January 2006

  • Walkthrough: Colorado Springs, Colo.

    Situated at the base of Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs is in a region once deemed too rugged for human habitation. (Even Zebulon Pike was forced to abandon his ascent of the mountain that would later bear his name. He never reached the peak.)

  • Little Gems: Building Good Habits

    A business culture that fosters superior interpersonal skills among its staff and takes total quality management seriously has kept Venture Homes among the top three J.D. Power performers in Atlanta for the past four years.

  • Little Gems: Sterling Quality

    Unique designs, meticulous scheduling, and a focus on customer service helped A.F. Sterling Homes in Tucson, Ariz., tie for second place in 2004 in a very competitive market.

  • Little Gems: Managing Fundamentals

    By really listening to recommendations from its suppliers and contractors, tying the company's back-office system to practical business tasks, and focusing on construction quality, Keller Homes in Colorado Springs, Colo., is sure to score well on the J.D. Power ratings every year.

  • Little Gems: Introduction

    Though some builders are skeptical, consultant Paula Sonkin of J.D. Power & Associates maintains that there is no correlation between the size of the home builder and how well it does on the annual J.D. Power customer satisfaction scores.

  • Building The Dream

    At first glance, landing a resort destination project seems like a dream come true. The sites are invariably spectacular, and potential buyers are eager to tack on plenty of lucrative options.

  • Guilty With Explanation

    Why should home builders care about information technology (IT)? Well, when IT is properly tied to business processes, it helps field supers stay on schedule, professionalizes the salespeople, and strengthens communications with subs—all factors that can help home builders double productivity...

  • Divine Details

    Great design, they say, is in the details. Often, the details were custom touches that became part of the mainstream vernacular. Others are simply too exquisite not to share, even if they never make it to suburbia.

  • Austere Entries

    If you came upon these houses without the benefit of being invited inside, you'd never know the splendor of what lies beyond their thresholds.

  • Unconventional Clusters

    Sometimes, especially in attached housing, you take what the land gives you—a truism that these two projects embraced with smart planning that delivered impressive results and value.

  • Climate Control

    More than just providing some measure of beauty, great architecture considers and addresses its environment.

  • The Tops

    Three houses, all vastly different in their forms, materials, and execution with one common feature: an in-character, if slightly quirky, take on a cupola that provides light and, in all but one case, extra living space for its owners.

  • New Town Triumphs

    The builder's choice awards bore witness to the birth and maturation of traditional neighborhood design, starting with the concept's poster child, a budding Seaside, Fla., in 1986.

  • Great Elevations

    What makes a great elevation? Depends on which one you're viewing.

  • Attached Style

    Done right, attached single-family homes can be every bit as attractive as their detached brethren, giving owners a similar sense of privacy and pride.

  • Mixed Messages

    Mixed-use projects were not among the original six categories offered when we introduced the Builder's Choice competition to the residential design world in 1981, but by the mid-1990s the concept was catching on, and by the turn of the last century it had reached the mainstream, prompting us to add...

  • Light In Tight

    Row houses and condos aren't generally known for their bright and airy interiors, a necessary evil (or so it's said) of attached housing, except for these two projects. With innovative solutions drawn from outside the attached realm, both of them sidestepped conventional wisdom and made the most of...

  • BUILDER BRIEFS

  • Sound Advice

    Noise control is the next big thing in achieving optimal indoor comfort, with new solutions that make it a worthwhile investment for single-family builders.

  • World Tour 2006: Vertical Vision

    Builders and planners in Tokyo decided that the only place to go was up.