DESIGNS  The New Economy Home - Lowe’s Cottage Series - Custom Designs    

With designs ranging from the original 308 sq. ft. Katrina Cottage to a 100,000 sq. ft. retirement residence, Marianne Cusato offers a full spectrum design options which adapt to our changing times. Her latest concept, The New Economy Home has been hailed by the media as a lifeboat for the middle class. Contact us at info@MarianneCusato.com for more information about  the availability of existing designs or customizing a design to meet your specific needs.

The New Economy Home is the first house of its kind designed specifically to meet the needs of our shifting times. It is a 1676 sq. ft. 4 bedroom/3.5 bathroom house that has the flexibility to adapt to the owners needs in either good times or bad. This adaptability is achieved with  a first floor bedroom suite with private entrance and porch that can function as part of the whole house or break off into a private income producing apartment.

Marianne Cusato has partnered with leading experts in affordability, Fernando Pages Ruiz, and building science, Mark LaLiberte, to create designs that are economic to build and efficient to maintain over time. The building envelope and construction details merge the latest technologies in green building with common sense details that maximize the

value of sun and water while minimizing the load placed on mechanical systems.

Plan packages will be available for sale this spring. Packages include: building plans, materials list and a best practices guide that outlines how to build affordably with sustainable features and techniques. 

The New Economy Home responds to the realities of our time with a design that is economical to build, efficient to maintain and adaptable over time. But just as importantly, it is comfortable to live in and attractive to look at. Living within our means does not have to mean trading down, it can and hopefully will, mean trading up and making our lives better.

Visit www.NewEconomyHome.com for more information & floor plans

 

As the demand for smaller homes increases nationwide, the Lowe’s Katrina Cottages - hailed as the new Sears & Roebuck House - continue to gain popularity. 

A series of 19 designs, developed by Marianne Cusato and a team of designers, are available for sale at Lowe’s Homes Centers nationwide. Design range from 308 sq. ft. up to 1809 sq. ft. Several of the cottages have grow options that allow smaller cottages to be expanded over time.

In June 2006, Congress appropriated $400 million for an alternative housing pilot project based on the Katrina Cottages. Mississippi has delivered 2800 cottages inspired by the Katrina Cottages to people that lost their homes in the storm. Louisiana has started construction on 500 units which include the several designs from the Lowe’s Katrina Cottage Series.

Visit www.CusatoCottages.com for more information & to view designs

Marianne Cusato works with developers, builders and individual homeowners to provide custom designs for single family, multi-family and commercial buildings. Services range from schematic design, design development to full construction drawings. She frequently partners with architectural practices and urban planners to provide services for larger projects.

Her projects include a 100,000 square foot retirement residence and block townhouses in the Village at Niagara-on-the-Lake, a new traditional neighborhood development master planned by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co.

in Ontario, Canada.

Other projects include the design of the Mary Mae Small Home, commissioned by the Mary Mae Foundation to reward excellence in education for private secondary schools, this 1000 sq. ft. home is designed to house a family of four. The first five homes were built at Interlochen School of the Arts in Traverse City, MI.

Email info@MarianneCusato.com for more information about custom designs