Anita Campbell
County Reporter
Offering affordable housing to people of Benton County for over 50 years, Pitts Homes of Warsaw helped a local family this past week to reach their goal of home ownership as their 1800 square foot home was delivered to their family farm near Warsaw on Wednesday, May 17.
Pitts manager Jerry Downs was on site to oversee the placement as two large cranes lifted the sections of the house on the basement of the home of Stan and Amanda Adler.
“It was so amazing to watch the cranes lift the sections of our house and put them together so quickly,” said Stan Adler. “We had been planning for this moment for over a year but when it came together it was really fast.”
Downs stated that usually it only takes six months from the time a customer decides on a floor plan to have the house built and delivered but the Adler's waited for a year because COVID slowed down production.
“Actually, this house has been in storage for several months as we were waiting for the basement to be prepared for the set up of the Adler's home,” said Downs.
Downs, who will celebrate 40 years with Pitts in October, has been the manager of the Warsaw branch of Pitts Homes since its establishment here in 1983. The company was established in Hermitage in 1970 and now has businesses in Clinton, Bolivar, Strafford and Warsaw.
The Adler's chose Pitts Homes for their purchase because they wanted to buy local and they needed affordable housing.
“We looked around at several modular businesses across the state, but we knew Jerry and we knew he would treat us fairly,” said Amanda Adler. “I wanted to be able to be a part of the plans as we searched for the perfect house for our forever home.”
In selecting a modular home, the Adler's were able to pick a floor plan that suited their family and then customize it to fit their needs. Downs explained that a modular home is actually an engineered house with the same construction as if it were built on site.
“The main difference between an engineered house and an on-site constructed house is that the on-site house is exposed to the elements as it is being built while an engineered house is built inside the company’s warehouse,” said Downs.
Modular homes are constructed entirely in factories then are transported to their sites on flatbed trucks. They meet strict quality-control requirements prior to delivery and are built to strict specifications.
Assembled with the use of cranes, the final product is almost indistinguishable from comparable ones built on-site and must conform to the same local, state and regional building codes as their site-built neighbors. They must be structurally approved by building inspectors.
“We had two homes delivered to the Benton County area on the day the Adler's received their home,” said Downs. “The homes left the factory in Indiana at 5:30 in the morning and arrived in Benton County the next day. Both houses were standing on their sites within hours of arrival.”
The Adler's selected a floor plan with the Pitts crew and then made adjustments to fit their family’s needs.
“We wanted three bedrooms, two baths and an office,” said Amanda Adler. “So, we selected a floor plan to fit that then turned what would have been a breakfast nook into an office for Stan just off the kitchen. We have a working fireplace and a open kitchen/living room area to give us plenty of space for our large extended family.”
Downs explained that with the many different floor plans available, he could help customers fit the needs of their families. “As long as it could be built in two halves, we can modify the floor plan to meet the needs of the customer,” said Downs. “We can build a two-story structure or the single depending on how much the customer wants to spend. We are very competitive when it comes to price with the traditional on-site constructions.”
The Adler's decided on building a basement to set their home on instead of a concrete pad.
“The water heater, water softener and heating/ac systems will all be located in the basement so that frees up space on the first level,” said Amanda Adler. “For now, the basement will be mainly storage, but we want to finish it someday when our children are older so we had plumbing and electric outlets installed in the basement.”
The basement actually took more time to construct than the house that now sets on top of it. Benton County is known for its limestone and clay so digging down several feet was a chore..
“We have been dreaming of this day for over a year and with COVID slowing down the process, I thought this day would never come, but here it is,” said Amanda Adler with tears in her eyes.
While COVID did slow down production, Downs said that Pitts Homes actually continued production through it all.
“COVID increased demand for manufactured homes because people wanted to get out of the city,” said Downs. “We never shut down and people came to our lot to look through the models throughout the COVID pandemic.”
Amber and Trey Glenn from Warsaw also recently purchased a home from Pitts Homes to accommodate their family of seven.
“From start to finish, this project has gone relatively smooth,” said Amber Glenn. “We moved in over the weekend and couldn’t be happier! We have a lot of outside work to do, but the inside is everything we’d hoped for. Thank you to Pitts Homes in Warsaw!”
Downs and his wife Kathy actually first lived in a home right on the Pitts lot until they bought their farm north of Warsaw. Their daughter Eryn (Kellner) grew up on the Pitts Homes lot and now works as the office manager and salesperson. Both Downs and the Kellner family live in modular homes.
“I consider myself to be very lucky to have found a job I love very early in my career and I enjoy taking care of my customers and helping them reach home ownership,” said Downs. “Seeing a family reach their goals is very satisfying.”
