Rocio Romero

Rocio Romero (born 1971) is a Chilean-American designer who has designed prefabricated homes in a modern aesthetic, utilizing kit housing to control both cost and offer flexibility for local ordinances. Her rebirth of the kit house was praised by Karrie Jacobs, founding editor in chief of Dwell magazine.

Biography Romero was born in 1971 in Chile, and moved with her parents to California in 1973, the year of the Pinochet coup d'état. She grew up in San Diego and attended university at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating with a bachelor's degree in architecture in 1993 and then going on to earn her master's degree in 1999 from the Southern California Institute of Architecture. Her idea was to utilize the kit house to keep the homes affordable and allow construction to adjust to local building ordinances, While the design created a flurry of media buzz, Romero was unable to interest US companies in building her typically flat-roofed designs.

After working at several firms, including Guthrie+Buresh, Eric Rosen, Matias Klotz, and Space International, Romero moved to Missouri in 2001, the roof framing, tools and instructions. The kits do not include windows or doors. A local expert must be hired to complete the foundation, wiring, plumbing and meet local building codes.