RV/MH Heritage Foundation · Elkhart, Indiana · Preserving the legacy of two industries
RV/MH Heritage Foundation · Elkhart, Indiana · Preserving the legacy of two industries
Explore the manufactured housing industry as a major American story of home design, factory construction, mobility, affordability, and innovation. The Scoular Manufactured Housing Museum traces that story from early mobile living through historic homes and today’s manufactured-housing designs.
Begin with the covered wagon, then follow a sequence of settings that highlight manufactured housing in the 1930s, 1950s, 1970s, and 1980s. The museum presents these periods as steps in a continuing story, connecting earlier forms of mobile living with the homes and construction approaches that followed.
Furnished interiors, sights, and sounds give the journey a sense of place. As you move through the displays, compare the different periods and consider how the idea of home has developed alongside the industry.
The collection’s story continues into contemporary manufactured housing, showing how home design and construction have evolved. Visitors can explore three furnished homes: a 28-by-52-foot double-wide, a Clayton CrossMod home reached through an interior connection from the museum, and a 16-by-76-foot home. Interactive exhibits look ahead to future possibilities, including an imaginative manufactured housing settlement on Mars. The experience also includes seating and an area designed for children ages 3–5.
The Scoular Manufactured Housing Museum preserves the housing side of America’s factory-built story through real homes spanning more than eight decades. Verified exhibits include the 1938 Schult Mobile Home, 1955 Spartan Imperial Mansion, 1972 Holly Park Mobile Home, 1975 Don-A-Bell Mobile Home, 2020 Cavco “The National,” 2022 Clayton CrossMod, and 2022 Champion Redman. Together they help visitors follow the transition from early mobile housing to HUD-code manufactured homes and contemporary residential design.
A surviving example of the transition from travel trailers toward year-round mobile living. Schult Homes, founded by Wilbur Schult in 1934, helped demonstrate how factory-built housing could meet residential needs while remaining transportable.
Aircraft-inspired aluminum construction and a highly finished residential interior made the Spartan Imperial Mansion a striking expression of postwar mobile-home craftsmanship and design.
Holly Park reflects the growth of factory-built housing as a mainstream residential choice, with increasingly residential floorplans and features designed for longer-term living.
This home represents the generation built as the federal HUD Code reshaped the industry. It helps visitors see the transition from the “mobile home” era toward today’s regulated manufactured housing.
A contemporary manufactured home illustrating open-plan design, efficient factory construction, residential styling and the industry’s continuing role in providing attainable housing.
The CrossMod concept blends factory-built efficiency with site-built design cues such as permanent foundations, elevated roof pitches and attached garages, expanding how manufactured housing can fit into traditional neighborhoods and financing.
Modern design, energy-conscious construction, customizable floorplans and precision factory production show how far manufactured housing has evolved from its early mobile-home roots.
Viewed together, these homes document changing construction methods, regulation, design expectations and the growing role of manufactured housing in American communities. The museum’s interpretation continues to expand as additional signage, archival records and exhibit stories are verified.
