DAYTON DAILY NEWS:
REAL ESTATE ARTICLES
BUILDER PROFILE:
INNOVATION AND INGENUITY
Custom builder brings stylish designs and a Mediterranean flair to South Dayton area
By Rick Eichhorn
Real Estate Plus
Situated on an acre of land in a cul-de-sac setting, this two-story home as a stately presence that catches the eye in a community filled with impressive homes.
Located in the Hunt Club, a gated Washington Twp. community, the home was built on speculation by Design Homes & Development Co. Inc. It is located at 10081 Beaufort Run and is listed for $699,900.
Visitors have plenty of time to soak in the striking architecture of the home, due to its placement far back off the road on top of a gentle slope. The exterior showcases a number of design elements and various window treatments, all neatly wrapped in brick and Dryvit.
An elegant front door, accentuated with leaded and beveled glass, opens into a two-story foyer that entices the eye to follow the graceful and flowing architectural lines of the home’s main living areas. Columns set off the formal dining room and great room, and an immense picture window at the back of the great room creates the prerequisite “wow” effect.
Just as impressive, however, are the details. The foyer is dressed up with tumbled marble imported from Cairo, Egypt, that is further embellished with polished marble inlays. The detailed woodwork is painted a clean, fresh white that complements the home’s openness. Windows are prevalent and varied, coming in all sorts of stylish shapes and sizes. The front living room, or study, shows off a sweeping bow window. A number of windows are topped with handsome arched transoms.
“She has some really innovative-type designs, “Laura Woolf Graham of Raintree Realtors, referring to the builder, Shery Oakes. Graham added, “The color scheme throughout this house really flows well.”
Design Homes was founded in 1987 and is the developer of the Hunt Club as well as several other communities in Warren and Montgomery counties. But whether in the Hunt Club or on an individual lot, the company works closely with its clients to create the home of their dreams.
“In a custom home, the customers will typically have what they want in their head and then from sitting down and meeting with them in a very short order we can put the plans on the table for them. And we use probably two of the best architects in town,” said Shery Oakes, president of Design Homes.
She added, “Our prototypical person is somebody that wants privacy. The Hunt Club offers a lot of privacy.”
Once building up to 30 homes a year, Oakes said the company is “going back to our roots” and focusing on high-end homes for the presold market. She said she expects to build about five to 10 homes a year in the price range of $500,000 and up.
But having said that, Design Homes is becoming active in commercial building and also has a number of housing developments that offer a wide selection of housing opportunities.
For example, Applecreek Reserve in Warren County offers homes in the price range of $200,000 and currently has three speculation homes for sale. Fairway Crossing in Lebanon offers affordable patio homes, townhouses, and duplexes. The company is also building luxury apartments off state Route 725 near Centerville.
When building in the upscale home market, Oakes said she likes designs with Mediterranean style and flair that showcase picturesque setting and shower living areas with natural light. That aptly describes the home on Beaufort Run, which features a versatile floor plan that nicely combines open areas with more defined, private rooms.
“It’s almost like two homes in one,” Oakes said. “If you have somebody that has nother family coming from overseas for the summer, or they have a nanny or a housekeeper, they have their own living quarters downstairs—or they can go upstairs. Or we try to make it when their kids come form college for the summer they have their own privacy.”
With more than 7,1000 square feet of living area, the home features four open staircases with wrought-iron banisters, five or six bedrooms, five bathrooms and a lower level with a bar/kitchen. The home’s floor plan repeats the architectural lines on all three levels, which adds interest and dimension to several areas. For example, the lower level features two angled-out areas, which hon the second level become, respectively, a bumped-out breakfast area lined with windows and a walk-in bay window area in the owner’s suite.
On the second level, a back bedroom repeats the design of the breakfast area, which gives it a sort of treehouse or hideaway effect. This bedroom comes with its own bath, and two secondary upstairs bedrooms share a Jack-and-Jill arrangement.
A few other highlights of the home are:
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The great room shares a soaring, vaulted ceiling with the foyer, defined by an open upstairs hallway. The great room and living room feature corner gas fireplaces with marble surrounds.
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The state-of-the-art kitchen comes equipped with stainless-steel Jenn-Air appliances. This includes dual wall convection ovens and a five-burner gas cooktop. The white maple cabinetry is complemented with an earthtone ceramic floor, and the cabinets are topped with crown molding detailed with roping. The kitchen also features an angled center island with places for stools.
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The owner’s bath features a granite tile floor with marble highlights, a whirlpool tub, three windows and two skylights, his and her walk-in closets and vanities.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE WEEK:
CHELSEA TRACE
Popular development heads into final phases
By Rick Eichhorn
Real Estate Plus
Wooded backdrops, two ponds, wide treelined streets with stately homes and an attractive Washington Twp. location all help distinguish the development known as Chelsea Trace.
Located off Social Row Road and bordering Warren County, the community brings a breath of fresh air to city conveniences. Chelsea Trace is close to all sorts of parks and amenities, and children attend Centerville schools.
“This setting basically suggests a very quiet and private neighborhood environment,” said Realtor and sales representative Joyce Sheaffer-Addison of Irongate Inc. Realtors. She added that the community is surrounded by other prestigious developments, “which gives it some special exclusivity.”
Last September, the Pinnacle Commercial Group purchased Chelsea Trace. Currently, Ryan Homes and Pinnacle Homes are the only two builders in the community. Pinnacle is a division of Firsdon Construction.
Pinnacle Commercial Group is developing sections four and five, which are the final phases of the community. The two sections have about 64 lots, bringing the total number of homesites at Chelsea Trace to about 150.
“There’s very few developments left in Washington Twp.,” noted Pinnacle’s vice president, Jim Firsdon. He added, “All the infrastructure is done and it’s ready to go.”
In addition to two ponds, the community features cul-de-sac homesites, sidewalks on both sides of the streets and a lamppost in front of every home. Pinnacle Homes is a custom builder that offers the buyer a wide range of floor plans, from ranches to two-stories.
“We even have a tri-level,” Firsdon said. “People sometimes get turned off by tri-levels, but when you look at ours, you can’t tell it’s a tri-level.”
If desired, Firsdon said the home buyers will be able to make design modifications to tailor the floor plan to suit their needs and wants. Or, the company will even work out a design from scratch.
Pinnacle’s home prices start at about $190,000, with the average price expected to be about $260,000. Prices include the lot and full basement.
“We do a lot of custom feature normally not found in this price of homes—two-piece crowns (moldings) in our dining rooms and our studies… We do wider woodwork and molding and things of that nature,” Firsdon said.
Other standard features of a Pinnacle home include concrete driveways and sidewalks, 9-foot first-floor ceilings, wiring for cable TV and three phone lines, address stones, oak handrails, 42-inch kitchen cabinets, custom interior wall colors, a gas fireplace, a silent floor system and a basement that is ready to be finished.
“The way we usually design our stairways to come into the basement, you’re not just walking into a wall. It’s open to one section and could very easily be finished,” Firsdon said.
The homes of Chelsea Trace have exteriors composed of brick and wood siding, which gives the neighborhood an attractive, quality look. Elevations and roof lines are varied, so that no two homes look exactly alike.
To further maintain the integrity of the neighborhood, Chelsea Trace is a deed-restricted community and disallows such things as backyard sheds and the storage of recreational vehicles. The community features public utilities and has a homeowners association, with a yearly fee of about $75. This pays for the upkeep of the ponds, common areas and entrance landscaping.
Every home in the neighborhood is within walking distance of a neighborhood park, which is maintained by the Centerville-Washington Park District.
UNDER ONE ROOF ----- Doug Scholz
AN OPTION TO CONSIDER
Today’s modular homes have quality amenities and architectural design
By Rick Eichhorn
Real State Plus
“You shouldn’t have a preconception of a modular home if you’ve never seen one,” said Doug Scholz, president of Unibilt Industries Inc.
Technology advances have made the modular home attractive to a wide variety of home buyers. Today, buyers can choose from more than 100 floor plans options. Customers also have the ability to customize their floor plans.
Typically, a modular home is built on a “scattered” lot, and Scholz said that the majority are built with basements. Most customers, he added, purchase a modular home either after having positive feedback from friends or family members who own one, or by visiting a sales center.
“If you haven’t been in one, what you should do is visit a sales center, and I’ll think you’ll be pleasantly surprised—from the quality of the product and the architectural design and the amenity level that you can find in the homes today” he said.
Real Estate Plus: What is a modular home?
Doug Scholz: A modular home is built to the same conventional building codes as all of your site builders. It’s simply that we build it in the factory, we build it in three-dimensional modules, or sometimes what we call boxes, and assemble it on site. But the building codes and virtually all of the materials are the same.
REP: Are there any misconceptions that you think people have?
Scholz: Probably the largest misconception is they think a modular home is a manufactured home, or a double-wide trailer. Those homes are built to a totally separate code, and it’s a code that is regulated on a federal basis. The codes we build to are regulated on a state-wide basis.
Also, people think it’s not a quality product, that it depreciates rather than appreciates. That the designs are very limited, that the roofs are flat, and everything is rectangular. The product has evolved greatly over the years. We have 8 to 12 roof pitches, we have different shapes, we use steel beams, which opens up the rooms so that you now have rooms that are maybe 26, 28 feet in expanse.
REP: What work is done at your facility, and what work is one on the home site?
Scholz: The percentage is about 90 percent here. When we deliver the home—and it’s our delivery crew, we do not subcontract that—typically we deliver the home, erect it on the foundation and do what we called “sealed weather tight.”
The modules are placed, the roof is raised, and the ridge cap is put on. So you could have a rain storm and there’s no damage. The builder then, locally will complete about 40 to 50 hours of carpentry work, such as adding the garage, adding a porch. Previous to our arrival the builder has put in the foundation. There is then an electrical and plumbing connection that has to be brought into the service of the house. The house is fairly well plumbed and wired, but you need the central connections. When the house leaves here, the carpeting is laid, the cabinets are in, the drywall is painted, and all of the windows are trimmed.
REP: What are the advantages of a modular home, first from the builder’s perspective and then from the buyer’s perspective?
Scholz: From the builder’s perspective the primary advantage is that the home is built in a controlled environment, and the materials are protected throughout the construction process.
The other advantage is that the builder is buying 90 percent of the product at a fixed price, guaranteed from the time of contract.
Also, today there’s a shortage of labor; there’s not a lot of young people coming into the trade. Here, you have one major subcontractor, so it simplifies the process. It can expediate the turnaround time.
From the homeowner’s perspective, it’s quality control. We feel there is a greater sense of quality control vs. being out in the field where you have multiple subcontractors coming in.
One thing, in our homes, all of our exterior walls are two-by-six rather than two-by-four. We get greater insulation and structural rigidity. Another thing, occasionally we can use some technology in the plant that you can’t use out in the field. An example is the drywall that is attached to our ceilings and on our exterior walls, which is applied with a system called “foam seam.” Sot there’s no screws or nails in our drywalls.
During production the customer can come in and see their home being built. The house is on the production line only six days. The main thing is because it’s a continuous flow; where in the field you have delays between subcontractors. So it’s not that the work is done that much faster, it’s just that there’s no waiting time in between.
From a cost standpoint, we build typically on scattered lots, which is the most expensive means for a site builder to build. Our builders say that there is a savings to the customer probably om the area of 10 percent to 15 percent. It’s not more than that because we’re still using the same materials as the site builder; for example, we use Andersen windows and Haas cabinets. And materials are a large part of the home’s price.
REP: Do you ever sell directly to a customer?
Scholz: Typically not. It still takes a skilled tradesman to complete the home and we want to have a builder that is practiced in doing that, so he can perform a good job.
REP: If I were to drive by a modular home, could I tell by the appearance?
Scholz: No. I live in one of our homes, and people come and they’ll say, “Now where’s it go together?” Or from the outside they’ll say, “This sure doesn’t look like a modular home.” We’ve worked for years to get to that point.
REP: How much choice beyond the floor plan, such as exterior and interior items, do buyers have?
Scholz: Our standard exterior is vinyl siding; however, we have the option of putting on wood siding. If you would want stone or brick we delete the siding and the local builder brings in a mason to do that work on site.
We offer one brand of cabinets with about 10 or 12 choices in style and wood. There are about four or five interior trim and door choices, and we have a number of kitchen faucets and countertops, floor vinyls and carpeting.
If the buyer doesn’t like our choices, we can, in some instances, delete the product and have the builder install it locally. We do 500 homes a year, and there might be five or six homes that delete cabinets or trim—carpeting and floor coverings are probably more frequent.
REP: Do you see modular homes becoming more and more popular?
Scholz: Yes, for two reasons: One, the evolution of the product—greater amenities and more dramatic interior and exterior looks. The other is, as labor diminishes, we have to find a more efficient way of building a home, and the modular process makes a lot of sense.
Box info:
Doug Scholz represents five generations of home builders. His father, Carl was a master carpenter and founded Unibilt Industries Inc. in 1969. Located in Vandalia, Unibilt’s facility has undergone a number of expansions. Today, the company builds about 500 homes each year, distributing them through a network of regional builder in about a 250-mile radius of Vandalia. Excluding the lot, home prices range from about $70,000 to $200,000, with most falling in between $125,000 and $175,000. This price includes the garage, foundation and porch.
APARTMENT COMMUNITY OF THE WEEK
EMERALD LAKES APARTMENTS HOMES
Jewel-themed community is a cut above the ordinary
By Rick Eichhorn
Real Estate Plus
Step into the clubhouse at Emerald Lakes and it immediately becomes apparent that this is no ordinary apartment community.
The clubhouse shines with a luxurious ambiance befitting the “jewel” theme, with features such as dramatic ceiling designs, marble and wood floors, and plush furniture. Glass French doors open into a game room as well as a study/business center. A 24-hour fitness center overlooking the spacious swimming pool and deck area offers a secluded sanctuary for winter workouts.
“Our residents really utilize our clubhouse,” said marketing coordinator Julia Keyes. “They’ll come in, they’ll hop on the Internet—they have a free color printer. We have a DVD player. On top of that we have a wonderful stereo system.”
She added, “They come in, and they play pool. Some of the residents will come in after work, after school and hang out. Every Saturday we have a free continental breakfast.”
While the community is still determining whether to rent out the facility for private parties, the clubhouse is the site of at least one organized event every month. Other services offered include fax and copier, stamp sales, and a complimentary DVD and video library that changes once a month—to watch at home or on the clubhouse’s large screen TV.
“We go up and above and beyond what people consider customer service,” Keyes said. “There’s not even a word for it. We are the right-hand man for our residents.”
Keyes tells of taking residents car shopping or showing new residents around the area. The community also puts out a newsletter that gives a complete rundown of the area’s entertainment venues.
Located off New Germany-Trebein Road in Beavercreek behind the Mall at Fairfield Commons, Emerald Lakes is a posh community comprised of one-two-and three-bedroom garden apartments as well as two- and three-bedroom townhouses. Opened in July of this year, the community will have 280 apartments and townhouses once it is completed this summer. It is being developed by Columbus-based T&R Properties.
A lake adds a soothing ambience to the property, which is tucked into the contours of a gentle slope. Due to a clever work schedule, the community doesn’t seem in the midst of construction; rather, landscaping and lawns decorate the completed buildings, and mud and debris are kept to a minimum.
“We have a five-acre park that’s going to be developed at the back of our property with picnic tables, charcoal grills and children’s play areas,” noted property manager Pam Hicks-Ring.
The public is responding to Emerald Lake’s efforts, and a majority of the apartment homes are renting as fast as they are finished. Likely attracting the residents are the functional floor plans embellished with features more often associated with upscale homes.
All styles feature ceramic entryways, walk-in closets, built-ins in all closets, oversized windows outfitted with miniblinds, gas heat, sculptured marble vanities, marble window sills, ceiling fans, washer/dryer connections, recessed and overhead lighting, a balcony or patio, two phone lines and a relaxing color scheme featuring eggshell-colored walls.
“Not the sterile white that everybody’s gotten so used to,” Keyes said. “It’s warm and inviting. Especially when you mix it with the old English-style cabinets.”
The cabinets described by Keyes are, of course, in the kitchen. Other features found there are a breakfast bar, a built-in microwave oven, a refrigerator with an icemaker, a self-cleaning gas oven, double stainless-steel sink with garbage disposal, a dishwasher, a pantry and enough electrical outlets to make all the blender drinks at a Jimmy Buffet concert.
First-floor garden apartments boast 9-foot ceilings accentuated with crown molding, and upper-level apartments are distinguished by vaulted ceilings. All apartments feature private entrances with a doorbell and peephole, which is located off a lighted, open corridor that can be accessed from two sides.
Also, all apartments come with an extra storage closet, located in the corridor, and detached garages can be rented for $75 per month. Townhouses come with their own attached garage.
Other highlights, and the rent breakdown for the five styles, are:
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The Opal --- This one-bedroom, 775-square-foot, apartment rents monthly for $679, $699 on the upper level. The spacious, open living/dining room offers lots of options for furniture arrangement.
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The Pearl --- With 900 square feet of living area, the two-bedroom Pearl ranges in monthly rent from $779 to $799. All upper-level apartments have the higher rent. The Pearl has a split floor plan with two master suites. The second bathroom can be accessed from the entryway or the bedroom.
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The Jewel --- A three bedroom, two-bath apartment with 1,000 square feet. All bedrooms boast walk-in closets. Monthly rent ranges from $849 to $869.
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The Sapphire ---- With 1,350 square feet of living area, this two-bedroom, two and a half-bath townhouse rents monthly for $1,099. Add $50 for lake views. The living room features a corner fireplace with a TV shelf and a two-story vaulted ceiling. Two master suites comprise the second level.
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The Emerald --- 1,600 square feet of living area, two and a half baths and three bedrooms. Monthly rent is $1,149 or $1,249 for a lake view. The sizable master bedroom features a vaulted ceiling, a Palladian-style window and, as Keyes puts it, “a closet large enough to fit your bed set.”
All of the above prices are available for a six- or 12-month lease. Signing a 12-month lease currently takes $500 off the first month’s rent. The community also offers a preferred employer plan with special rental and deposit incentives.
COVER HOME
INSPIRED LUXURY
$2.1 million home’s architecture is in harmony with natural surroundings
By Rick Eichhorn
Real Estate Plus
Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Fallingwater” house in Mill Run, Penn., and influenced by the Chinese art of Feng Shui, this $2.1 million home in Washington Twp. is a relaxing retreat in total harmony with its natural surroundings.
Owner Dr. Wayne Anderson explained the philosophy this way: “Everything has its proper place and balance as far as orientation, as that the proper energy flows through the house.”
It took one year and 2,000 tons of granite boulders just to prepare the 2.36-acre site. Constructed with industrial steel framing supported by caissons footed into the bedrock, custom builder Dennis Garber took another three and a half years to complete the home.
Finished in 1996, the home is comprised of seven pavilions leisurely placed around a courtyard. The back of the home hugs the hillside above Hole’s Creek.
Only the highest quality materials, fixtures and appointments were used for the home. Walls are comprised of fine mahogany, stratified stone and tempered glass. The glass is actually two, 0.75-inch panels with an argon layer. Three of the pavilions are topped with glass pyramids.
Andersen describes the home as not being bulky in design like some other luxurious homes. Instead, the home shows off simple, clean lines, erupting from the earth like a natural phenomenon.
“The house is very inspiring,” Andersen said. “I designed it specifically so that all the rooms have proper natural light.”
He added, “It doesn’t broach any particular area or time period. It will remain timeless.”
Tucked into the tranquil wooded setting, it’s easy to understand why Andersen refers to the home as his retreat from everyday life.
Visitors to the home travel up a private land off Alexandersville-Bellbrook Road, cross a bridge over Hole’s Creek and then turn into the circular driveway, where landscaping effortlessly blends into the rustic surroundings.
After passing through an entrance pavilion with a mahogany lattice door, guests enter into a paver brick courtyard where a waterfall cascades down the face of a stone wall. Further distinguishing the area is a heated swimming pool with an automatic cover, a covered veranda and borders embellished with eye-catching landscaping.
Double glass doors repeat the design of mahogany latticework, drawing the eye to the main entrance of the home. The foyer, with a glass back wall presenting views of a wood deck and the creek, exhibits an imported tumble marble floor with and inlay Cosmati design patterned after a 12th century Italian church.
This style of flooring is repeated—this time with a true compass inlay—in the glass corridor between the family room and kitchen. On one side the corridor looks out to the courtyard; on the side by the creek sliding doors open to a deck with a built-in hot tub.
Beautiful views, flowing water and natural wood and stone materials are themes that play out in every room of the home. Almost every room—including the bedrooms—offers access to at least one deck, the courtyard, paver brick patio or a combination of these.
Although spacious, the rooms are perfectly balanced in proportion and are filled with warm and inviting spaces. Glass walls connect the corners in many of the rooms, adding dimension and incorporating seasonal beauty into daily living.
“Everything brings nature in,” said Realtor Lois Sutherland, of Irongate Inc. Realtors. “Everything takes your view out to this beautiful creek.”
The bridge over the creek is outfitted with lighting during the holidays and a waterfall is equipped with fiber optic lights. A section of the creek makes an ideal ice skating rink, and the home is nest to a bird sanctuary.
Topped with one of the three glass pyramids, the main pavilion houses the great room, dining room and owner’s retreat. Captivating the eye, the great room boasts a massive stone fireplace with a 9000-pound boulder hearth and a 12,000-pound boulder mantel.
Defined by floor level and a curved line of two steps, the great and dining rooms are enhanced with an ash hardwood floor and extensive wood and stone work. Like the rest of the home, the northern Wisconsin stone is Imperial Weather Edge, which shows a rich, natural look.
Toward the entrance to the great room, a 500-gallon aquarium shields and provides a backdrop for a mahogany bar. In the far corner, a wide, $100,000 mahogany spiral staircase spans three levels, ascending against a curved mahogany-and-glass wall to the owner’s retreat and descending to the lower level.
The staircase was handcrafted on site by an artisan trained in Germany. In fact, all the custom mahogany woodwork was completed on site.
A second stone fireplace sets the stage in the owner’s retreat, where a circular bathroom epitomizes luxury with appointments such as his-and-her marble vanities ad closets, a marble shower with six heads, a whirlpool tub beneath a corner window overlooking the courtyard, two entrances, laundry facilities and a third closet.
Lined with windows and featuring a wood deck, the bedroom offers spectacular views. A second spiral staircase soars to a loft study, where the tops of trees are framed in the sides of the glass ceiling. The study features a walk-in cedar closet that conceals a sound-and-light-proof chamber designed for daytime sleeping.
A two-bedroom wing is located off a hallway from the great room. The hallway also includes a guest powder room, a full bath and a laundry room. The home is decorated with five custom fireplaces, several of which are designed from tumbled marble and boast elaborate inlays.
In the state-of-the-art kitchen, the fireplace is adorned with a ceramic tile mural depicting Hole’s Creek, the wooded scenery and indigenous wildlife. Highlighted by a glass pyramid, the kitchen includes an open breakfast area with access to two different decks, tow breakfast bars, a center island with a five-burner gas cooktop, two dishwashers, two deep sinks and a vegetable sink and two Thermador wall ovens. Additional amenities include ash hardwood floors, glass door that open to the courtyard’s veranda, granite countertops and an abundance of customized curly maple cabinets with pewter handles.
Other features of the home include a bath with a steam shower directly off the pool area, a three-car garage with a workshop, radiant floor heat and leading-edge “smart house” technology.
The lower level sports a recreation room with a fireplace and wood bar, exercise room with mirrored walls, home theater area, an area for a fourth bedroom, a storage room a wine cellar and a second staircase that leads to the kitchen.