Home Sweet (Attainable) Home
Think home ownership and affordability are mutually exclusive? CrossMod® homes by Clayton will change your mind.
The Cypress, the nation’s first official shotgun-style CrossMod home, debuted at the 2025 Innovative Housing Showcase on the National Mall.
For a growing number of Americans, the dream of owning a home has quietly slipped out of reach. The median new home now costs $424,900, up 37 percent since 2020, and the typical first-time buyer has climbed to an all-time high of 40 years old.*
Enter CrossMod by Clayton
Built to change the math, CrossMod homes combine the efficiency of off-site construction with the curb appeal and permanence of a traditional home. Each one is built in a climate-controlled home-building facility before being transported to the homesite and placed on a permanent foundation. There, it’s completed with features such as a covered porch and attached garage. Elevated roof pitches, drywall interiors, residential-style exteriors and hardwood cabinetry give CrossMod homes the look and feel of site-built homes, blending naturally into established neighborhoods. Built to Clayton eBuilt® ENERGY STAR® standards, they can reduce annual energy costs by an estimated 30 to 50 percent.**
“The core technology supporting off-site construction was already in place,” says Andrew Bryant, national director of business development for Clayton’s CrossMod homes initiative. “It brings together the efficiencies of factory-built construction with the design standards, fit and finish commonly associated with site-built homes. It’s an opportunity to help more American families achieve homeownership.”
Site-Built Benefits Beyond Aesthetics
The similarities extend beyond appearance. CrossMod homes qualify for conventional 30-year mortgages and, because they meet HUD standards, are eligible for financing backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They are appraised using comparable site-built homes, allowing owners to build equity in much the same way as their neighbors.
That combination of affordability and long-term value is already reshaping communities around the country. In Kansas City, Kansas, three developers are building a 180-home infill neighborhood at historic Klamm Park, where shotgun-style CrossMod homes fit existing narrow lots while selling for well below the area’s median home price. In Knoxville, Tennessee, Harvest Meadow offers thoughtfully designed homes ranging from 1,600 to 1,800 square feet. And in California — one of the nation’s least affordable housing markets — the first two-story CrossMod homes are scheduled to go on sale in 2027.
Acacia Village in Santa Rosa, California, will be home to the country’s first multistory CrossMods.
New Housing Options Driven by Innovation
Innovations such as the new two-story CrossMod model stem from the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which made the home’s steel chassis optional for homes built to federal standards. Without it, homes can sit lower on continuous foundations while making stackable designs possible.
“Removing the chassis creates greater flexibility in both design and construction,” Bryant says. “It opens doors for more architectural styles, additional floor plan possibilities and homes that blend even more seamlessly into a variety of neighborhoods.” In addition to multistory designs, the change makes basements practical while reducing construction costs and improving resistance to wind and earthquakes.
CrossMod homes are not limited to dedicated developments, either. Subject to local zoning and land-use requirements, they can be placed on virtually any residential lot. Nationally, Bryant says, the homes are selling for about 18 percent below the median home sale price, giving buyers access to new construction at a significantly lower cost.
Ranch-style CrossMod homes like the Belmont are providing more affordable home options in urban Atlanta and Kansas City.
“Builder-developers are looking to reach families who want new construction at an attainable price point that, quite frankly, just isn’t there today,” Bryant says.
As housing affordability continues to challenge buyers across the country, CrossMod homes offer a different path forward: one that combines attainable pricing, traditional neighborhood appeal and the opportunity to grow generational wealth. For families priced out of today’s market, that’s real hope right at their doorstep.
References
*U.S. Census Bureau & U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. https://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/pdf/newressales_202605.pdf
*StatsPanda. https://statspanda.com/statistics/us-new-home-median-price
*National Association of REALTORS®. (2025, November). 2025 Profile of home buyers and sellers. NAR Research Group. nar.realtor
**ebuiltbyclayton.com