Kit Homes in California - Top Brands That Sell Kit Houses in California with Costs, Photos, & FAQs

Kit homes, like many other types of prefabricated houses, offer several unique advantages over site-built homes, particularly in California. In general, prefab homes in California offer benefits like reduced build times and more control over the project's budget compared to a traditional, site built house.

Depending on the project location, however, some types of prefab construction, particularly modular homes, might not be an option in California. This is largely due to the difficulty shipping and installing large modules at the build site. This can be true for dense, urban lots in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, or San Diego. This can also be the case in areas with hard to navigate roads such as Northern California, Lake Tahoe, or the LA or Orange County Hills.

For buyers in California looking to access the benefits of prefab construction continue reading below to see our guide to kit homes in California. We answer key questions like what is a kit house? How much does it cost to build a kit home in California? And where can I find a kit home for sale in California?

Overview of Kit Homes in California

What are kit homes?

In their simplest form, kit homes are houses that are built using a kit of pre-selected materials that are shipped to and assembled at the final build site. This can range from structural kits made up of pre-measured and cut components to form the structural shell of the house to complete building kits which might include things like structural insulated panels (SIPs) and interior finishes like flooring, doors, windows, and cabinetry.

When researching companies to work with, it is important to understand which elements are included in their home kits. Not only will this affect which materials you or your contractor will need to locally source for your project, but it will also impact how the kit cost relates to your project’s final cost.

What types of kit homes exist in California?

As mentioned above, a kit home loosely refers to any home that is built using components that are assembled off-site and later joined and finished at the build site. On one end of the spectrum, this includes houses built using timber frame home kits or structural shell kits built using pre-cut lumber. While these types of kits are the least expensive, they require the highest level of on-site work for assembly and finishing. As such, the off-site component costs are a relatively small portion of the project’s overall cost.

There are some companies that sell home materials kits which are more inclusive than structural shell kits. While the exact list of what’s included varies from company to company, these kits often come with some level of interior finishes like flooring, cabinetry, and sometimes even appliances. It is still important to note that they are all delivered as kits and still need to be assembled and installed at the home site, resulting in costs similar to the structural shell kits above.

One last type of prefab construction that we consider to be home kits are panelized homes. While they might not be as all-encompassing as other types of kit homes, panelized homes are made up of a series of structural insulated panels (SIPs), which when connected, make up the insulated structural shell of a home. SIP homes are often quicker to set up than other types of structural shell kits and are often engineered with high insulation levels.

How much does it cost to build a kit home in California?

With the caveat that no two projects have the same costs, especially for highly variable projects like kit homes, we estimate the cost to build a kit home in California to be between $400 - $600+ per square foot. This is an all inclusive cost estimate and accounts for line items such as the kit cost, home assembly and finishing, site preparations, delivery, and permitting. This is a rough estimate for homes built using a home kit in relatively expensive areas like LA County or Orange County or areas surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area.

When comparing different home kits, and especially their prices, it is important to make note of what is included in the kit and what is not. For some more complete home kits, we often estimate total project costs to be around 3x the cost of the kit. For kits that are not as complete, such as SIPs only or structural shell only kits - actual project costs can be closer to 5x the kit price. It is important to mention though, that project-specific conditions and wants will play a large role in your project’s cost.

Kit Homes For Sale in California

Structural Shell Kits and Timber Frame Home Kits

Purcell Timber Frame Homes (Nelson, B.C., Canada)

Purcell Timber Frame Homes is a Canadian-based home kit designer and builder. They specialize in timber frame home kits for modern, cabin, and farmhouse-inspired homes. Though, it is worth noting that a large percentage of their work is for custom home designs. Their kits include the timber framing and structural materials to form the shell of the home which must be finished by local contractors.

We estimate homes from Purcell Timber Frame Homes to cost $400 - $600+ per square foot for a finished timber frame kit home. For example, we estimate their 2,200 square foot Green Gable home to have turn key costs around $981,000.

DC Structures (Damascus, Oregon)

DC Structures is a timber frame & kit home manufacturer that specializes in cabin style and barn homes. They have over 10 models of timber frame and barn cabin homes with options for personalization. Depending on your project & location, they may even be able to provide a general contractor to assemble the home and barn kit.

We estimate homes from DC Structures to cost 3 - 5 times the base kit cost. For example, we estimate their 3,392 square foot Thielsen timber frame home to have turn key costs around $1,571,000. For more information, see our list of DC Structures’ houses, with complete project cost estimates.

Avrame USA (Salt Lake City, UT)

Avrame USA is a kit home designer and seller that specializes in unique, a-frame style homes. They have several product lines for their kit homes with small studios ranging from 140 square feet, to multi-bedroom cabins and over 1,600 square feet of living space. Their home kits are sold in several packages from plans only to structural shell or also an interior paneling package. While they used to sell nearly complete home kits, they have recently changed their product offering and most interior finishes must be client sourced.

We estimate homes from Avrame USA to cost $339 - $596+ per square foot. For example, we estimate their 1,600 square foot Trio 150 to have turn key costs around $542,000. For more information, see our list of Avrame USA’s houses, with complete project cost estimates.

Lindal Cedar Homes (Seattle, WA)

Lindal Cedar Homes is a home designer that specializes in post and beam construction. Their homes often have modern design elements combined with cabin and farmhouse styles. They offer both custom & pre designed homes, with most of their pre-designed home styles largely incorporating timber and glass into the design. It is worth noting that Lindal Cedar Homes does not actually sell or build the kits themselves. Instead, they work with a network of dealers that are responsible for locally managing projects. In California, they have 7 partners that cover all areas of the state including wine country, the Bay Area, and Southern California.

We estimate homes from Lindal Cedar Homes to cost $450 - $600+ per square foot. For example, we estimate their 2,493 square foot Cascade to have turn key costs starting at $1,120,000. Due to their sales model though, it is possible that project costs vary from distributor to distributor.

Sander Architects (Marina del Rey, CA)

Sander Architects is a custom home designer that specializes in high-end, modern homes. What makes them unique, and a member of this kit home builder list, is that they design homes using their “part prefab, all custom” approach. Unlike other builders on the list that offer pre-designed floor plans, Sander Architects works on one-off home designs that incorporate prefab construction techniques to speed up the build process and reduce construction costs. In particular, they design homes that incorporate prefab steel framing, which allows them to achieve a distinct, modern look.

As a custom home builder, it is difficult to provide an exact cost range for their projects, as each project can vary greatly. However, we estimate their work to start around $450+ per square foot.

Panelized Home Kits

Studio Shed (Louisville, CO)

Studio Shed is a kit home designer and manufacturer that is based in Colorado, though they can work with customers throughout California. They have 2 lines of homes that are well-suited for use as either a panelized ADU or small square footage home. All of their models, while not exactly custom, allow for a high-degree of personalizations.

We estimate homes from Studio Shed to cost $400 - $650+ per square foot. For example, we estimate their 1,000 square foot Summit 1000 to have turn key costs around $542,000. For more information, see our list of Studio Shed’s houses, with complete project cost estimates.

FabCab (Seattle, WA)

FabCab is a prefab design firm that specializes in panelized and timber frame homes. Their modern designs come in two product lines, modern and cabin-inspired, and can be fully-customized. Because of their high-degree of flexibility, they can take on projects ranging from small ADUs to large, single-family homes.

We estimate a finished panelized or timber frame home from FabCab to cost between $450 - $600 per square foot. They estimate that their home kits typically account for around 35% of the project’s total cost. For example, we estimate their 1,366 square foot ModCab L to have turn key costs around $612,000. For more information, see our list of FabCab’s houses, with complete project cost estimates.

For project-specific help with your kit home in California, consider our Prefab Coaching program. Or, continue researching your project with our resources for Prefab and Modular Homes in California, Container Homes for Sale in California, Tiny Homes for Sale in California, and Manufactured Homes for Sale in California.