As you may have noticed, we’ve stumbled into a theme here. This is another European home company focusing on bringing modern habitation to the water. Based in Sweden, Modern Marine Homes completed their N’ckros Villa in 2003 and have been utilizing it as an inhabited show home to evaluate materials, technical solutions and functionality. The University of Kalmar has also been using the home for testing as part of an energy research project.
The marine villa has six rooms; the bedroom and bath are on the lower floor, with an open plan above, including kitchen, office, dining and living rooms, and a 100m-sq rooftop garden. The home is on a concrete foundation, with glass and aluminum as the primary exterior materials. Information on the website (at least in English) is rather vague. There is a suggestion of environmental-friendliness, though details are sparse. It’s also unclear whether the homes are available for purchase at this time, though it appears that customer sales are in progress, and web updates are pending.
Regardless, it’s apparent from the photos that this is a gorgeous home, with light and space to match the expansive surroundings it’s designed for.
Link: www.mmh.se
Well, thinking it over I’ve reached the following conclusions:
1. The only benefit I can see to these off-hand is that they are bigger and more ‘house-like’ than the common houseboat.
2. I wonder if these will be taxed as ‘property’, i.e. land if they become more prevalent. Are houseboats taxed as real property in any of the countries where they are common?
3. Could the effort into making these be better put into making a modern houseboat.
Usually one leases dock space and the marine/dock owner pays property taxes-just like any tenant.
I lived on a sailboat for 2 years as a teen and my discomforts were all in the shower department. How are the generator/water systems? Space is one thing-and something that one gets as a free perk of living on the water rather than jammed into standard housing, but utilities are quite another.