Japanese variety store Muji is rolling out its pre-fabricated home, to be sold via its retail outlets. Unlike past Muji prefabs, there doesn’t appear to be a notable Japanese architect attached to Vertical House — perhaps it was designed in-house. Svelte and sleek, the three-story split-level residence is completely free of interior doors, partitions and walls.

Mother Nature Network (MNN) says Muji has close to 300 retail stores in Japan, including mega stores. But the chain has witnesses a spread into other parts of Asia, Europe and North America. New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco will soon be joined with a locaion in Toronto, the first Canadia Muji location.

MNN describes the Vertical Home to MHProNews in these terms:

“Svelte and sleek, the three-story split-level residence is completely free of interior doors, partitions and walls. A nightmare for privacy-seeking teenagers, yes, but fantastic in terms of freeing up available space and creating an open floor plan with a very pared-down ambiance.”

MNN notes that in Japan, homes are often razed after 30 years, a trend some say is unsustainable for them, which also keeps homes from appreciating as they might in the U.S..

With locations in the U.S., and so Canada, will North American home shoppers soon be looking to Muji – or other popular retailers like Ikea – for their next home? ##

(Photo credits: MNN)