Production builders often offer home buyers upgrades and options. Sabal Homes, however, goes beyond letting homeowners choose countertops or flooring. The Charleston, S.C.–based builder packs its plans with crafted features popular in local architecture, such as window seats, recessed bookcases, exposed rafters, beadboard, board and batten siding, barn doors, and deep porches.
One of Sabal’s newer models, the Camelia, offers a high level of detail within a modest floor plan—2,205 to 2,234 square feet. Within this efficient footprint, homeowners can enjoy open living areas, flexible room options, and multiple outdoor spaces. In addition to the quality and quantity, the builder lets buyers choose where and how to use these details. Clients who want shiplap can have it in the foyer, as an accent wall, on the ceiling, as wainscoting, or on the kitchen island. A window seat can also serve as bench seating and storage in the mudroom or as a toy box/extra seating in the upstairs loft.
Sabal can offer these lavish architectural touches in so many forms because the company began as a custom home builder, so craftsmanship is part of its history. As the firm grew, it maintained this level of detail by maximizing efficiency in production procedures. The Camelia may be presented with only a specific set of details, but buyers can choose from just about any of the builder’s options. While this might seem like the opposite of good business, the firm’s flexibility is key to its profitability. Offering shiplap across multiple plans means it makes a lot of shiplap, and making a lot of anything maximizes production efficiencies.
The homeowner also absorbs some of the cost. According to Stephanie Windon, Sabal’s marketing director, most clients spend around $40,000 over the base price of their house. How they allocate those extra expenses varies, as does how much bang they can get for their buck. For instance, shiplap costs 30% more than drywall. If a client wants board and batten instead of lap siding, they can expect to spend 80% more per square foot. And those trendy interior sliding barn doors? They run an extra $2,000 per set.
Sabal does limit options to details originating from the area’s culture and history, and it matches a set of options to an immediate region. The Camelia, for example, was designed by architecture firm Housing Design Matters with a South Carolina coastal feel, including natural wood shiplap or board and batten finishes. Inspired by Low Country design, the Camelia’s 8-foot-deep front and back porches allow for cross ventilation, shading, and outdoor living. Both porches encourage neighborhood interaction and provide ample room to fit a table with chairs or a cluster of seating.
“My parents are buying this house—that’s how much I love this plan,” raves Windon. “It’s so hard to find a smaller home with these higher end finishes and details.”
