Historic Ellis Island ferry becomes houseboat

A pair of New York artist/designers, Victoria and Richard MacKenzie-Childs,  have transformed the last surviving Ellis Island ferry (built in 1907) into their houseboat home -- complete with plantings inside tires on the dock, and a chicken coop aboard -- and it's a historic beauty. From the Inhabitat.com story:

In keeping with the spirit of recycling and preservation, the couple have integrated the ship's most characteristic features into their everyday lives. The passenger deck serves as a beautiful dining room and the helm makes a cozy office space.

The Yankee Ferry, built in 1907, was used in World War I, then embarked on its career taking immigrants from incoming ships to Ellis Island.  It's registered as a historic vessel on the National Register of Historic Places.

Nerd Girl photos: Kendall Ronzano, the Santa Cruz 16-year-old who's building a tiny house on a trailer with a charitable goal, sends photos of her project (and herself). Ronzano's website is called NerdGirlHomes.

Prefab homes: Forbes.com takes a look at prefab-home manufacturer Blu Homes,  including an overview of prefab history:

So-called modern prefab had become a staple of home-design magazines during the housing boom. But the economics of mass-producing green homes like Priuses didn't work. For one thing, building houses narrow enough to fit on a truck while still wide enough to live in is no mean engineering feat. Then there was all that custom work. "The options package just grew and grew, and economies of scale were never reached," says Allison Arieff, former editor-in-chief of Dwell, who wrote the book on prefab in 2002 (Prefab, Gibbs Smith). "The homes ended up being all one-offs." When overall housing demand tanked, some prefab firms shut their doors.

With Blu Homes, headquartered in Waltham, Mass., (Bill) Haney and (Maura) McCarthy are building a different model. Their solution: steel and software. Using recycled-steel frames with large hinges, Blu homes fold up to fit on a standard tractor-trailer that handles cargo up to 8.5 feet wide.

They use software to automate processes, and -- most interesting, I think -- they cut out the subcontractors.

"You have to control the manufacturing, design, shipping and the finishing," says McCarthy, 31. "The guys who pack up the thing in the factory have to be the same guys who set it up on-site."

Blu is planning to open a San Francisco-area factory this year.  The current line runs from the sizable Breezehouse, starting at $495,000, down to the Origin, which starts at $95,000 for an 18-by-24-foot home (432 square feet).

Haney, by the way, also is a documentary filmmaker.

Read the rest of the Blu Homes story here.

Water tank home: A Colombian artist, Miler Lagos, turned a water tank into a tiny floating house that he launched into Smithtown Bay, off Long Island, NY. As you might guess, it's also an art project.

Lagos said when he first saw a water tank on top of a building in New York City, he knew he wanted to transform it.

"The idea is to rebirth the function of the tank," Lagos said. "In Colombia there are some towns with houses of this shape ... when I saw the water tank in the city it reminded me of my town."

Lagos is videotaping the water tank for an art piece that will be featured . . . in an exhibit at the Magnan Metz, a gallery in Chelsea, Manhattan.