Blu Homes unveils infill-ready green prefab

With the launch of a new home design dubbed Balance Metro, Blu Homes — the Bay Area-based green prefab builder beloved by Disney descendants and the editors of Sunset magazine — has set out to prove that its contemporary, precision-built homes are also a good fit for space-sensitive infill lots in city and in the ‘burbs as they are for stunning hillside tracts in the sticks or woodsy parcels in the middle of Puget Sound. And judging from a fresh batch of renderings of Balance Metro released by Blu, the home is also a shoo-in for tight-squeeze coastal developments (Balance Malibu?)

An immediately available addition to Blu’s popular existing Balance line, the street-facing Metro was specifically designed for installation on narrow urban and suburban lots and, although versatile, is meant to serve as more of a primary residence for an expanding (or perhaps downsizing) families than a weekend getaway or retirement retreat.

Despite being designed with constraint in mind, the three-bedroom/two-bathroom abode manages to squeeze a whole lot of open living space into its slim 65-by-36 footprint with soaring ceilings, clerestory windows, and a bevy of standard and add-on eco-features (triple-paned windows, healthy building materials, motion-sensor faucets, high-levels of insulation, air filtration systems, WiFi-enabled thermostats, zoned heating and cooling, EV plug-in hubs, etc).

And although geared for petite-sized lots with surroundings that aren’t necessary bucolic, the customizable Balance Metro, like all Blu Homes models, is designed with an emphasis on seamlessly connecting indoor and outdoor living spaces via walls of windows, sliding glass doors, etc.

At 1,878 square feet, the Balance Metro’s the base cost for the home rings at $460,000 (including the home itself, transportation, foundation work, utility connections, professional services, and on).

Good stuff — while I've never considered any past Blu designs to be ideal "city" houses like other infill-oriented green prefab projects out there, it looks as if the Balance Metro may be more of a perfect fit. Head on over to the Blu Homes website for more info on the Balance Metro and to learn more about Blu's innovative super-speedy build-delivery system and transparent pricing scheme.