2009 National Sales and Marketing Award: The Trails at Bridgewater, Huntington Beach, Calif.

The Trails at Brightwater, Huntington Beach, Calif. / Best Detached Community of the Year

Builder/developer: Hearthside Homes, Irvine, Calif.

Architect: Bassenian/Lagoni, Newport Beach, Calif.

Land planner: Forma Design, Costa Mesa, Calif.

Number of units: 62

Price of units: $899,000 to $1,099,000

Square footage of units: 1,700 to 1,953

Brightwater was designed to epitomize coastal living through its architecture.

 

Photo credit: Chet Frohlich and John Bare/DesignLens.com

"We've often refer to it as Western Seaboard borrowing from Eastern Seaboard roots," says Dave Kosco, Bassenian/Lagoni Architects' director of design and lead designer for the community. "In the stucco-dominant context of Southern California, never did it seem so context-appropriate to place coastal influenced architecture."

Kosco says early Huntington Beach communities are riddled with Craftsman, Victorian, cottage and seaside vernaculars. "There are a menagerie of colors, materials and textures evident that became the influence for Brightwater's direction."

Brightwater was a true labor of love for the developer.

"Entitlements took over 10 years," says Kosco. "What started as a much denser multifamily plan was ultimately reduced to approximately 350 single-family detached homes across four different product lines. The Trails represents the smallest in square footage and the highest in density."

It was a challenge to make The Trails' 1,700- to 1,850-square-foot homes on 45-foot by 65-foot lots feel like million dollar homes. But builder Hearthside Homes wanted potential buyers to walk out of the residences and feel they were unlike anything they'd ever seen.

"We put tremendous focus on private outdoor living space," says Kosco. "The Huntington Beach buyer is extremely discerning and very in touch with the outdoors. We designed extensive walls of glass and ten-foot plate lines to reinforce the home's connectivity with the outdoors.

"To date, they have sold 14 of The Trails' homes averaging roughly one sale per month," Kosco adds. "In today's environment, that's not bad for a million dollar product."