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True to form, the intractable, growth-hungry companies on our Fast Track list continue to astound with their triple-digit revenue growth. The top 10 on this year's list boast an average 150 percent increase in gross revenue over the past three years. And as a whole, the 95 builders listed had an...
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To give Sonoma Villero, a North Kirkland, Wash., community of 241 townhomes, plenty of privacy, units are nestled into the hillside.
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The Dunwallis floor plan at Downing Forge by the Brandywine is creating hefty profits for Southdown Homes in Chester County, Pa. One of five plans offered, it also serves as the project's sales center. Ad agency: Rhoads Creative, Exton, Pa.
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Wyndham Farm's appeal to buyers' psyches is rocketing sales to 10 a month. What surrounds Wyndham Farm are backdrops of mountains and farmland, all within commutable distance of New York City.
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Beating competitors' prices by $10,000 to $15,000 and including standard amenities other builders tack on as extras, California's Highland Ranch has become a sales success.
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At K. Hovnanian's Four Seasons, sophisticated active adults wet their palates with such model names as Merlot, Sauvignon, and Cabernet, and are gulping nine units a month in a typically slow selling season.
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With eight or nine new communities underway, Crosswinds Communities is among greater Detroit's busier builders. Press and praise have followed the opening of Crosswinds' small but highly successful market-rate community within the city.
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Not far from our nation's capital, John Laing Homes (JLH) is hyped up from sales success. "Thirty percent of our buyers are professionals from D.C.," says Eric Hansen, sales manager for the Rose Hill community, where the Morris model is a sellout.
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Mohawk North Homes occupies one of the oldest parts of Chicago, but there's nothing antiquated about this urban infill project. The four-story structures incorporate insulated concrete forms, and are "a social engineering success, integrating across economic and social lines," says Jeff Welsh, of...
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Twenty minutes northwest from Boise, Idaho, Hidden Springs provides families employed by nearby high-tech firms Hewlett Packard and Micron Technology with an old-fashioned way of life for just $219,000. Hidden Springs Building Co., located in the city by the same name, participates in the Building...
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Divorcees, single moms, first-time buyers, and active adults are finding an incredible value for their dollar at the Springlake Cove project in Lawrenceville, Ga. "Potential buyers are shocked they can live in a gated community for this price range," says Mike Miller, on-site sales manager for the...
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The Wilburn House in midtown Atlanta has become a red-hot draw for the condo market. "It's the only for-sale property directly on Piedmont Park," says David Dwyer, vice president of Coro Realty Advisors, "and midtown is becoming an urban walking area, which isn't prevalent in Atlanta." With office...
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Indeed, French Country is the "in" home design among many Florida buyers, and builders like Neal Communities are winning big by offering it. Neal offers four plans and elevations at Spyglass at the Country Club in the posh community of Lakewood Ranch in Bradenton, Fla.
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Harrison Square at U Street Metro sits in an area of Washington that has known despair and destitution but now abounds with prosperity. Project: Harrison Square at U Street Metro, Washington; Sales started: January 2000; Sales through May 2001: 98; Units released through May 2001: 98; Units...
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Young families and singles in San Diego are finding themselves in a real estate market that may soon resemble the expensive Bay area. Miro at Scripps Ranch Villages combines low maintenance product with the amenities of a master planned community in smaller, more manageable sizes.
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Set on two city blocks, these charming bungalow-style homes sell for an affordable $194,990. They draw first-time home buyers to The Olson Co.'s Renaissance Walk community in Long Beach.
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Active adults and second-home buyers are finding homes with an abundance of activity choices at Saddle Creek, located in Copperopolis, Calif. The 900-acre project's amenities include a competition-size swimming pool, tennis courts, a fitness center and recreation facility, and a 12,000-square-foot...
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This was the approach taken by Brookfield Homes' Riverside County, Calif., division. The Barrington model is located in Carlsbad, Calif. Here, homes from 1,957 to 2,287 square feet are built on minimum lot sizes of 4,000 square feet, priced from $300,000.
In-home elevators might take your business to the top.
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We went to Sun Lakes, where we presented ourselves as a frequent-traveling, still-working active adult couple who needed convenient access to Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport.
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Avenbury Lakes has what Northern Ohio's 50-somethings want -- prairie-style homes with spacious kitchens and split bedrooms, as well as prewiring for a security system and four dedicated phone lines. "Our biggest constraint was our biggest success," says marketing coordinator Jonelle Scaletta.
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Libby Elliott, partnered with her husband Matthew in their firm Elliott and Elliott Architecture, runs a 12-person firm specializing in residential and institutional projects. An avid photographer, House has received more than 20 awards from the AIA in its architectural photography competition.
Natural light projected from dormers onto a dramatic metal truss detail in this production home draws the eye upward and steadies the vast space of the living room. Photo: Interior PhotographyCategory: Detail; Entrant/Architect: Looney Ricks Kiss, Memphis, Tenn.; Builder: Akers Custom Homes...
Complete with a fireplace for cool evenings and a seating area, this second-floor loggia links the home's study and master suite.Category: Outdoor Space; Entrant/Builder/Developer/Land Planner: Christopher Homes, Las Vegas; Architect: Scheurer Architects, Newport Beach, Calif.; Landscape Architect:...
Panoramic hilltop vistas are exaggerated through sensational corner glazing details. Category: Detail; Entrant/Architect: William Hezmalhalch Architects, Irvine, Calif.; Builder/ Developer: Epac Development, Costa Mesa, Calif.; Landscape Architect: Lifescapes, Newport Beach, Calif.
Deep citron colored walls and bright stainless steel appliances make this kitchen a standout. Category: Kitchen; Entrant/Architect: Randall Mars Architects, Mclean, Va.; Builder: Pollard Construction, Alexandria, Va.; Interior Designer: In Design, Mclean
The Fountain Of Life In Downtown Cathedral City, Calif., Features Vibrant Mosaics That Attract Families With Children. Category: Outdoor Space; Entrant/Architect: Interactive Design Corp., Palm Springs, Calif.; Builder: Turner Construction, Cathedral City, Calif.; Land Planner: House Of Stone...
Balancing the use of wood, glass, and steel to create a warm inviting space softens the industrial look of this renovated owner's bath. Photo: Kenneth M. Wyner Category: Bathroom; Entrant/Architect: Studio 27 Architecture, Washington; Builder: Kingston Construction Co., Fairfax Station, Va.;...
The clean, high-tech design, coupled with a recycled neon sign in the two-story entry lobby, give the impression of an affluent loft project. But the Pensione Esperanza is 110 fully furnished efficiency apartments for low-income individuals.
"We would have liked to do something more modern, but it didn't make sense in this remote rural area," says architect David Baker. Category: Focus on Affordability; Entrant/Architect: David Baker Faia and Partners, San Francisco; Builder: Segue, Point Richmond, Calif.; Developer: Mid-Peninsula...
The message is particularly important since the family-oriented center targets high-risk children and their families. Category: Adaptive Re-Use; Entrant/Architect: Curry Brandaw Architects, Salem,
The developers of Marston Point Place did more than just talk about revitalizing San Diego's older neighborhoods, they actually did something about it. The petite and affordable Lane Homes start at $199,000, have 1,100 to 1,300 square feet of living space, and a garage-level entry that allows each...
With its classic design, one judge compared this stately clubhouse to a Brooks Brothers' suit. Overlooking a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, the exterior architecture reflects the distinctive style of Westchester County, N.Y. The building materials include a natural field stone foundation and...
Located in an affluent Dallas suburb, this 181-unit apartment community is so well designed it won over a local planning board and area residents opposed to multifamily housing in their neighborhood. Category: Apartments; Entrant/Architect/Land Planner: Looney Ricks Kiss, Memphis, Tenn.; Builder:...
Upon seeing architect Steven Muse's sketches for an addition to their 1930s brick colonial, the clients remarked that the multi-gable design was very similar to their ancestral home in South Carolina. After they gave Muse photographs of the home, he developed a new facade to honor the historic...
By Christina B. Farnsworth. assisted living and 31 units of special care for residents suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia. Windows typically face either landscaped courtyards shaded by wooden trellises or the open space surrounding the facility.
In only 1,868-square-feet, Plan 3 at The Colony at Bridgeport offers a lot of living space and function without sacrificing storage or appearance: Formal living and dining, a family room, three bedrooms, two and one-half bathrooms, and an upstairs laundry room flow with comfort and efficiency...
The East Coast-inspired architecture and color scheme of this project are unusual for California, as is the alley-loaded site plan. "We're attracting young professionals in the entertainment industry and high-tech employees from nearby L.A.," says Alisa Lucisano, director of marketing for Kaufman...
For the graphic designer and photographer who own it, capturing light was the key design element of this minimalist 3,500-square-foot custom home and workplace. If the couple wishes, family can enter and leave from a separate entrance, by-passing the more business-oriented spaces.
Blight takes flight in this apartment renovation, which includes the construction of new townhomes. The variety of materials adds variation to the site and maintains a pleasant mixed-residential scale.
The stairway is deep in the plan, near the kitchen and family room, facilitating circulation to upstairs bedrooms. Category: Single-Family Production, over 3,000 square feet; Entrant/Architect: Dahlin Group Architects, San Ramon, Calif.; Builder/Developer: The O'Brien Group, San Mateo, Calif.; Land...
Tuscan-style apartments wrapped around pedestrian and residential courtyards eschew the automobile, carefully segregating cars from people in this masterfully planned 513-unit project. Category: Apartments; Entrant/Architect/Land Planner: Mclarand Vasquez Emsiek And Partners, Irvine, Calif.;...
In townhouse design it's tricky to decide whether to introduce varied facades. Category: Townhouses, over 2,000 square feet; Entrant/Architect/Land Planner: Torti Gallas and Partners, Silver Spring, Md.; Builder/Developer: Miller and Smith, Mclean, Va.
Located in Dallas' State Thomas Historic District, this five-story loft building with 127 units has the industrial appeal that those in the renter-by-choice market are looking for. The interiors feature concrete ceilings, sealed concrete floors, and exposed steel bar joist structures.The south side...
It also offers practical 21st-century planning; the home office has its own front door and an adjacent bath, so it would be equally useful as a first-floor suite for guests or older relatives. Category: Single-Family Production, 2,000 to 3,000 square feet; Entrant/Architect: JBZ Architecture +...
After a 20-year, on again off again redevelopment, the century-old American Cigar Co. building has a new lease on life. Home to 171 rental units overlooking the James River, this former tobacco warehouse is now Richmond, Va.'s first large-scale loft project.
When designing this little hillside vacation home, architect Garth Brandow knew exactly what the client wanted--because he was the client. Cedar shingles and stained cedar trim are low maintenance and blend the home into the forest.
Rising from the desert floor, almost as if they had grown there, stand 77 townhomes grouped in duets and trios. Plan two features a wonderful guest or office suite with its own exterior entry adjacent to the driveway but around the corner from the home's front door.
There is another full living suite with exterior access from a curved staircase at the front of the house.Category: Single-Family Production, over 3,000 square feet; Entrant/Architect/Land Planner: Robert Hidey Architects, Irvine, Calif.; Builder/Developer: Taylor Woodrow Homes, Irvine; Landscape...
A winner in two categories, the units as well as the site plan are first rate. Categories: Townhomes, less than 2,000 square feet; Community With Mixed-Housing Types; Entrant/Architect: Otak Architects, Lake Oswego, Ore.; Builder: Seabold Construction Co., Beaverton, Ore.; Developer: Innovative...
An in-city infill project, this custom home fits neatly in its mature landscape on what was an abandoned 1/2-acre site nestled among a busy Dallas thoroughfare, a meandering creek, and a local park in a neighborhood of '60s ranch houses. Category: Custom Home, less than 3,500 square feet;...
The judges noted the informality and freshness of this ocean-colored beach facility and applauded the traditional form interpreted in a contemporary way. It consists of an observation tower with lifeguard and first aid facilities, a concession building, an operations staff building, a bathhouse...
Most people would have called in the bulldozers to raze this dilapidated bunch of early 20th-century shotgun houses. But a local banker, contractor, architect, and preservation group saw potential in the endangered historical structures and decided to preserve this fast-disappearing American home...
By Christina B. Farnsworth. Just blocks from a historic small-town main street, the 45 cottage homes on 17.3 acres feel like a fairy tale village.Though Poulsbo looks simple, it took great artistry and care to create comfortable, private detached living at 13.6 dua.
By Carolyn Weber. "This is what a loft should be--it's messy and real, not so homogenized," exclaimed one judge of the 75-year-old, former fruit-drying facility turned luxury loft complex. Category: Lofts; Entrant/Architect: David Baker Faia amp; Partners Architects, San Francisco; Builder: Devcon...
By Christina B. Farnsworth. SoliVita combines the best of traditional neighborhood planning with the recreation active adults require in a setting that captures a New Orleans-flavored spirit. His company also partnered with the University of Central Florida to provide classes at SoliVita.
By Christina B. Farnsworth. The San Francisco Bay area is the least affordable market in the country. "The project was the result of five or six neighborhood design workshops," architect Michael Pyatok says.
When the client purchased this Georgetown house, prominently perched overlooking the Key Bridge and the Potomac River, he thought that the bathrooms and kitchen needed updating. Architect Mark McInturff brought in helical steel piers to stabilize the structure.
By Carolyn Weber. Coastal land in California is scarce and fast becoming the exclusive domain of the wealthy. Category: Production Home, less than 2,000 square feet; Entrant/Architect/Land Planner: Ktgy Group, Irvine, Calif.; Builder/Developer: The Olson Co., Seal Beach, Calif.; Landscape...
By Christina B. Farnsworth. The 1.87-acre site of a defunct railroad switching yard in the heart of a Chicago neighborhood known as Bucktown is now home to urban professionals seeking hip city living. Though gone, the railroad figured into the site challenges: "An infrequently used rail line...
By Carolyn Weber. "When you're in the guest bedrooms you literally feel like you're on the water," Archer says, "like it's just lapping up against the floor.""It's passively cooled with natural breezes and uses lots of natural light," he adds.
By Christina B. Farnsworth. Builder Bill Davidson has once again garnered a Builder's Choice award for a stunning Mediterranean-styled villa: This one at a robust 4,535 square feet. "The stone wraps pillars, serves as the veneer of some walls, and is elemental in the fireplaces," Davidson says.
By Carolyn Weber. The combination of excellent design and an equal level of craftsmanship made this 2,600-square-foot vacation home a winner. "The clients wanted a home that fit into the area, but not a big fancy house," says architect James Estes, who chose board and batten siding, a standing-seam...
By Carolyn Weber. A superior product design as well as site plan garnered this 62-unit condominium project two top awards. "We kept the pitches low to maximize the views," Craiker notes.
By Christina B. Farnsworth. Block X sits rather unobtrusively in the long early morning shadow cast by the Sears Tower, Chicago's tallest landmark. "Buyers," says Haymes, "range in age from 22 to 65."
He relocated to Northern California seeking a slower pace of life and projects over which he had more control. Plenty of windows all around frame the amazing views of the California coastline.
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In the interest of creating new traditions for the new millennium, the Builder's Choice judging was moved from the quaint town of Woodstock, Vt., to the backdrop of America's Castles: Newport, R.I. Whether it's an isolated custom home or a renovated city loft, the judges applauded sensitive site...
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- A new agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and environmental groups ends a year-long moratorium on new endangered species listings.
- The NAHB names Gregory S. Brown director of affordable housing for multifamily.
- Peggy K. Cullom is named NAHB vice president of multifamily...
In Palmerton, Pa., the Carbon Builders Association (CBA) helped revitalize the second annual Carbon County Lion/Lioness Fair by serving as a fair sponsor and donating $3,000 to the 4-H Livestock Club. Helped by the Carbon Builders Association in Palmerton, Pa., prize-winning 4-H animals take home...
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By David F. Seiders. Rising home prices have been key to housing's support of the economy, energizing investment demand among prospective home buyers and generating massive amounts of housing equity that have been tapped by millions of homeowners for spending on a variety of consumer goods. There...
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By Bruce Smith. Legislation pending in Congress would help open the door to homeownership for a new generation of Americans while providing the economy with a much-needed shot in the arm. Although the nationwide homeownership rate stands near an all-time high of 67.5 percent, millions of American...
By BUILDER Magazine Staff. What you lose in power, you gain in mobility because 18-volt cordless circular saws are lighter and more compact. Large and in charge: Weighing 9.5 pounds, the DW007K 24-volt circular
Kennedy is helping spearhead a lawsuit against the DOE and its attempt to roll back the seasonal energy-efficiency ratio (SEER) standard for air conditioners and heat pumps. According to the DOE, a 20 percent increase over the current 10 SEER standard still offers consumers significant energy...
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By Daniel Walker Guido. The unique study, headed by Ivy Zelman, home building analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston, looks back at key events over the past 25 years to determine if there is some sort of pattern that investors can follow in the days, weeks, and months ahead. "Therefore," Zelman...
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The home builder's search for a legitimate fit with the Internet has felt like the endless search for the Holy Grail. And the Web does it cheaper and better.There are many Internet applications that promise improved processes and increased profitability for a builder by reducing mistakes, and...
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The longer you build homes, the more you understand why construction techniques take so long to change.As part of that process, Foster tried to follow many of the energy-efficient engineering guidelines laid out by Joe Lstiburek of the Building Science Corp., a home building think tank based in...
With just 38 residences, The Olson Co.'s Heritage Walk had to be marketed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The California Mission-style, "Citi-homes" on an intimate 1-acre site are within walking distance of the famed Pasadena Playhouse District, Colorado Boulevard, and historic Old Town...
New Yorkers crave apartments with views, but few homes that offer this option are available in the market. Inside the brochure, marketers eschewed plans and dimensions in favor of photos of the views to the river, East Side, and Riverside Park.
Once a haven for winter residents, Florida's southwest coast is now booming as a year-round market for all types of home buyers. WCI Communities saw a huge opportunity to service these buyers with a new retail-style design studio.
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Stung by the success Homestore.com has had in listing homes for sale on the Internet, in September the nation's five largest builders launched their own Internet listing service of new homes.Called NewHomeSource.com, the site listed some 200,000 new homes in 4,000 communities being developed by the...
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By BUILDER Magazine Staff. Though the recent termination of 50 of its 185 jobs at home building-related dot-com Buildscape was termed by management to be routine, Internet industry observers said the company is another victim of the ongoing dot-com financial squeeze. Officials at Buildscape, a...
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Manufactured housing continues to buckle under the glut of repossessions caused by the easy credit terms that finance companies offered thousands of manufactured home buyers in the mid 1990s. Currently, about 2 percent of all manufactured housing loans are in repossession proceedings, according to...
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What do Ocala, Fla., and San Luis Obispo, Calif., have in common beside palm trees? Other findings: Sprawl is definitely possible even in areas where population is shrinking, smaller areas are often more vulnerable to sprawl than larger areas; and water availability and geography limit sprawl...
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Residents of Nevada are united in their opposition to plans by the federal government to bury the most toxic garbage mankind has ever produced--77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste generated by 103 nuclear power plants--in a mountain 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, the fastest growing housing...
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A Michigan-based research firm, Personnel Administration Services (PAS), has released a new survey of what construction employers pay their staff-level employees. Note that these figures may be somewhat high for the residential sector, as they cover the whole industry.
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By R.E. Blake Evans. Last summer following six consecutive days of fatal alligator attacks, the Florida Game Commission reported that drought and residential population increases were driving gator-to-human confrontations to their highest levels ever. At Arvida's Weston development near Ft...
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Buried chemical agents including arsenic and other toxins such as mustard gas were found in Washington, in the Spring Valley neighborhood and the grounds of American University. Members of Congress and The Washington Post have called for an independent third-party investigation of the chemical...
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By Christina B. Farnsworth. Steam produced by the earth's magma, an energy source once harnessed by the Romans, helps California keep the lights on. To maintain the steam reservoir, Calpine injects reclaimed water.
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By Carolyn Weber. Some builders in Northern Virginia have found a solution that doesn't relegate the affordable housing to the perimeter of the project but instead places it next door to $800,000-plus, single-family homes. Centex Virginia and Edgemoore Homes are disguising affordable duplexes and...
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By Matthew Power. In August 1999, we wrote about Royal Building Systems ("Groundbreakers," page 134), a Canadian-based company aiming to bring its fast-track concrete housing to the United States. While U.S. builders have been slow to respond, a Mexican developer, Construcciones y Decoraciones del...
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The crown jewel is The Breakers, a four-story limestone palace built from 1893 to 1895 by Cornelius Vanderbilt and his family. We held the judging for our 21st annual Builder's Choice competition in Newport this year and took the judges on a tour of The Breakers. I don't think The Breakers would...
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Eight Habitat for Humanity homes in the District of Columbia will be the first the nonprofit has built with network wiring. Verizon's Jack Campbell says his company hopes to wire the first eight homes by the end of this year and will eventually outfit 53 of the D.C. chapter's projects with the $2...
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The result is the Decora Media system, which consists of Cat-5 wiring in a star configuration, with home-runs connecting wall-mounted send and receive plates to a central hub. The system requires dedicated runs of Cat-5 wiring.
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Will fiber-to-the-home like that on Daniel Island, S.C. really benefit homeowners? We asked David Waks, president of System Dynamics, a Morris Plains, N.J. consultancy that helps companies take advantage of broadband home technologies.
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In the August Tech Tips we looked at a fiber-to-the-home trial in which BellSouth retrofitted Atlanta-area homes with direct fiber optic connections. But while the telecom plans to expand the service over the next few years, some developers aren't willing to wait that long. One of these is the...
But it also serves as a family message center; monitors the home for dangerous conditions like CO2, fire, and flooding; and can even connect to a customized home page on the Internet. It can be accessed on the premises or remotely through the Internet or phone, and with a DSL Internet connection...
If you offer security systems as an option in your homes, your options are about to change. Verizon Connected Solutions joined with Vector Security in Pittsburgh to create a package of home networking infrastructure and security services.
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"What BuildNet did was a huge disservice to the entire home building industry," says Paul Schumacher, of Schumacher Homes in Canton, Ohio, which builds about 300 homes a year in the $175,000 to $300,000 price range. And not discouraged by the results of its previous buy out attempt, Michael...
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"Part of the discovery I've made is that people are very interested in domes from a technical, energy-efficiency standpoint," Crandall says, "but they think domes are ugly. With the domes inflated and the gear inside, Johnson moves his crews inside for the dirty work.
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The results: Traffic in models had dropped off from 10 percent to 20 percent, yet sales held steady. "Preliminary results of a large mail survey conducted at the end of September show some weakening of home buyer demand, as well as greater caution on the part of builders," Seiders explains.