2023 BALA Winners: The Best of the Best
You'll find plenty of inspiration in these four award-winning projects from the Best in American Living Awards
What Gen-Z Buyers Really Want in a Home
The fervor of planning for Millennials in the home building industry has now pivoted to Gen Z. So, what does this new generation want?
4 Luxury Production Home Designs to Inspire
Yes, these are designs for production homes, but you won't find any cookie-cutter repetitive elements in this high-end selection
The New American Home 2024: Modern Features, Timeless Comfort
Explore the design elements and unique, luxe details that combine to create a sense of comfort and relaxed indoor/outdoor living in The New American Home 2024
4 Inspiring Adaptive Reuse Projects With Real Impact
From former schools to warehouses, these adaptive reuse projects—winners in the 2023 Best in American Living Awards—succeed in creating new housing and revitalizing their neighborhoods
Kid-Friendly Home Design Four Ways
Do your ‘family’ homes really deliver great design for parents and their children? Here are four clever home design ideas that consider kids and adults alike
Fabulous Faux
At first glance, it looks like a meticulously detailed 19th-century rehab. Upon closer inspection, Brian Pennings' home reveals a new custom home clad in vinyl, composites and seemingly every engineered building innovation. Only the beveled-glass mahogany front door and stone veneer of the exposed foundation is real.
Design Sketchbook: Maximizing Space
Today's homebuyer is more aware of design elements than ever before. Even first-time buyers have definite thoughts and ideas regarding what they consider "good design." Because today's homebuyer is so keenly aware of design, it pays for builders to analyze their floor plans before beginning work on a project.
Developing Relationships
Builders have yet to be selected for the 2,043-acre Canyons South golf and residential community south of Denver in Douglas County. Lots for the 400-home first phase won't be offered until the second half of 2006, but John Waggoner, president of developer Lowe Enterprises' Central division, was in contact with builders months before the January 25 land closing.
C2C Home Competition Winners
The Council of Community Services and the Art Museum of Western Virginia hosted some of the world's top leaders in design, housing and sustainable development on January 14 for the Cradle to Cradle Housing Design and Construction Competition. A team of international jurors reviewed more than 625 submissions.
Asian-Inspired Garage Door
Clopay Building Products introduces its new Avante Collection of garage doors. "This door was exclusively available for commercial use, but we saw an opportunity for a residential application to meet the needs of design-conscious homeowners seeking urban accents for modern homes," says Pat Lohse, director of residential marketing for Clopay.
Wood Range Hoods
Medallion Cabinetry recently introduced several new one-piece wood hoods to enhance its current selection of wood range hoods. With the growing trend toward larger commercial cooktops, there is a corresponding need for greater ventilation and larger wood hoods. The range hoods of today are no longer just utilitarian mechanisms for venting the cooking area.
Used Textures
Appearing to be recycled from a building long exposed to the elements, Stone Mountain Brick Co. introduces four new veneer styles for its brick and stone. "Used textures" have a slightly worn face with a few random indentations in each brick surface. In sharp contrast, the fresh-looking wirecut style has blunt, uneven grooves that stretch vertically across the surface of each piece.
Color Your World
Brick remains a favorite building material for many home builders and home buyers. Surveys from the National Association of Home Builders show that 60 percent of American home buyers prefer brick homes. When asked, buyers also say they prefer variety in their neighborhoods. Yet the larger the development, the harder a builder must work to differentiate one home from another — not to menti...
Designing Granny Flats
Accessory units, or living spaces that are secondary to the main home, are enjoying a resurgence in popularity. Also called "granny flats," especially when located above a detached garage, these units have unique advantages for the builder and the buyer. (See Taking Granny (Flats) To Market, p. 179.) From a design point of view, builders should consider two main aspects: the site and the floor ...
From Fantasy to Reality
Some builders view the electronic gadgetry associated with home automation systems as part of a distant, hi-tech future. But for many others, the future is now. This third article on the PATH Concept Home (see sidebar) focuses on modern home automation systems. With its "disentangled" utilities, the Concept Home provides fewer impediments than traditional homes to installing and upgrading a hom...
