The manufactured home pictured here has never been lived in; it is brand-new, fresh off the assembly line. Shipped to sales lots complete with curtains and wall-to-wall carpeting, these display homes are furnished, propped, and market-researched to appeal to the American consumer. With names like Cascade Villa, Hearthstone, and Chateau Elan, they are designed to generate nostalgia tinged with aspiration. They are earnest and infused with a sense of potential. They try hard- the flowers stay fresh, the poster fireplace roars. This could be the baby’s room! They are theatre sets eager for the cast to arrive. The people in my photographs are sales-people or shoppers, playing house.

     When Ross Shelton lost the home he had built by hand to a forest fire, he decided to try a Golden West brand manufactured home. This became the first of several manufactured homes he and his family lived in. This close familiarity with the product allowed him to become a successful manufactured home sales associate. The best days are when he hands the keys to the new owners, though, as he says, "You have to weed through the tire-kickers” to find the buyers who are serious. Ross currently lives in a Kit brand “Cypress” model.

    Amy Eckert is an artist and freelance photographer based in NYC. Her commercial clients include Time, Life, and The New York Times Magazine. She is currently working on a long-term project, “Manufacturing Home,” photographing brand new, manufactured homes around the U.S. Her other projects have included studies of long-haul truckers, a nuclear submarine, and the Daughters of the American Revolution.