Two hours north of San Francisco in Pope Valley (Napa County), a new Rocio Romero prefab is open for tour. The 4 bedroom, 3 bath home is another impressive example of the prefabricated home architecture movement, this time located on 48 acres of private land. As compared to most of the other prefabs we’ve told you about, the Napa home features plenty of room to move around in, as well as the famously modern architecture of Romero. If you need more than 3,000 square f eet to stretch your legs, the grounds also feature a 40×20 swimming pool…and if you need somewhere to film your next blockbuster, the home is also open for commercial photo, movie, and production shoots. The home’s owners are even offering consulting services for anyone considering buying a prefab, offering to walk seriously interested parties through the construction, financing, and design processes. If you’re interested in any of the above amenities, or just want to take a look around, sign up here for one of the home’s monthly weekend tours, but act fast — places are limited.

As we told you a little while back, the WIRED LivingHome — a collaboration between Wired Magazine and LivingHome, an innovative prefabricated housing supplier — is of equal interest to gadget heads, architecture fans and conservationists. Currently having its finishing touches supplied at its location in Brentwood, CA, this house combines the latest in environmentally-friendly (and tech geek-friendly) technology, with the refined architectural touch of Ray Kappe. The news we can share with you today is that the project will open to the public from Saturday, October 27th through Monday, November 5th Sunday, November 11th. In addition, we can share the project’s website with you, so you’ll know where to go to satisfy every bit of curiosity you might have about this house. At the website, you’ll find out things like what car the WIRED LivingHome has in its driveway (a BMW Hydrogen 7), and how much the whole thing costs ($4 million). What? Too extravagant for the environmental contingent? Come on, this is Brentwood, baby.

Even though I try, I am not the smartest person when it comes to being green. I'll admit that sometimes I leave a light on when I'm not home or stay in the shower a bit too long. Luckily, if Wired magazine’s new prefab home is a foreshadowing of the future, being eco-conscious will be self-automated. Slated to be built over three days this week in the Crestwood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, the “high design, low impact” house is full of gadgets designed to conserve energy. Conceived by internationally-renowned architect Ray Kappe and constructed by LivingHomes, features are all discreetly placed and include thermal blinds, motorized windows, self-adjusting vents and a washing machine that uses sensors to gauge the dirt level in the water so washing ends as soon as items are clean. All gadgetry is kept in order by a dashboard loaded onto a home computer that allows residents to track real-time energy use making it easy for them to gauge just how green they are being. The house will be open next month to the public, so stop by if you're in the area. Criminals be forewarned though: a Panasonic camera verifies the identity of visitors by scanning their irises.

I popped by the Some Assembly Required exhibit at the Yale Art and Architecture Gallery while I was in New Haven, CT yesterday (don’t ask). I can’t give the exhibit two thumbs up, so if you’re thinking of making a long trek to New Haven to see it– you might not be that impressed. If, however, you are a Yale student, interested in the Prefabricated housing movement, or not far away from the campus– I recommend checking it out. The exhibit is essentially like adding another dimension to Dwell magazine– allowing attendees to feel materials, view floor plans, check out large scale photographer and view models. Nice to see Yale paying attention to this architecture movement!