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Clayton Homes (or Clayton) is the largest builder of
manufactured housing Manufactured housing (commonly known as mobile homes in the United States) is a type of prefabricated housing that is largely assembled in factories and then transported to sites of use. The definition of the term in the United States is regula ...
and modular homes in the United States. It is owned by
Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...
's
Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from ...
. Clayton Homes' corporate headquarters are in
Maryville, Tennessee Maryville is a city in and the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee, and is a suburb of Knoxville. Its population was 31,907 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area and a short distance from popular tourist desti ...
. Its subsidiaries include Clayton Home Building Group, Clayton Properties Group, Vanderbilt Mortgage, 21st Mortgage, and insurance company HomeFirst Agency.


History

Clayton Homes was founded in 1956 by Jim Clayton. The business began by refurbishing and reselling used
mobile homes A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or on a trailer). Us ...
. In 1966, Jim Clayton opened a Clayton Homes store location in
Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...
, on Clinton Highway. Clayton Homes established its own mortgage company in 1974 and added a manufacturing division in 1975. The company went
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
in 1983, trading on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
. Each year from 1989 through 1992, Clayton Homes was named on the ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' list of the best small companies in America. Kevin Clayton, Jim Clayton's son, took over the company in 1999. Kevin Clayton had joined Clayton Homes in the 1980s and held several leadership roles in the company and its subsidiaries before becoming CEO. In 2002, Clayton Homes earned a revenue of $1.2 billion. It was acquired by
Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from ...
in 2003 for $1.7 billion. Cerberus Capital Management also expressed interest in bidding for the company. The certificate of merger was filed in Delaware, and Clayton Homes stock was removed from the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
. In 2007, Clayton Homes' revenue was $3.66 billion. Clayton Homes sold its land-lease communities business to Denver-based Yes Companies LLC in 2008. The deal involved 65 properties in 11 states. The i-house brand was introduced in May 2008 as a
green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
, energy efficient home. By 2009, Clayton Homes had sold over 1.5 million homes. In 2009, Clayton Homes launched the eHome as a more affordable version of the i-house. Clayton Homes was involved in a lawsuit in 2011 with FEMA after providing
portable classroom A portable classroom (also known as a demountable or relocatable classroom, portables, bungalows), is a type of portable building installed at a school to temporarily and quickly provide additional classroom space where there is a shortage of ...
s as part of
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
relief which were found to contain formaldehyde. Afterwards, one of 12 prefabricated shelters provided to Haiti through the Clinton Foundation after the 2010 earthquake was found to have a formaldehyde level of 250 ppb, "a very high level" according to a scientist specializing in indoor pollutants at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. A news story in 2015 claimed that Clayton Homes unfairly targets and exploits minority home buyers. Clayton Homes was further criticized for its alleged use of corrupt business practices. The company has denied discriminating against its customers or its workers.
Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...
, the CEO of
Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from ...
, defended Clayton against predatory lending claims in an interview saying: "We have 300,000 loans on the books and in the last 3 years I've not received one letter of complaint from anybody." In 2015, Clayton Homes worked with
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered, managed, and operated by UT–Battelle as a federally funded research and ...
and the architectural firm
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel A. Owings, Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer Jo ...
to produce a 3D printed house and car which share a single energy unit. Clayton Homes expanded into the traditional home building market with the acquisition of Georgia-based homebuilder Chafin Communities in 2015, and Tennessee-based Goodall Homes in 2016. Clayton Homes acquired River Birch Homes, based in Hackleburg, Alabama, in April 2016. The following month, Clayton Homes hosted its first Birmingham-based home show. The show had 492 attendees and featured 27 homes from 27 facilities. That same month, Clayton Homes announced that it would partner with nonprofit Next Step to build a modular duplex in Waco, Texas on a lot owned by NeighborWorks Waco in order to create affordable housing in the Greater Waco area. In 2016, Clayton Homes was recognized as number 292 on Forbes' list of America's Best Employers. The company introduced a line of
tiny homes The tiny-house movement (also known as the small house movement) is an architectural and social movement that advocates for downsizing living spaces, simplifying, and essentially "living with less."Ford, Jasmine, and Lilia Gomz-Lanier. Family a ...
during fall 2016 with the debut of its "Low Country" prototype in
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. The designer series received media acclaim from ''
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'', ''
The Post and Courier ''The Post and Courier'' is the main daily newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina. It traces its ancestry to three newspapers, the ''Charleston Courier'', founded in 1803, the ''Charleston Daily News'', founded 1865, and ''The Evening Post'', f ...
'', among others. On July 10, 2017, Clayton Properties Group announced the purchase of home building operator Harris Doyle Homes, which is based in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, Alabama. Known for its manufactured housing, Clayton Homes is expanding into the site-built, $250,000-and-under housing market, as reported in July 2017. Since October 2015, Clayton Homes has acquired homebuilders in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
,
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
,
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, and
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. In 2019, Clayton Homes also worked with Colorado-based advertising agency Made to create the "Prefabulous" series to promote its manufactured housing and attempt to fight the view that off-site built homes are "low-end and one-size-fits-all". As of 2021, Clayton Properties Group, a subsidiary of Clayton Homes, is ranked number eight in size on Builder Magazine’s Top 100 list of home builders in the US with a gross revenue of  $2.98 billion.


Operations

Clayton Homes produces homes under the brand names of Buccaneer Homes, Cavalier Homes, Clayton Homes, Crest Homes, Giles Industries, Golden West Homes, Karsten Company, Marlette Homes, Norris Homes, Schult Homes, and Southern Energy Homes. Clayton Homes also owns retail brands Oakwood Homes, TruValue Homes and Luv Homes. In 2016, Clayton acquired G&I Homes, a family-run company based in New York. As of 2019, Clayton Homes has 40 home building facilities and more than 350 retail outlets located across the United States. At these facilities, retail locations and distribution centers, the company employs 16,000 people. Clayton Homes produces about 50,000 homes per year at its facilities, which is about half of the industry's total. The off-site built home is then transported to its final location in sections to be assembled on a foundation. Clayton Homes has taken a number of sustainability measures at it facilities including preventing of waste from going to a landfill from its facility in
Bean Station, Tennessee Bean Station is a town in Grainger and Hawkins counties in the state of Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,967. Established in 1776 as a frontier outpost by William Bean, it is considered one of the earlies ...
, in 2020 by recycling metal, cardboard, wire, and plastic. The Bean Station facility also saved of water annually – a 50% reduction – through implementation of water conservation upgrades.


Philanthropy

In 2015, Clayton Homes released the Patriot home model and partnered with the Hope for the Warriors veterans assistance group. Clayton Home Building Group gave a check for $33,600 to the organization in January. Hope For The Warriors works with veterans from all branches of the military as well as post
9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
active duty,
National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...
, and reserve service members. In May 2016, Clayton presented a $100,000 check to the organization. In 2019, Clayton Home Building Group became a founding sponsor of the Warrior's Compass Suite program by Hope for the Warriors to help veterans transition from US military service to civilian employment. Clayton Home Building Group committed to donating $300,000 to support the program. Clayton Homes also partners with Family Promise to donate several homes per year to families who have experienced homelessness. In 2021, Clayton Homes donated $450,000 and 3 off-site built homes to be used to prevent family homelessness.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clayton Homes Berkshire Hathaway 1956 establishments in Tennessee American companies established in 1956 Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1956 Financial services companies established in 1956 Real estate companies established in 1956 Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Manufactured home manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Tennessee 2003 mergers and acquisitions Construction and civil engineering companies of the United States Housing in the United States Maryville, Tennessee