Kate Murphy, New York Times

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

When it became unbearably hot and humid last month in Houston, Jane Moore, a 60-year-old primary school reading consultant, left her house to stay in her "park model" trailer in South Fork, Colo. "It's very cool and beautiful here," she said in a telephone interview.

Her park model, which looks like an elongated cottage, is surrounded by a white picket fence and overlooks the Rio Grande. She bought it and the land in October. "People don't understand what park models are," she said. "They're not tacky."

Say trailer home and many people think of low-income housing or temporary quarters for those displaced by natural disasters. But in the past decade an upscale version has emerged, in various architectural styles.

Called park models because they can be parked anywhere, they are a maximum of 400 square feet under federal guidelines and therefore not taxed as permanent dwellings, making them an attractive option for beach, lake or mountain retreats. Manufacturers say they are having trouble meeting the demand for park models destined for private property, gated communities, resort campgrounds and even marinas.

"It's like having a million-dollar home but at a fraction of the price," said Luanne DeMatto, 54, the director of consumer lending at a bank in Mystic, Conn. She and her husband, Enrico, 61, a retired school administrator, placed their park model in a woodsy camping resort in Westerly, R.I., in 2002. The DeMattos pay $3,550 a year for a shaded and grassy 100-by-60-foot lot that is walking distance from the beach. "I couldn't rent a place in the area for a week for that amount," DeMatto said.

Though they are considered recreational vehicles, they look more like small houses. Lumber or a brick skirt around the bottom can hide their wheels, and additions, like a screened porch, can effectively double the square footage. Floor plans can include a wet bar, an island kitchen and a media room.

Smaller and less insulated than manufactured houses, park models are intended for temporary or recreational use and are therefore considered personal property like cars and boats. But they can be winterized for use in all seasons. Costing $20,000 to $80,000, they are subject to sales tax when purchased, and depending on the state or the municipality, they may require annual licensing and registration, for fees from $30 to about $300.

Park models' affordability and their improved design from the generic boxy look of 20 years ago have resulted in a 46 percent increase in sales since 1997, according to the Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association. They can look like English country cottages, log cabins and even Modernist glass houses.

The association reported that 10,100 were sold last year. Growing demand in the past couple of years has caused manufacturer backlogs. "We're in a real boom period," said Roger Byce, sales manager for Trophy Homes, a park model builder in Elkhart, Ind., the Detroit of park model manufacturing.

Their popularity led to the publication of a new magazine in March called Park Model Living, which highlights design trends and reviews resorts, communities and developments that sell or lease lots to park model owners. "It's a growing and a very upscale market that we thought deserved coverage," said Kaeth Gauthier, who edits and publishes the magazine with her husband, Frank, once a park model owner.

DeMatto said her park model was custom-built by Trophy Homes with demilune and dormer windows. She specified the interior layout, down to the placement of electrical outlets, and added a 400-square-foot screened porch. The camping resort where it is situated has a clubhouse, a pool and a golf driving range. "It's country club living," said DeMatto, who spends almost every weekend there from May through October.

The campsite fee includes water, but the DeMattos are billed separately for electricity and cable television service, which were hooked up the same day their park model arrived five years ago, towed by a heavy-duty pickup truck. The unit has central heat, air conditioning and all major appliances except a stackable washer/dryer, which is an option in many models. There is Berber carpeting in the living room and bedroom and ceramic tile in the bathroom and kitchen.

Kristine and Peter Kilmartin's park model is on oceanfront property in Point Judith, R.I., about 25 miles east of the DeMattos'. It has hardwood floors, track lighting, two sliding glass doors, a bay window seating area and a large kitchen with an island and stools. The unit also has surround-sound speakers inside and outside, where there is a deck and patio.

Although many owners buy furniture from park model manufacturers because it is sized to fit, Kilmartin furnished hers with items from Ikea, including sofas, chairs, tables and a bed. "I wanted a different look than what they offered," she said, referring to the park model manufacturers.

"We know people who have bought beach cottages just up the way and can't afford them now because of the property taxes," said Kilmartin, 46, a database administrator for the Rhode Island Legislature who lives in Pawtucket and spends holidays and spring and summer weekends at her park model. Peter Kilmartin, 45, is a police officer and a state representative.

"We couldn't have afforded to build" in the area, she said, much less pay the resulting higher property taxes on their Point Judith land. Their $150,000 lot, bought in 2005 and measuring 30 feet by 50 feet, is one of 33 in a gated park model community that opened three years ago, after years of being a trailer park.

The number of park model communities is growing. They charge monthly co-op fees of $150 to $500 and are being developed throughout the country, but particularly in areas that are attractive for vacation or retirement homes, like Maine, Rhode Island, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Texas.

Families often buy several lots together to create vacation compounds. Kristine Kilmartin's parents and Peter Kilmartin's brother and sister-in-law have lots and park models in their Point Judith enclave.

While the Kilmartins and the DeMattos have traditional houses as primary residences, it is not uncommon for people to divide their time between two park models. For example, Sue Cantara, a secretary, and her husband, Roland, a carpenter, took early retirement in 2005, when she was 54 and he was 58, and replaced their 2,100-square-foot three-bedroom ranch-style house in Allenstown, N.H., with two park models.

One, a clapboard-style unit manufactured by Woodland Park, with sliding French doors and surrounded by daylilies, sits on a resort campground in Contoocook, N.H., where they spend May through October. The rest of the year they live in one made by Chariot Eagle in a park model community in Hudson, Fla. It has more of a beach house look to it, with storm shutters and a wooden deck.

They pay a total of $6,000 a year to rent the two properties and $35 a year to renew the registration for the unit in Florida. They are not required to pay registration fees on their park model in New Hampshire. Utility costs at each place average $40 a month.

"It's a great lifestyle," Sue Cantara said. "We've cut our expenses so much we are able to do more," like travel to San Diego and Providence to see their sons. She said the size of the living space did not bother her because "we spend 90 percent of our time outside anyway."

Her husband fishes most days, in a pond when he is in New Hampshire and in the Gulf of Mexico when he is in Florida, and she likes to shop and to read on the screened porch attached to each house.

Pam Schaefer, 41, a pharmaceutical representative who lives year-round in a park model floating on the Illinois River in Channahon, Ill., said 400 square feet was more than enough space for her. Her home is attached to a buoyant base, which is moored to a dock at a marina. Having lived in a 7,200-square-foot house and a 1,800-square-foot condo, she said, "larger just means more to clean and take care of."

"I've always wanted to live on the water and couldn't afford to otherwise," said Schaefer, who bought her place last year. "This is the perfect size and no hassle or maintenance."

For families, the space can be tight, but it's all relative. Mike Hawkins, 45, the director of business development for a mail-order tire company in Elkhart, used to travel with his wife, Jennifer, and their family in a camper. But five years ago he bought a park model and put it on a resort campground in Howe, Ind., where there are miles of hiking trails and a lake for swimming, fishing and canoeing.

"For the money, park models are much more comfortable and nicer, and you save a ton on gas," he said.

With a full-size bathtub and shower, a complete kitchen and satellite TV, Hawkins said, "it's not quite camping, but we still feel like we're getting away from it all."

This article appeared on page HO - 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle