Yukon
Zook Cabins
A 300 sq ft park model with a perfect cottage look. Studio layout with full kitchen and bath. Featured by Kerry Tarnow on a visit to Gap, PA.
A buyer’s guide
Park model homes
Almost everything published about park models is written by a company selling one. This page states the rule that defines the category, where that rule comes from, and what it means for a buyer deciding between a park model, a manufactured home and a house built on site.
Park models in this directory
A-Frame Studio
Zook Cabins
A 400 sq ft park model with iconic A-frame architecture. Perfect for mountain or lakeside properties.
A-Frame Bunkhouse
Zook Cabins
A 400 sq ft park model A-frame with a bunkhouse layout — king bed in main space, convertible couch, and a private bunk room with 2 beds (4 beds total). Features a massive triangular glass wall, green cabinetry kitchenette, full-size fridge, and a private outdoor deck. Seen at Realaway Resorts, Fort Walton Beach FL in a waterfront setting. Featured by Levi Kelly Tours.
Aspen Park Model
Zook Cabins
A 400 sq ft log-sided park model with a main-level bedroom, sleeping loft, full bath, open living area, and a 7 × 11 ft covered porch. Zook lists an RVIA seal and ANSI A119.5 build standard.
Outpost
Zook Cabins
A 400 sq ft Americana-inspired park model log cabin with an 8 ft covered porch, 11 ft ceilings, and shared living, dining, and kitchenette space.
The Denali
Zook Cabins
A 384 sq ft modern park model cabin with a covered deck and turnkey package.
The Spruce
Cavco Homes
A 399 sq ft Cavco park model documented in Kerry Tarnow’s September 2026 Village Camp Resort tour, with one bedroom, one bathroom, one loft, a covered porch, and a roof deck.
The Willow
Cavco Homes
A 400 sq ft park model with a loft, rooftop deck, and front living layout, observed at Village Camp Resort in Arizona.
The Bungalow
Cavco Homes
A 399 sq ft single-wide park model in Cavco Ocala’s Seashore Cottages Loft series, with a loft, rooftop deck, and one bedroom.
Durango
Champion Homes
A 400 sq ft Champion Homes park model seen at a home show, with an 8 ft covered porch, high ceilings, and large windows.
Browse every record from Zook Cabins, Cavco Homes and Champion Homes.
- 400 sq ft
- Maximum gross trailer area, set-up mode
- ANSI A119.5
- Governing standard
- Single chassis
- Built on wheels
- Not HUD code
- Certified as a vehicle, not a dwelling
What a park model is
A park model RV is a towable unit built on a single chassis and mounted on wheels, certified by its manufacturer as complying with ANSI A119.5, the Standard for Park Model RVs. Under that standard the gross trailer area must not exceed 400 square feet in set-up mode. Manufacturers that participate in the RV Industry Association program apply an RVIA seal recording that certification.
The RV Industry Association states that park model RVs are “neither designed nor intended by their manufacturers to be used as permanent residences,” and that they are built to ANSI A119.5 rather than to the HUD rules that govern manufactured homes.
Those two sentences decide most of what follows.
What a park model is not
It is not a HUD-code manufactured home. A manufactured home is built to the federal HUD standard as a permanent dwelling, carries a HUD label, and can be financed and sited as housing in places a park model cannot.
It is not a modular home. A modular home is built to the state or local building code that would apply to a site-built house, inspected under a state modular program, and placed on a permanent foundation.
It is not a travel trailer in practice. The chassis exists so the unit can be transported and sited once, not towed between weekends.
How the four categories differ
| Category | Park model RV | Manufactured home | Modular home | Tiny home on wheels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | ANSI A119.5 | Federal HUD code | State or local building code | Often none |
| Size limit | 400 sq ft gross trailer area | No federal size limit | No size limit | No standard limit |
| Foundation | Chassis and wheels | Chassis, permanent or non-permanent install | Permanent foundation | Chassis and wheels |
| Usually titled as | Vehicle | Real property or vehicle depending on install | Real property | Vehicle or untitled |
| Typical financing | Vehicle or chattel loan | Chattel or mortgage depending on install | Mortgage | Personal or RV loan |
| Where it is commonly allowed | RV parks, campgrounds and resorts, with county variation | Residential zoning permitting manufactured housing | Anywhere a site-built house is permitted | Varies widely, often not permitted as a residence |
These are the general cases. The jurisdiction decides, and the section below explains why.
Where you can put one
Because the certification is as a recreational vehicle rather than as a dwelling, the question of whether a person may live in one is answered by the local jurisdiction, not by the manufacturer and not by the standard. Many counties permit park models only in RV parks, campgrounds and licensed resorts, and some permit occupancy only seasonally. Others allow them on private land, with or without a time limit. The variation is not a loophole, it follows from the unit being certified as a vehicle.
A manufacturer can tell you what it built. It cannot tell you what your county allows. Ask the county planning or zoning office whether a unit certified to ANSI A119.5 may be occupied at the address you have in mind, and ask for the answer in writing.
How buyers pay for one
A park model is generally titled as a vehicle rather than as real property, which in most states means it is financed as a vehicle or chattel loan rather than with a mortgage, and taxed differently. Terms are usually shorter and rates higher than a mortgage. Confirm titling and tax treatment with your state before assuming either.
What a park model costs
The 3 park model records that publish a price range from $45,000 to $55,000. 7 park model records publish no price. The published price is for the unit as the manufacturer lists it; delivery, siting, utility connection and setup are separate. Browse the catalog.
Park model compared with a tiny home on wheels
Both sit on a chassis and both are small. The difference is certification. A park model is certified to ANSI A119.5 and carries a manufacturer’s certification that a jurisdiction can check. A tiny home on wheels is often built without certification to any national standard, which is why some jurisdictions that accept park models will not accept one.
A unit above 400 square feet is not a park model, whatever it is called in the listing.
The question to ask before you sign
Several companies sell products described as park models that are built to a state modular code rather than to ANSI A119.5. The two are not interchangeable and the difference changes where the unit can go, how it is financed and how it is inspected.
Ask: is this unit certified to ANSI A119.5 with an RVIA seal, or is it built to a state modular program? Get the answer before a deposit, not after.
- Is this unit certified to ANSI A119.5 with an RVIA seal, or built to a state modular program?
- What is the gross trailer area in set-up mode?
- What is the transport width, and who obtains the permits?
- Is the quoted price for the unit alone, and what do delivery, siting, utilities and setup add?
- Will you put the certification and the size in writing before I pay a deposit?
Stay in one before you buy one
The Nook Studio at Buena Vista, Colorado. A 204 square foot Zook Cabins park model beside the Arkansas River, bookable by the night. See this stay.