Need to test drive a prefab unit before trading in your energy hogging habitat for life in the green lane? Now is your chance. Rent a little cutie this summer and see how it goes. Here are a few goodies on the vacay market:

12 Container Houses:

June through August, the highly touted shipping material miracle in Maine is hipper than hip with undisturbed nature views, for $6,000-$10,000 per week. Yes, you too can experience the pure eco joy forged by architect Adam Kalkin of the prefab-forward firm, Architecture and Hygiene. Of course, it demands the kind of disposable cash scored in exploitative industries like banking, insurance, corporate public relations, war making and profiting. Not really the prefab message, but oh well. Nice digs if you can afford them. And you can get them, if you try.

Onward to good deals  for recession victims on uncomfortably tight budgets (i.e. cook your own meals on all trips, cart your own vat of discount vodka and olives, steal extra toilet paper rolls when you check out). Here is a sampling of some of the most fab prefabs you can rent at a variety of rates.

Roll out the green carpet and feast your eyes on a great find:

Rolling Hut Prefab Vacation Cabins can be rented for a painless $100 per night. At a former RV camp in Mozana, Washington, the low rollers offer a provocative perch for taking in the surrounding mountains – a low impact approach to “civilized camping” by Olson Sunberg Kundig Allen Architects. Sign me up after that June Bat Mitzvah in Seattle!

This is my kind of camping:

The upscale cabin experience in the Cascade mountains of Washington can be had in this Mount Baker eco “Method Cabin” and is available for $250 a night or $1500 a week.

Ooh, la lot!

Check out the sweet surroundings visible through that cute port hole. Cube-shaped teeny vacation rentals by Carre d’etoiles can be rented in France and eventually other European destinations, providing the opportunity for hotel operators to grow their operations affordable by branching out into prefab, allowing guests a unique, eco accommodation for 90 euros a night. Great stargazing provides the ecotainment at night.

All the Wright Stuff:

Experience a Frank vision of stylish function for an overnight or two. The Duncan House in Acme, Pa., was designed by frank Lloyd Wright and opened for rental last summer after being relocated to its new digs 35 miles southeast of Pittsburgh from Illinois. Prefabricated by Marshall Erdman, a Wisconsin builder, it was bought by an electrical engineer named David Duncan after reading about the project in the mid-fifties.  According to the New York Times, the reassembly required putting back together thousands of parts. Today it sits on a 125-acre tract of woodland owned by young builder, Tom Papinchak and goes for $385 a night with a two night minimum. Make reservations and find seasonal specials here.

Blast from the past

Rent a vintage Airstream at a campground like the Camp Lotus resort in Coloma, California. It’s the real deal, the precursor to the prefab and some of the Silver Trailers can be set up for you, from $175 to $250 a night.

Images: brewbooks, Vrbo, Alternative Consumer, Prefab, New York Times, Silvertrailers

The post Great Green Escapes: Vacation Prefab Units for Rent to Suit a Variety of Budgets appeared first on EcoSalon.

How ’bout a swap meet? No, not the kind where you buy second-hand junk from a vendor and homemade tamales from a truck but the kind where you connect with someone who lives somewhere you want to go (like a villa in Cabo San Lucas) and you exchange your digs. Now, that’s a romantic way to meet, if you ask me.

It all starts with listing your place and finding a good trade, either via Craig’s List regional ads or through one of the many online home exchange services. According to Move Trends, the recession is generating a boost in swaps with listings jumping from 20,000 last year to 27,000 in May of 2009.

It’s a great strategy for those with homes or apartments in desirable locations. I remember a Bay Area lawyer once telling me he was able to swap his turn-of-the-century family home in Alameda for a castle in Great Britain. Another friend is headed to Israel this summer, trading her family’s L.A. digs for a nice pad in Jerusalem. She wants some holy land. They want Beverly Hills. You don’t have to own a luxury estate for your home to be attractive to other travel bugs. Simply having a pool, garden or being close to a city hub could close the deal.

Also, don’t think it’s just the last resort for folks who can’t afford a luxury hotel or other inn. A recent article on swapping in New York Magazine recounts the story of  David Drake, a wealthy NY venture capitalist, who swapped his sprawling, 4,000-square-foot Soho loft with a baby grand piano and plasma TV for a 2,000-acre cattle ranch near Houston, Texas. “It was amazing!” he shared. ” We got to shoot, we got to ride. Rather than pay $5,000 per night at the Four Seasons to get a really nice suite, why not?”

It’s a sign more moneyed homeowners are securing this form of budget travel for a variety of reasons, including being able to get an authentic cultural experience in an exotic region with all of the comforts of someone’s home. New York Magazine interviewed Margaret Carr, owner of Exclusive Exchanges, who says a man with a Tuscan villa is receiving many inquiries for his property from affluent swappers willing to trade their fancy co-ops and Manhattan penthouses.

I had concerns, myself, about swapping because of strangers using my bedding and furniture and living with my artwork and other personal belongings. This is why so often those with luxury properties swap their vacation homes rather than primary residences. The vacation homes are often staged with decor designed to be used by renters.

Which areas are most sought after for swaps? According to Carr, New York is the top destination, followed by Paris. Maybe it’s not just that these cities are exciting and romantic but also because lodging there can run a small fortune.

Images: Noah Kalina

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