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Walter Kuhn originally started building Modular homes in the winter of 1981. His sons were both involved in the family business while attending school. Dwight Kuhn went on to become a Chartered Accountant, and Calvin Kuhn received a degree in Building and Construction Engineering Technology. Walter retired in 1990, but by 1993, Dwight and Calvin wanted to return to Modular Home construction. They saw a major opportunity to apply many of the new building techniques used in conventional housing to the Modular home market. Designs tended to be functional, but not innovative. Many of the plans had been around since the 1950's. Vaulting, or "open beam" designs were often discouraged. Finishing tended to be simple, to enable fast construction and set-up. The goal of Western Modular Homes was to reproduce some of the new open designs being done in conventional construction in a modular format. This would enable rural families to enjoy the new modern designs being enjoyed by people in the cities. In addition, new finishing touches, such as rounded corners, real wood trim, higher vaulting, hardwood floors, and custom jetted tubs; custom lighting and plumbing were made available in Modular homes. Some of the new designs had three or more modules. What was groundbreaking then, is now industry standard.  Walter had built 196 Modular Homes from 1981 to 1990. Western Modular Homes built a Modular office/show home, called the "Golden" in the winter of 1993. Project M197 started in the winter of 1994. It became apparent that the high vaulting and open designs were going to require additional strengthening to enable transportation to a building site. Additional blocking in the floor system was devised, as well as additional gluing and screwing of floors and sheeting. In 2001, we sold our 500th modular home. In 2008, we reached 750. Each one is truly "customized" and each family has worked with our designers to build their home to suit their own specific needs. With so many plans already built, some families just have us duplicate one of our showhomes and they just choose their own colours. We never tell our clients that something they want cannot be done, we try to find a way to do it. We are still innovating and improving our homes. Our newest showhome, the Stratford, showcases some of the latest features, including “smart” technologies for controlling lights, sound, and security. Niches, granite countertops, realistic faux brick, hardboard siding, the lastest cabinet, plumbing and lighting features. While we explore new features, we also recognize the things in construction that have worked best. Fir joists, Fir subfloor, 16 inch centres on all framing, Spruce or fir plywood sheathing are tried and true. If you want manufactured joints or OSB, we can provide it, but we prefer old fashioned framing. We are confident that once you compare us to our competition, you will agree that we are truly "A Cut Above the Rest". In 2001, Western Modular Homes received the Alberta New Home Warranty Golden Hammer Award. This recognizes our tenth consecutive year of service excellence. In 2006, we received the Distinguished Builder Medallion for receiving 15 consecutive service awards. We are one of very few offsite home builders who are members of the Alberta New Home Warranty Program, and we are proud to be associated with what we believe to be the premier warranty program in Alberta. |