19 Interesting Things about Hames Homes

May 8, 2021

Hames-The Homes People ® just celebrated its Golden Anniversary. With 50 years under our belts, we thought you might like to know some fascinating facts about us.


1.       Hames Homes started business in 1969 when Curt and Norma Hames retired from the military.  Their first franchise was called “Homestead Mobile Homes”.

2.       Homestead Mobile Homes became “Hames Mobile Homes” in 1971.

3.       “Hames-The Homes People” was coined by Max Day, a Hames sales person, in the early 1970s.

4.       Hames Homes now has an international trademark for “Hames-The Homes People®”

5.       The surname “Hames” is believed to be derived from the German name “Haimo” which means “home”.  How cool is that?

6.       Grand View and Summit View residents own their mobile homes and lease the land.  Typical monthly home site rental is $365 per month and includes water, sewer, garbage pickup, and property taxes on the land.

7.       Amenities like 24-hour on-call management, community events, parks, and playgrounds, are also included in monthly home site rental.

8.       For residents’ safety every Hames community has two storm shelters, and our bigger communities have two.

9.       One out of every 56 people in Cedar Rapids lives in a Hames home.

10.   If Hames communities were its own town, it would have a population of 2,200 which is bigger than 80% of the towns in Iowa.

11.   Hames has sold over 13,000 homes since 1969.

12.   Hames Homes has its own finance company, Circle Finance LLC NMLS #366020. 

13.   Hames also has a listing service to match sellers with home buyers.  Hames Homes has facilitated 1,246 private sales.

14.   Hames flies the “Missing in Action” (MIA) flag over all its entrances to remember and hope for service members still unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War.

15.   All mobile and manufactured homes in Hames communities are owner-occupied.  There are no home rentals.

16.   Founder Curt Hames’ full name was Troy Curtis Hames, Jr.  Son Troy Curtis Hames III (“Troy”) and grandson Troy Curtis Hames IV (“Curtis”) also work at Hames.

17.  Hames Homes won the Cedar Rapids BRAVO award in 2019 which honors successful home-grown businesses.

18.   Troy Curtis Hames IV has an infant son, Troy Curtis Hames V and goes by “Tucker”.  Future Hames employee, we’re sure!

19.   Homeowners can build a garage on their home site if they wish.  Most home sites are large enough for optional 18-22 foot garages.

​At Hames, we LOVE manufactured homes.  View our model mobile homes for sale onlinecontact us, or visit us any day of the week at 5410 Wabash St. SW in Cedar Rapids.

#HomeSweetHames     #DontCallItaTrailer

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