Amish-Built modular homes

Bullish on Amish-BuiltWith 2-Year Wait List, St. Mary's Modular-Home Factory Doesn't Need to Advertise

When Joyce Greenfield decided to build a house in the Southern
Maryland town of Chaptico, she knew she wanted a single-story rambler
with at least three bedrooms and fancy bathrooms. At 49 and inching
toward retirement, she needed something affordable -- a modular home.

She turned to a community not widely known for home-building: the Amish.

Relatives recommended an Amish man in St. Mary's County, John
Hertzler. She drove out to his farm in Mechanicsville -- he has no
phone, being Amish -- and described what she wanted. She was thrilled
with the price he quoted, $90,000, but was stunned to hear this:

The waiting list was two years long. Even though the houses take only five weeks to build.

Hertzler's
family business is believed to be the region's only Amish modular-home
outfit -- and it has been booming. With no advertising (not even a
listing in the phone book), Hertzler Modular Homes has cultivated a
following among people looking for a customized and less-expensive
alternative to the cookie-cutter models that dominate residential
developments.