A cute, compact doublewide, the Clayton White Pine Edge

I spent an afternoon going blind looking at all of Clayton’s manufactured home offerings. I was looking for something not too ugly on the outside, in a home in the $40,000 to $70,000 range. This is the winner!

The front of this 1036 sq. ft. 3 bedroom, 2 bath double-wide home, the "White Pine Edge," is balanced without looking contrived or peculiar. It is just plain good design. Notice the direction change on the siding. Maybe that's the "edge"?  It is the type of home you could drive up to and enjoy looking at, don’t you think?

That said, no matter how great a home looks on the outside, the inside is more important, since that is the part you will be living in. Still, having a good-looking house makes it easier to sell and own. A lot of manufactured homes are just kind of ugly, but so are stick-built homes. The white doors in the living room look like they may be covered, to prevent scratching. There is sometimes a fluted pillar in this model. If you order one, ask them to leave that out!

 

Inside, the kitchen is pretty small but the living room gets bigger if you order it with 2 bedrooms instead of three. I’m posting this to make a point of what I think looks good on the outside, and offer an alternative people might consider, in a double-wide that is cheaper than some single-wides.

They make this model in something from 900 to about 1400 sq. ft. Once it gets bigger it starts loosing its symmetry and good looks. Also, the façade is the best looking part. The other sides are nothing. 


Of course, like all homes I review, I recommend going for the 2 x 6” sidewall construction, maximum insulation, and drywall. If you can’t get that, look for another home with that.

The odd part of my home search -- although I found about 20 photos of the front of this model -- I couldn’t find with a photo of the whole front, except for this 1200+ sq. ft. model (below) which is nice looking too, but not as nice as the smaller one. Dealers (who take these photos) probably think it makes the home look BIGGER to not take the entire front. This, again, is the Clayton "White Pine Edge." No dormers and it still looks great.

 I like how the peak in the roof adds character and would also function to keep rain and snow from dropping onto the steps.

Below is a Palm Harbor (now owned by Cavco) home that is similar in size and price, called the Hertiage Home I (also comes in II or III). Almost as cute but the peak placement is bad. Water or snow would run down the side onto the rail or steps.

Below is one of Clayton’s top selling models: The Designer Select Heartlander. It is something like 1200 sq. ft. I think the outside loses something compared to the White Pine Edge, but the inside plan is probably better for a lot of people, particularly the larger kitchen.