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For many of us, a mind's eye picture of Seattle is a panoramic shot that includes the Space Needle, framed by skyscrapers, with marvelous Mount Rainier in the distance. If captured by camera, that picture would be taken from Queen Anne Hill, one of the highest spots in the city.
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“I definitely found the teaching of future contractors, and the passing on of my military knowledge to future military leaders, personally rewarding,” McWilliams says. “Had it not been for the Seabees, who extended my basic vocational school training in carpentry into many general areas, and the...
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A few years ago, it was just about a given that Nextel had the home builder communications market locked up. The company was such a profound force in the industry that every year at the International Builders' Show, attendees would complain that they couldn't get their calls through because so many...
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In 2004, Canadian companies earned about $5.7 billion (U.S.) selling softwood into the United States. American consumers of framing lumber and wood siding spent about $7 billion to purchase that same lumber. The difference, approximately $1.3 billion, went into the pockets of the U.S. Customs...
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A round up of the Hearthstone judges and criteria
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Production builder Pardee Homes sometimes takes 25 or more years to build out a community. So it's been important since the early days for the Los Angeles–based company to participate in, and give back to, the areas where it builds, say president and CEO Michael McGee and executive vice president...
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Through three decades in business, J. Ronald Terwilliger has had opportunities to donate to myriad causes, and he didn't narrow his giving much at the beginning. But his work in the housing industry—he's chairman and CEO of multifamily builder Trammel Crow Residential—has taught him much about the...
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When David and Martha Showers' first grandchild, Jeremy, was born in Ohio 17 years ago with serious health problems, he was transferred immediately to Akron Children's Hospital. “We credit Akron Children's Hospital with saving his life,” David Showers says. “We woke up to the fact that this...
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Ralph Drees admits that the arts aren't his first love. But that hasn't stopped him from donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to museums in Northern Kentucky over the years or from encouraging others to do the same. “I'm not really into arts personally, but I think it's good for the area,”...
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Some people make it a point to avoid their high school reunions, but not this year's winners. Amid countless other charitable and business obligations, both Ralph Drees and David Showers remain involved with their hometown alma maters, leading capital campaigns, overseeing reconstruction projects...
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Let's just say there were a few codes and ordinances weighing in on the design of the Aptekar House, an oceanfront prize in tony Stinson Beach, Calif. FEMA requirements set the floor at 19 feet above sea level to safeguard against storm surges, and a height limit prescribed by the local design...
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The moss-draped live oaks had pride of place long before the master planned community of Oldfield took root in Okatie, S.C. So when architect Gerry Cowart was asked to design a family retreat in their midst, the trees were the first stakeholders he consulted.
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The Rivera Stone House represents not the culmination of a dream, but the midpoint. Marking the second phase of a private master plan on 65 acres of wine country property, it's a temporary hold-over for the owners until their primary residence is built. Eventually it will serve as a guesthouse.
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Super-sized chalets with exposed trusses and burly log timbering are plentiful in the mountains—the thinking being that the best complement to big country is a strapping lumberjack of a house. But this all-weather abode on the former Cataract Creek Ranch takes an opposite tack. It uses a more...
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It's one thing to take an off-the-shelf floor plan and plug it into “Anywhere, U.S.A.” It's quite another to walk a parcel of land, take in the topography, vegetation, wildlife, and weather and then craft a unique dwelling for a singular spot.
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WHY IT WORKED: No home backs up to another at Edenfield, one reason for the success of the 2,000-acre Seven Oaks' master planned community north of Tampa, Fla. Most Edenfield home sites overlook ponds or wetland conservation areas.
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WHY IT WORKED: First-time buyers, move-ups, and retirees liked the central location of this infill development, which features wider-than-normal streets, sidewalks, and strict architectural controls—something nearby neighborhoods don't have.
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WHY IT WORKED: Empty-nesters love the dramatic interior spaces, the first-floor master suites, and an innovative front elevation, not to mention zero exterior maintenance in an intergenerational community setting.
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At last month's International Builders' Show, the NAHB Research Center announced the rollout of its new Oriented Strand Board (OSB) Product Certification Program. An extension of the Research Center's existing building product testing and certification services, this installment is another step...
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The performance of housing markets in the short term is heavily influenced by economic and financial market factors that drive housing demand upward or downward over the course of business cycles. But over the long term, the average level of home sales and housing production is governed by...