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FRIDAY, 07.14.17
AZ Real Estate COOL HOME
Saving a cool home fallen into disrepair OTTAVIA ZAPPALA SPECIAL FOR THE REPUBLIC | AZCENTRAL.COM
Earlier this year, real estate investor and devoted preservationist Ben Funke, 31, purchased a 1946 property in a severe state of disrepair located in the greater Maple-Ash area. Had it fallen into the wrong hands, the property could have easily been torn down, perhaps replaced with a condo. Thankfully for the neighborhood, Funke promptly stepped in and restored it instead. It took him four months of fulltime work to get the house fixed and in a position to be rented out.
Prefabricated homes As a response to the post-World War II housing shortage, several home builders started manufacturing prefabricated houses, an innovative concept at the time. Home-Ola, based in Chicago, was one such company. Their homes aimed at the $3,000 market and were available in a handful of different floorplans. They were ordered through the mail and arrived in the form of a kit, which was supposed to take around 300 hours of labor to assemble. The Midwest barn-style house stands out from neighboring properties. It features a sloped roof, probably designed See COOL HOME, Page 22
OTTAVIA ZAPPALA
This prefab home was imported from the Midwest in the 1940s to house Tempe railroad engineers. After years of neglect, it’s finally gotten a major makeover.
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