Being a young New Yorker and realizing that I am never going to be able to buy property in New York has got me thinking about prefabs. Specifically about buying an inexpensive prefab house and sticking it on a rooftop. This seems particularly appropriate to the vertical landscape of Manhattan, where there is nowhere to go but up. Apparently wealthy Londoners are taking to the idea of rooftop living. Treehugger reports on a company called First Penthouse that puts chi-chi penthouses on top of London roofs. Sounds lovely, but with the $3,000,000 for 2,000 square feet price tag, this is a little out of my price range.
The Loftcube, built by Werner Aisslinger, is more what I had in mind, at ?55,000. Its specifically designed for rooftops and is transportable by helicopter. Still this is a little too Jetsons for me. Aren’t there any companies out there doing inexpensive, eco-friendly wood + glass prefabs for rooftops? I know you are out there. I am waiting for you!
What I don’t get is why all these rooftop building ideas are coming out of Europe. None of their cities are as dense as Manhattan. Why isn’t anyone doing this here? There is a dearth of information about building on rooftops in manhattan, google it as I might.
If anyone has any more information, please drop me a line