Absolutely Prefabulous

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Prefab housing. The very name conjures up boring little boxes that might be cheap but hardly chic. But now a whole range of sleek, modular factory-built designs are hitting the European market. The cutting-edge domiciles are quick to assemble, energy efficient and fitted with cool customized features. Here's a peek at some of the more intriguing prefab abodes and holiday hideaways.

THE LOFTCUBE — STUDIO AISSLINGER
www.aisslinger.de
Inspired by Berlin's postwar high-rises, the Loftcube can be craned or helicoptered onto your rooftop as an open-space pied-à-terre or office. The "personal home container" can be completed in three days and you can even do it yourself with friends if you're handy. Prices start at $95,200 — excluding crane time.

THE PAD
www.padlife.co.uk
A London team aims to make cost overruns and missed construction deadlines obsolete. Their 100- to 200-sq-m Pad P-4 goes up in days, and plugs into a central core mounted on a precast iron foundation. Prices start at $129,000, with first units available in September.

YOUMEHESHE
www.youmeheshe.com
A "small but tall" house with a difference, this four-story design is London-based Youmeheshe's answer to a British-government challenge to architects to design a $104,000 house. The result is an eye-catching, bio-fueled, timber-clad structure that "touches the ground lightly." Production is slated to begin in southeast London by summer.

CASSE-TETE — ALGECO
www.al geco.fr
When Europe's largest builder of modular offices and outbuildings asked architecture students to imagine private habitats, the 78-sq-m Casse-Tête, featuring mini-terraces and supersleek insides, was one of two winning French designs. Inspired by the results, Algeco now plans to unveil its own high-end prototype and a line of "flexible" housing starting in September. Meanwhile, the prizewinning Casse-Tête can be yours for $95,200.

THE RETREAT
www.retreathomes.co.uk
You can't see the wheels or the chassis, but they're there. The Retreat is really an upscale trailer in disguise and does not require a building permit. You can plop it in your garden as a guesthouse, perhaps, or take it anywhere you would a mobile home. Hip features? Teak sink surrounds, oak plank flooring and optional hot tub. Prices start at $76,000.