Clayton Homes
Clayton Homes is a U.S. builder, manufacturer, retailer, mortgage provider, and residential-development group specializing in manufactured, modular, and site-built homes.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
Clayton Homes is one of the largest producers and sellers of manufactured and modular housing in the United States. Headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, the company operates across several connected parts of the residential-housing value chain: it designs and manufactures off-site-built homes, sells homes through retail locations, develops site-built housing, provides mortgage financing through affiliated companies, and offers insurance services through HomeFirst Agency. Its manufacturing and retail operations use a portfolio of brands that includes Clayton Homes, Buccaneer Homes, Cavalier Homes, Crest Homes, Giles Industries, Golden West Homes, Karsten Company, Marlette Homes, Norris Homes, Schult Homes, and Southern Energy Homes. Retail-facing brands have included Oakwood Homes, TruValue Homes, and Luv Homes. The business began in 1956 when Jim Clayton refurbished and resold used mobile homes. It expanded from resale into retail distribution, financing, and manufacturing. A Knoxville store opened in 1966, an affiliated mortgage business was established in 1974, and a manufacturing division followed in 1975. Clayton Homes became a publicly traded company in 1983, listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Jim Clayton's son Kevin, who had joined the business in the 1980s and worked in several management roles, became its chief executive in 1999. Berkshire Hathaway acquired Clayton Homes in 2003 for approximately $1.7 billion, taking the company private and removing its shares from the New York Stock Exchange. The acquisition placed Clayton within Warren Buffett's industrial and consumer-business holding company and gave it access to Berkshire's broader financial and operating resources. Clayton subsequently broadened its activities beyond manufactured housing. It sold its land-lease-community business in 2008, introduced the energy-conscious i-house concept the same year, and launched the more affordable eHome in 2009. It also moved into traditional, site-built housing through acquisitions including Chafin Communities, Goodall Homes, River Birch Homes, and Harris Doyle Homes. Clayton's central product model is industrialized construction. Homes are built in sections at controlled factory facilities, transported to a customer's site, and assembled on a foundation. The approach is intended to improve production consistency, shorten construction time, and provide lower-cost alternatives to some conventionally built homes. The company has also experimented with tiny homes, energy-efficient designs, digital and advanced-manufacturing concepts, and hybrid housing solutions. In 2015, it worked with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill on a demonstration involving a 3D-printed house and car connected to a shared energy system. In 2019, its Prefabulous campaign sought to challenge the perception that factory-built homes are necessarily low-end or uniform. By 2019, reference material described Clayton as operating more than 40 home-building facilities and over 350 retail outlets in the United States, with approximately 16,000 employees and annual production of about 50,000 homes. Its affiliated companies also include Clayton Home Building Group, Clayton Properties Group, Vanderbilt Mortgage, 21st Mortgage, and HomeFirst Agency. The company has pursued sustainability measures in manufacturing, including recycling and water-conservation projects at its Bean Station, Tennessee, facility. Clayton's financing and sales practices have attracted substantial scrutiny. Reporting from 2015 onward alleged that some minority customers were targeted with expensive loans, high fees, and sales practices that could leave borrowers with unaffordable payments and homes that were difficult to resell or refinance. Federal inquiries and criticism followed, while Clayton and Berkshire Hathaway representatives denied discriminatory or predatory conduct. The company also faced litigation and criticism related to formaldehyde levels…
History
Clayton Homes was founded in 1956 by Jim Clayton. Its first business model involved refurbishing and reselling used mobile homes, placing the company in the rapidly expanding postwar market for lower-cost manufactured housing. In 1966, Clayton opened a retail location on Clinton Highway in Knoxville, Tennessee. The company later developed a more vertically integrated model: it created a mortgage company in 1974 and added its own manufacturing division in 1975. Clayton Homes became a public company in 1983 and traded on the New York Stock Exchange. From 1989 through 1992, Forbes included it among its best small companies in the United States. Kevin Clayton, Jim Clayton's son, joined the business during the 1980s and held several management positions within the company and its subsidiaries. He became chief executive in 1999. The company reported revenue of approximately $1.2 billion in 2002. Berkshire Hathaway acquired Clayton Homes in 2003 for about $1.7 billion after other financial firms, including Cerberus Capital Management, had expressed interest. The transaction made Clayton a wholly owned Berkshire subsidiary, and its stock was removed from the New York Stock Exchange. Clayton's reported revenue reached approximately $3.66 billion in 2007. In 2008, it sold its land-lease-community business, consisting of 65 properties in 11 states, to Yes Companies LLC. Clayton used the late 2000s to test new forms of housing. It introduced the i-house in 2008 as an energy-efficient, environmentally oriented design and followed it in 2009 with the eHome, positioned as a more affordable alternative. By 2009, the company stated that it had sold more than 1.5 million homes. Its business remained centered on factory-built housing, in which completed sections are transported to a site and assembled on a foundation. The company became the subject of litigation and health-related criticism concerning portable classrooms supplied for Hurricane Katrina relief. In 2011, a dispute involving FEMA concerned reported formaldehyde in some units. Later reporting also identified elevated formaldehyde in one of twelve prefabricated shelters sent to Haiti through the Clinton Foundation after the 2010 earthquake. These events contributed to continuing scrutiny of the materials and ventilation standards used in temporary and prefabricated structures. From 2015 onward, investigative reporting in The Seattle Times and elsewhere alleged that Clayton's affiliated lending and retail practices harmed minority borrowers through high interest rates, fees, and sales practices that could make loans difficult to sustain. The allegations prompted federal investigations and broader debate about manufactured-housing finance. Clayton denied discriminating against customers or employees and rejected the characterization of its lending as predatory. Warren Buffett publicly defended the company in an interview, citing the scale of its loan portfolio and saying he had not received customer complaint letters over the preceding three years. Clayton also expanded beyond manufactured housing. In 2015 it acquired Georgia-based Chafin Communities; in 2016 it acquired Tennessee-based Goodall Homes and Alabama-based River Birch Homes; and in 2017 Clayton Properties Group announced the acquisition of Harris Doyle Homes in Alabama. The acquisitions strengthened Clayton's position in site-built housing, particularly homes priced below approximately $250,000. The company also acquired G&I Homes, a family-owned New York business, in 2016. Innovation and marketing became additional areas of activity. In 2015, Clayton worked with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill on a demonstration involving a 3D-printed home and car connected to a common energy unit. In 2016, it introduced a tiny-home line beginning with the Low Country prototype. In 2019, the Prefabulous series, produced with Colorado advertising agency Made, attempted to reframe factory construction as flexible, attractive, and technologically advanced. By 2019, published material described Clayton as having more than 40 home-building facilities, over 350 retail outlets, approximately 16,000 employees, and annual production of about 50,000 homes. Its affiliated operations include Clayton Home Building Group, Clayton Properties Group, Vanderbilt Mortgage, 21st Mortgage, and HomeFirst Agency. The company has also reported factory sustainability initiatives, such as recycling materials and reducing water use at its Bean Station, Tennessee, facility. Clayton's philanthropic activity has included support for veterans through Hope for the Warriors. It released the Patriot model in 2015 and made donations to the organization, later becoming a founding sponsor of its Warrior's Compass Suite program. Clayton has also worked with Family Promise to provide homes for families affected by homelessness. The company remains active as a Berkshire Hathaway housing group with manufacturing, retail, financing, insurance, and site-built construction operations across the United States.
- 2019
Prefabulous campaign created
[1]Clayton and agency Made launched a campaign promoting factory-built housing as modern and customizable.
- 2017
Harris Doyle Homes acquired
[1]Clayton Properties Group announced the acquisition of Birmingham-based Harris Doyle Homes.
- 2016
Tiny-home line introduced
[1]Clayton debuted the Low Country prototype and a designer-oriented tiny-home range.
- 2015
Advanced-construction demonstration
[1]Clayton collaborated with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill on a 3D-printed house-and-car energy demonstration.
- 2009
eHome launched
[1]The company launched the eHome as a more affordable counterpart to the i-house.
- 2008
i-house introduced
[1]Clayton introduced the i-house as an energy-efficient home concept.
- 2003
Berkshire Hathaway acquisition
[1]Berkshire Hathaway acquired Clayton Homes for approximately $1.7 billion and took it private.
- 1999
Kevin Clayton became chief executive
[1]Kevin Clayton succeeded his father as the company's chief executive.
- 1983
Public listing
[1]Clayton Homes began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
- 1975
Manufacturing division added
[1]Clayton expanded from retail and resale into home manufacturing.
Products and positioning
A vertically integrated U.S. housing company positioned around factory-built affordability, standardized production, broad retail distribution, mortgage access, and an expanding presence in conventional site-built housing.
Manufactured housing · 1956
Manufactured homes
Clayton's core offering consists of homes produced in factory facilities and delivered in sections to a prepared site. The range covers multiple floor plans, sizes, finishes, and price points and is sold through Clayton and affiliated retail brands. Factory production is intended to provide repeatable construction quality and more predictable scheduling than fully site-built construction, while the completed home is installed on a foundation at its destination.
Modular housing
Modular homes
Clayton's modular homes are constructed off site in transportable sections and assembled on a permanent foundation. Compared with conventional manufactured housing, modular projects can be configured for different architectural requirements and local building standards. The category supports Clayton's broader positioning as an industrialized homebuilder rather than only a seller of traditional mobile homes.
Energy-efficient home · 2008
i-house
Introduced in 2008, the i-house was a design-led concept emphasizing energy efficiency and environmentally conscious construction. It represented Clayton's effort to use factory production for a more contemporary and sustainability-oriented housing proposition, helping distinguish the company from perceptions of standardized, low-end mobile housing.
Affordable home · 2009
eHome
The eHome debuted in 2009 as a more affordable version of the i-house concept. It extended Clayton's experimentation with efficient, factory-built designs while targeting customers for whom the original concept was less accessible. Available source material does not establish its current commercial status.
Tiny home · 2016
Low Country
Low Country was the prototype used to introduce Clayton's designer-series tiny homes in 2016. The line received media attention for treating compact housing as a design product rather than solely as a low-cost substitute. The available references do not confirm whether the specific prototype remains in production.
Manufactured home · 2015
Patriot
The Patriot model was released in 2015 in connection with Clayton's support for Hope for the Warriors, an organization serving veterans, active-duty personnel, National Guard members, reservists, and their families. The model formed part of a broader philanthropic and community-housing initiative.
Residential construction · 2015
Site-built homes
Through Clayton Properties Group and acquired regional builders, Clayton develops conventional site-built homes in addition to factory-produced housing. This business broadened the company's exposure to local residential markets and to entry-level and moderately priced homes, including projects in markets such as Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and other U.S. regions.
Controversies
2015
Allegations concerning minority borrowers and lending practices
Reporting alleged that Clayton-related sales and finance operations targeted or disadvantaged minority home buyers through high fees, high interest rates, and loans that could be difficult to afford, resell, or refinance. Federal investigations were reported. Clayton denied discriminating against customers or workers and rejected allegations of predatory practices.
2011
Formaldehyde concerns involving disaster-relief classrooms
Clayton Homes was involved in litigation with FEMA after portable classrooms supplied for Hurricane Katrina relief were reported to contain formaldehyde. Later reporting found elevated formaldehyde in one prefabricated shelter supplied to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake through the Clinton Foundation.
Marketing campaigns
- 2021Family Promise housing support
United States
Clayton supported Family Promise by donating funds and off-site-built homes for families affected by homelessness.
Outcome. Reference material reports a 2021 donation of $450,000 and three homes.
- 2019Prefabulous
United States
Created with Colorado advertising agency Made, Prefabulous presented off-site-built homes as contemporary, adaptable, and well designed. The campaign addressed the stigma that factory-built housing is necessarily uniform or inferior.
Outcome. Used as a brand-positioning and category-education campaign; quantitative results are not available in the supplied sources.
- 2015Patriot and Hope for the Warriors partnership
United States
Clayton released the Patriot home model and partnered with Hope for the Warriors. Clayton Home Building Group made financial contributions, later supported the organization's Warrior's Compass Suite employment-transition program, and committed additional funding.
Outcome. Ongoing philanthropic partnership reported in later reference material.
Brand decisions
2016
Enter the designer tiny-home segmentProduct launchBackground
Clayton was exploring smaller, design-focused housing formats and ways to broaden the appeal of factory construction.
Action taken
The company introduced a tiny-home line beginning with the Low Country prototype.
Aftermath
The line attracted media attention, although the supplied sources do not establish its long-term sales or current availability.
2015
Expand into site-built housingStrategyBackground
Clayton sought to participate in conventional residential construction alongside manufactured and modular housing.
Action taken
It acquired Chafin Communities and subsequently added other regional builders to Clayton Properties Group.
Aftermath
The company increased its presence in site-built housing and lower-priced conventional homebuilding.
2008
Exit land-lease communitiesStrategyBackground
Clayton operated a portfolio of land-lease communities in addition to building and selling homes.
Action taken
The company sold 65 properties in 11 states to Yes Companies LLC.
Aftermath
The transaction reduced Clayton's direct involvement in the land-lease-community business while leaving its manufacturing, retail, and finance operations intact.
2003
Accept Berkshire Hathaway acquisitionM&ABackground
Clayton had become a large publicly traded manufactured-housing company with affiliated finance and manufacturing operations.
Action taken
Berkshire Hathaway acquired Clayton Homes for approximately $1.7 billion, after which the company became private and its NYSE listing was removed.
Aftermath
Clayton operated as a wholly owned Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary and continued expanding across manufacturing, retail, financing, and residential construction.
Acquisition price. $1.7 billion (2003)
Recent events
Clayton launches Garage Sale homebuyer promotion[2]
Reported:
Clayton Homes announced a promotion offering customers $2,000 off select new homes when they add an attached or detached garage or carport to the home purchase through June 30, 2021.
Sources2 sources
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