ve been doing this for five years, I would say it can’t be qualified as a trend,” says Romero. “The design is timeless. It’s a simple and aesthetically pleasing composition, and I think it will last the test of time.” V
