CW Dwellings, a local builder of modular homes, transforms commercial shipping containers into affordable, but comfortable and attractive modern homes, writes Pete Bannan for the Daily Local News.

The company, which has a sample home on display at the Great Valley Shopping Center, was started two years ago by Argentinean expats Guillermo Weston and Carlo Castelanelli. Now, they have started marketing their product.

Castelanelli, who now lives in West Chester, realized the potential of shipping containers as homes when he entered a competition in California to build housing for farm workers.

“The design competition was cancelled, but I thought this could be good for other places too,” he said.

Advertisement

The company uses “one trip” shipping containers that have only been used once for overseas shipment. They are made from rust-resistant steel and measure eight feet wide by 20 to 40 feet long, and are then modified to have less of a boxy feel before being fitted with a kitchen and bathroom.

The finished home then undergoes a third-party inspection at the plant, similar to mobile homes. But according to Weston, they fall under industrialized housing, which means they are constructed to the international residential code.

“The life expectancy is forever when properly maintained,” said Weston. “No termites, no rust, no sagging. It’s steel.”

Read more about CW Dwellings in the Daily Local News here.

[uam_ad id=”72256″]