60 Years of Building Modular Homes

Our Modular Home Building History

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  • 1959

    Nationwide Homes is founded and begins building & shipping owner/builder kits throughout the United States.

  • 1969

    Nationwide begins building modular homes and expands into the Southern and Middle Atlantic States.

  • 1976

    The first Owner Completion Program is introduced that allows homeowners to recognize “instant equity” in their investment.

  • 1982

    Nationwide is recognized as one of the largest builders of Condominium & Apartment Projects in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

  • 1986

    Nationwide expands its Mid-Atlantic reach from Georgia to New Jersey.

  • 1994

    Nationwide Custom Homes named ‘Builder of the Year’ by the Home Builders Association of Virginia.

  • 1995

    Nationwide builds its 20,000th modular home.

  • 1996

    Nationwide opens a new state-of-the-art building facility in Martinsville, VA.

  • 1999

    Nationwide acquires Arabi Homes in Arabi, GA increasing its capacity by 50% and enters into the Florida market.

    Nationwide wins “Excellence in Model Home Design Award” by the Building Systems Council for the Charleston, TARA, Auburn, Jefferson & Downingtown models.

  • 2001

    Nationwide reports record sales for the eighth straight year.

    Nationwide designs and builds a modular home to withstand 175 MPH wind zone for the Florida Keys.

  • 2003

    Nationwide builds its 30,000th modular home.

  • 2004

    Nationwide Custom Homes acquires a new building facility in Siler City, NC to meet the continued demand for its modular homes.

  • 2005

    Nationwide Custom Homes designs and builds “Energy Efficient & Green Rated” modular Townhomes and displays at the International Builder Show (IBS) in Orlando, FL.

    Nationwide Custom Homes builds a 5,200 square foot modular home (Bonita) in 12 days at the IBS and wins “Best in Show.”

  • 2006

    Nationwide Custom Homes builds a 6,200 square foot modular home (Captiva) in 18 days at the IBS and wins “Best in Show.”

  • 2007

    Nationwide builds our first deluxe Design Center at our headquarters in Martinsville, VA.

  • 2008

    Nationwide builds our satellite Design Center in Jeffersonville, OH. Opens Midwest Sales Division.

  • 2009

    Nationwide celebrates our 50th Anniversary with our “Good As Gold” Celebration.

  • 2010

    Introduced ECO-Cottages at the International Builders Show in Las Vegas.

    Nationwide builds the first modular home for ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

  • 2011

    Nationwide Homes builds their 35,000 modular home. The lucky owners are Mr. & Mrs. Welsh of Axton, VA. Their HiPerformance home, a Bedford, was constructed on 8/18/11.

Can I buy a house for $5 down?

Well…probably not now. But if you had asked us 60 years ago, we had a deal for you!

That's Right: 60 Years Ago - 1959

Alaska and Hawaii became our 49th and 50th States. A first class stamp cost 4 cents. And Nationwide opened for business. We sold a home to Willie Martin – allowing him to trade up from the home above.

To a new Nationwide home

For 71 monthly payments of $46.45, Willie bought a home for his family and Nationwide built the first of nearly 35,000 homes. While we started out building kit homes, in 1969 we started our systems-built product lines and have never looked back.

Nationwide Homes newspaper ad 1959

Check out some of our earliest plans and ads

By the early 80’s, we were one of the largest builders of apartments and condominiums in the United States as well as a high volume producer of single-family homes. By 1995 we’d built our 20,000th home. Over time, we added factories in North Carolina and Georgia to assist our main facilities in Martinsville, Virginia. This accelerated the pace of production, bringing us to our 30,000th home in 2003. We are now approaching our 35,000th home.