During my visit to Hyde Park earlier this week, I dropped by the Museum of Science and Industry‘s Smart Home: Green + Wired exhibit.
After speaking with Anne Rashford, the museum’s director of temporary exhibits, I joined a tour and had a closer look at some of the finishes and design features in the 2,500 square-foot mkSolaire model home.
The house is a modular home designed by California-based Michelle Kaufmann Designs. It was constructed in Decatur, Ind., and shipped to the Hyde Park museum campus in March. Rashford says the house would only cost about $400,000 to build, not including property costs.
Kaufmann seems an odd choice for the exhibit, considering that her firm doesn’t build homes anywhere in the Midwest, according to her own Web site, and prefabricated homes don’t seem nearly as popular in Chicago as they are on the West Coast. I suppose the lack of modular homes in the area itself might be reason enough to feature one at the museum.
Below is a look at the kitchen, and the garage is in the back. Check back later for more pictures and video from my visit.
