Park Models Expand Market

HSoaring real estate prices have put vacation homes beyond the reach of many people, but there is an alternative: buy a park model cottage or cabin and place it at an RV resort.

Park models are movable, but unlike travel trailers or fifth wheels, they are not designed for travel, but for placement at a destination. To qualify as a park model, a unit must be 400 square feet or less.

Park models have long been popular in the Southwest, particularly Arizona, but are gaining interest in the Pacific Northwest, with more RV dealers selling them and more RV resorts welcoming them. Manufacturing continues to be centered in Indiana, and the Southwest, but there are also plants elsewhere, including the Pacific Northwest.

Skyline has been building park models in Oregon since 1968, and Nor’Wester Industries entered the business in Washington about 20 years ago.

Bob McNeely and his brother, Don, started Nor’Wester Industries to build park models for their Whaleshead Beach Resort near Brookings on the southern Oregon coast. Before starting the business, Bob McNeely said he visited 23 park model manufacturers trying to find a high-quality park model suitable for the Pacific Northwest. Unable to find what he was looking for, he and his brother decided to build park models themselves to their own standards. Then as their first park models were being built, they ran into delays in accommodating them at their resort, so they started selling to others. And as quickly as that, they were in the park model business.

Since then, they have installed more than 100 Nor’Wester park models at Whaleshead Beach Resort and are selling a growing number to individuals and through resorts, such as Lost Lake in Washington's Nisqually Valley. The demand has been so great that two years ago they vastly increased plant capacity by moving operations to a 10-acre site in Chehalis, Washington.

Nor’Wester is one of more than 40 companies across the country that manufacture park models, giving consumers a variety of choices in floor plans and styles. Here are some current models:

Athens Park Homes
Most park models resemble log cabins or have vinyl or other siding that looks like wood, but Athens Park Homes has created a new look—a park model with stucco siding and a tile roof.
Arizona and California are two of the primary markets for the new design, according to Dick Grymonprez, Athens vice president of sales and marketing. He said he believes his company is the first to offer the stucco and tile look, which fits in well with the architecture of the Southwest.

Athens Park Homes also builds a full line of more conventional looking park models, including cabins with log exteriors and cottages constructed with durable fiber-cement siding. The company was formed in 2004 by a group of investors led by Phil Surles, former chief operating officer of Champion Enterprises, the nation’s largest builder of manufactured and modular housing. The company builds its park models in Athens, Texas, in a 140,000-square-foot manufacturing plant that was bought from Champion.

Athens constructs its own frames in a separate frame shop and uses an automated system to pull the floor down an assembly line for efficient construction. Quality materials include thick tongue and groove plywood flooring and fiber-cement siding by James Hardie. Cabins feature rustic log exteriors and cedar ceilings and accents. They come with lots of options and extras, including lofts, granite countertops and electric fireplaces.

For information, contact Athens Park Homes, 3401 W. Corsicana Highway, Athens, TX 75751. Phone (903) 677-0108 or visit www.athensparkhomes.com.

Bayridge
Bayridge, a division of Breckenridge, is raising its interior ceilings from seven feet to eight feet and adding special skylights in its new Skyview destination travel trailers. Bayridge’s models occupy a hybrid category incorporating features of both park models and conventional travel trailers.

Bayridge trailers are eight feet wide and compact enough to be towed like any other travel trailer. But with slideouts, the spacious interiors are big enough to hold large appliances like a 16-cubic-foot double-door refrigerator and an apartment-sized four-burner range with an oven/broiler.

Richard Fischer, the division’s national sales and product manager, said Bayridge is building its trailers for buyers who want to put them at a campground or resort for a season or more, but also want the flexibility to move them when they desire.

Because Bayridge models are not designed for use on the road, they don’t require the extra electrical systems and holding tanks that are included in conventional RVs, although a marine toilet with holding tanks is an option. Units range from 300 square feet in size and up, depending on the floor plan and number of slideouts.

With the new eight feet ceilings, Bayridge Skyview models offer lots of headroom and also space for up to three 42-inch paddle fans with light kits. The airy feeling is enhanced by a series of skylights at the top of the walls, admitting sunlight to areas that might be darkened by an awning or slideout. The models are equipped with a 25-foot A&E 8500 series awning with center rafter.

Other features include accent lighting above the living room, kitchen and bedroom cabinets; a queen-size bed, and plush carpeting and padding in the living room and bedroom.

For information, contact Breckenridge, which is part of the Thor Industries group of companies, at 656 N. Delaware, Nappanee, IN 46550. Phone (574) 773-5353 or visit www.breckenridgeparkmodels.com.

Breckenridge
Breckenridge, which claims more than a quarter of the park model market, is offering a wide array of floor plans and ten décor packages to give buyers lots of choices in park model designs.

The new 1240 PG floor plan in the Breckenridge Luxury Edition is proving especially popular, according to Denise Walsh, national sales manager. Buyers appreciate the panoramic front bay window and high vaulted ceiling. A large dormer that has extra windows gives the interior a bright, open appearance in both the living area and the kitchen.

Special features include a built-in deluxe entertainment center and paddle fan with light in the living room. The kitchen has track lighting, a 30-inch freestanding range, and countertops beveled with oak edges. A large brushed nickel chandelier is installed above the table and chairs. The bedroom features mirrored wardrobe doors, plush carpeting, decorator drapes and metal mini-blinds.

Among the many options are hardwood floors, a built-in desk, skylights in the living room and bathroom, and pit-group furniture, including two hide-a-bed sofas.

Breckenridge builds its park models in a 120,000-square-foot manufacturing facility with technology geared to create units with strong structural integrity, tight insulation and long-lasting roofs. Cabinets have solid wood construction.

For information, contact Breckenridge, 656 N. Delaware, Nappanee, IN 46550. Phone (800) 223-2376 or visit www.breckenridgeparkmodels.com.

Country Manor
Fairmont Homes has used its expertise in manufactured housing to create Country Manor park models with the sort of features that are found in quality residential construction. The sidewalls include plywood sheathing; the hardwood cabinets are made in the company’s own cabinet shop, the roof, floor and sidewalls are heavily insulated, and the models include energy-efficient thermal pane windows.

Fairmont has more than 30 years of experience in the manufactured housing industry, and the company drew heavily on that experience when it reentered the park model market last year, said John Soard, national sales manager.

The company’s emphasis on quality construction immediately won recognition when Fairmont became the first park trailer manufacturer to win the prestigious Vincennes University Recreational Vehicle Manufacturer Quality and Productivity Gold Award.

Soard said one example of the quality construction is the use of metal raised rib roofing, which sheds water easily despite the shallow pitch of the roof, and avoids the sort of leaks that can be a problem with others types of roofing material.

The company offers 11 floor plans in a variety of sizes. Some of the models include a loft with a sunken bedroom below. The bedroom is 16 inches below the main floor. This permits the loft area to be more than four and a half feet high, substantially higher than the loft in a conventionally designed park model.

For information, contact Fairmont Park Trailers, 502 S. Oakland Ave., P. O. Box 27, Nappanee, IN 46550. Phone (800) 777-8787 or visit www.fairmontparktrailers.com.

Nor’Wester
“Quality without Question” is the theme that guides construction of park models at Nor’Wester Industries. And that means things like solid wood cabinets, double wall construction, tongue and groove flooring, plywood in the roofing, and the kind of Milgard windows you would find in a custom home.

This emphasis on quality also means that buyers pay a little more, with prices starting around $35,000 and most models selling in the $45,000 to $60,000 range. But for that, says co-owner Bob McNeely, the buyer gets a model that is built like a house and, like a house, can appreciate in value.

McNeely, who owns Nor’Wester Industries with his brother Don and their wives, Jeanne and Kathy, said Nor’Wester park models are built for the rugged climate of the Pacific Northwest. “We build them to handle five inches of snow, 100 inches of rain or 100 mph winds,” he said. To help handle the weather, the park models contain one-foot eaves, making them 14 feet wide instead of the usual park model standard of 12 feet. In addition, the models are higher than most, at just under 16 feet, and that extra space is especially useful in the floor plans that have lofts for additional sleeping space or storage.

Various floor plans offer vaulted ceilings, bay windows and trapezoid windows for extra light. Kitchens have large appliances, including a 30-inch gas range and an 18-inch or 24-inch dishwasher. A 17-cubic-foot refrigerator is standard, but the options can range up to 22 cubic feet. Countertops are laminate with a ceramic tile backsplash.

The company encourages customers to customize their units by offering lots of options. Sizes and locations of doors and windows can be adjusted, and cabinets can be constructed of red oak, white pine, hickory or other wood of the customer’s choice. Nor’Wester builds the cabinets in its own cabinet shop.

For information, contact Nor’Wester Industries, 1722 Bishop Road, P. O. Box 209, Chehalis, WA 98532. Phone (800) 346-5701 or visit www.norwester.info.

Skyline
Skyline is headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana, but builds park models in McMinnville, Oregon, for the Pacific Northwest and western Canada. The units are tailored to the region’s climate with strong insulation and dehumidifiers as standard features and dual pane windows as an option.

Skyline builds four park models, the Nomad, Layton, Aljo and Seaview, giving customers the choice of a variety of floor plans and decors. All of the models are eight and a half feet wide and are in the retail price range of $30,000 to $32,000. (Skyline also builds a larger model called the Forest Brook at a separate plant in McMinnville.)

Skyline’s Seaview has an interior that is 90 inches high and comes with features that include plush carpeting in the living room and bedroom, mini-blinds throughout, a 16-cubic-foot refrigerator, a freestanding four-burner range, a skylight over the tub and shower, and a 35,000-BTU furnace. The patio door has a screen and vertical blinds.

Rooms can expand through tip-outs or push-outs, depending on the floor plan, creating extra space.

Paul Krutsch, sales manager for Skyline’s RV park models, said Skyline has historically been a sales leader in the Pacific Northwest because its models are built for the climate. “Our design fits the Northwest,” he said. Another major advantage in buying a Skyline park model, he said, is that Skyline maintains mobile crews to service units during the warranty period, so there is no difficulty in getting service.

For information, about Skyline products call its McMinneville office at (800) 929-1080 or visit www.skylinecorp.com.

Woodland Park
Woodland Park has introduced the new Signature Series and the new Cabin Series, giving park model buyers the option of choosing a vacation home with the appearance of a modern cottage or one that looks like a rustic cabin.

Dave Burroughs, national sales manager, said Woodland Park took the most popular features from earlier models and incorporated them in its new Signature Series. The new design offers a spacious living area, supplemented in some floor plans with a loft to provide either storage room or extra space for children to play or sleep.

The kitchen is big enough to contain large appliances, including a 30-inch gas range, 30-inch microwave and 18 cubic-foot refrigerator. Appliances are available in white, bisque, black or stainless steel, and there are lots of other décor choices. The dining area has a residential-style dining table and chairs that are set beside a bay window.

The bedroom has a queen-size bed with an eight-inch pillowtop mattress. The full-size bathroom includes a residential-style toilet, attractive shower and a medicine cabinet with a lighted mirror.

For those who prefer a rustic look, Woodland Park is offering the Cabin Series, which features a cedar log exterior and a knotty pine interior. Burroughs said Woodland Park, by using a light wood for the interior, has created a cabin that has a rugged appearance and yet is light and airy. The cabin is equipped with all the conveniences and comforts that one could want, including an optional fireplace. A front porch that provides outdoor living space is an additional option.

Woodland Park also builds the Timber Ridge park models, which can be ordered in floor plans that are 11 or 12 feet wide or in narrower 8.5-foot floor plans with slideouts.

Woodland Park has been manufacturing custom-built park trailers since 1983. The company was founded by owners Ernie and Edna Yoder in the Amish country of northern Indiana, and the company has drawn upon Amish craftsmen in developing its products.

For information, contact Woodland Park, 111 Crystal Heights Blvd., P. O. Box 1309, Middlebury, IN 46540. Phone (574) 825-2104 or visit www.woodland-park.com.