Want a RE-related side hustle? Start making architectural models

It may seem strange and nerdy, but people are increasingly commissioning miniature houses that they used to live in as keepsakes — and there’s some serious money involved.

Commissioned models can cost from about $2,000 all the way up to nearly $85,000 from higher-end architecture studios, according to Bloomberg, and demand is growing particularly among American homeowners.

“For someone in love with their home, seeing it reproduced at scale, with every detail perfect—it would be a knockout gift,” Lisa Macpherson told Bloomberg.

She commissioned a model for boyfriend who was selling the house he built himself with an architect. Another family got a model of their childhood home made for their aging father who was moving into a care facility. Another man got his former house in London made into a model that he could take back to the States with him.

“We’ve always been approached by people who have buildings that are fabulous,” said Robert Paisley to Bloomberg, by way of explaining why he and his started their model-making business, Chisel & Mouse.

Their past clients also include Perez Art Museum in Miami where 50 models were used as thank-you gifts to big donors and condo developers who gave models of the building to off-plan buyers. [Bloomberg] — Erin Hudson