The 20K Homes, designed and built by Rural Studio, an undergraduate design-build architecture program by Auburn University.
“Our initial goal was to design a market-rate model home that could be built by a contractor for $20,000 ($12,000 for materials and $8,000 for labor and profit). We arrived at the original $20,000 sum as a target 30-year mortgage ticket because it reflected what a person on social security or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families could comfortably afford to pay each month after other living expenses, which amounted to about $100 per month. It would be the 20K Home (our internal nickname): a house for everybody and everyone. We have discovered that although we can predict the cost of materials, other factors can change drastically: labor, utility installation, and application for building permission by region, as well as local municipality, community, and even neighborhood values can change drastically. In short, in the long-term, the $20,000 target cost was untenable. Even so, the “20K” nickname, never intended to be a formal label, stuck. Students still aim to keep construction costs as low as possible, but the research shifted to focus on the total cost of homeownership, striking a balance between the initial purchasing cost of the house and the post-occupancy costs of operations and maintenance. Each year, students design and construct a 20K Home that is given to a local resident who needs it. This iterative process really does allow us, with each version, to learn from the last and to build a body of knowledge.”
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