Local young couple explores modular housing – this is their story.
by Zale Davis
My partner and I–two born and raised Quadrites in our early thirties–decided a few years ago that it was time to start looking for our forever home. We had spent years floating around rentals, getting renovicted more than a few times, and increasingly wanting to secure a long-term housing arrangement. With our families and community here, we knew we wanted to settle down on or near Quadra. We looked at all sorts of listings, both on Quadra and Vancouver Island, but, like for so many young people these days, they were always out of budget; even just raw barren land.
We started to explore other options. We were extremely fortunate to have family on Quadra offer us land to put a home on, so with this in mind, we looked into everything we could think of; we thought about building our own house, but with limited building experience and budget, that didn’t feel like a great option. We considered buying a tiny house, but realized that in the long term, we would need more space. We looked into modular homes that are constructed in pieces and then assembled on site, but the ones we looked into were quite pricey even before considering the expense and logistics of putting them together.
It was around this time that we saw an ad for the Dwelly. Dwelly is a modular home that is completely assembled in the company’s warehouse in Maple Ridge and then shipped to site. Of all the prefabricated homes that we looked at, Dwelly was the most appealing to us. We loved the look of the arched roof, the 660sq/ft layout featuring two bedrooms, a full bathroom, open concept kitchen/living/dining area, and a washer/dryer. It was also one of the most affordable options we had seen, and unlike some others, it came with appliances already installed. When we went to view the model home in January 2025 we left with the feeling that it was somewhere we would be happy to live (hopefully) permanently.
The next hurdle was figuring out the additional costs. We coordinated with a project manager to calculate shipping costs from Maple Ridge, including a barge and crane. We coordinated with local contractors to prepare the land. We built a foundation, put in a driveway that could accommodate the truck and crane, installed a hydro pole, and installed plumbing to connect the Dwelly to the property’s well and septic tank.
We ordered the home in April 2025, and it was supposed to be delivered on October 1, 2025. But it wouldn’t be a construction project if there were no delays, and the house ended up being delivered this January. Its journey to get to us took two days: it was loaded onto a semi truck in Maple Ridge and driven to a port in Vancouver, where the truck boarded a barge and was ferried over to Parksville. It stayed the night there before departing early the next morning, driving up to Campbell River. The truck then boarded a second barge and crossed the strait to the Gowlland Harbour log sort. It arrived on our site shortly after the crane, which was rented for the day and able to come over on the ferry. The install took a few hours but went smoothly. By the end of the day we had a house! It took several more days to get all the utilities hooked up but since then we have been living happily in our new home.
Looking back, we are happy with our decision. The home is comfortable, warm, and functional. Though the Dwelly is not quite as customizable as maybe we would have liked, we did get to choose the exterior paint colours and a few interior features. We have plans to build a large covered deck to expand our living space, and erect some out buildings over the coming years.
We know how lucky we are to have access to land to put our home on, and recognize this unfortunately isn’t an option available to everyone. However, with the housing market as it is, and the influx of young people moving rurally, it seems clear that our approach to housing has to shift away from large, single dwelling private properties toward something more accessible and affordable, and prefab houses like Dwelly seem like a great step in that direction!