CHARLES VILLAGE, FIRST KNOWN AS PEABODY HEIGHTS, WAS developed after the Civil War as a get-rich-quick scheme. Investors thought high-salaried professionals would be attracted to the area because of its proximity to the estates of Baltimore's most affluent residents. But it just didn't sell as...
EVEN CHRIS STUHMER ADMITS THAT there is no such thing as a Las Vegas housing style, but that hasn't stopped him from pioneering one—or more. Known locally and across the country, and proudly so, as a design-oriented builder, Stuhmer applies a personal and professional passion for architecture with...
FOR ALL OF THE INNOVATIONS HE'S pioneered in housing design and the attention he's received for them, Carson Looney has no pretense about his job or his legacy. In fact, he disdains the marketing side of architecture in favor of simply serving his clients with thoughtful solutions. “Our first ad...
TO COUNTERACT THE dark-alley-kitchen syndrome commonly seen in Chicago row houses, architect Mark Peters used translucent laminated glass walls to bring natural light inside and to create the illusion of spaciousness.
SIMPLICITY WAS THE imperative in designing the railing for this 8,818-square-foot art deco home, according to architect Mark Nasrallah. The rail's clean, curvilinear motif perfectly complements the bold, geometric elevation of the Floridian house. Constructed from stainless steel—for its durability...
THIS 3,000-SQUARE-FOOT, ranch-style welcome center is a prototype whose earth-savvy building practices earned it a platinum LEED ranking from the U.S. Green Building Council. Sustainable features include salvaged construction-site stone for the fireplace and chimney, and ceiling trusses that were...
WHO SAYS A GARAGE can't be both practical and gorgeous? That's certainly the case with this two-story, 1,152-square-foot, two-car garage that repeats many of the details of the main house. Attached to the side elevation is a shed roof appendage that contains the entrance and serves as the base for...
THIS L.A. HOME BRINGS together two popular California traditions—modern architecture and outdoor living—in a serene union. Located in an established community, the one-acre lot had mature trees the owners wanted to keep and an existing house they did not. William Hefner Architecture and Interiors...
BOASTING SOME OF THE most beautiful and well-maintained bungalows of the late 19th century is Washington's Cleveland Park neighborhood. Its residential streets are distinguished by that most significant Craftsman icon: the front porch. But that certainly wasn't the case with No. 2909.
AS ONE OF THE NATION'S most revered bastions of colonial architecture, D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood is not known for being structurally avant-garde. Except in the case of this boutique mixed-use project, which honors historic precedent and then crowns it with what architect Mark McInturff calls a...
A GOOS/LOVERA ARCHITECTS was challenged with converting an early–20th-century Connecticut horse barn into a recreation facility and guesthouse for family gatherings. Although most of the changes were internal, the team carefully considered the barn's history and architectural details when choosing...
THERE IS MORE THAN one way to do a site-specific building. You can go with the one-with-nature approach or the contrast-to-nature approach. Or you can do a little of both. Johnsen Schmaling Architects made this vacation home modern but used the bark of the trees, the foliage, and the hillside to...
THE OLD AFFORDABLE-housing model is being thrown out as thoughtfully designed homes for low-income families are fast replacing the drab, concrete boxes of the 1960s and 1970s. Douglass Square reflects that shift.
ARCHITECTS LISE DE Vito and Jim Zack played all the key roles in this urban infill project. Not only did they design the duplex, the husband and wife team also acted as contractor and client, keeping half the space for their own use.
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EACH YEAR, WITH THE feedback of thousands of builders across the country, the NAHB Research Center's Annual Builder Practices Survey (ABPS) documents materials usage in new-home construction. The ABPS is one of the most comprehensive sources of data on residential building materials available...
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- Owner of Hall Financial Services, a Matthews, N.C.–based mortgage broker, is being forced to sell his own home to help reimburse clients as part of a legal settlement.
- A recent report by four nonprofit advocacy groups finds that roughly one-third of California's cities and counties now have...
A BRASH BUT BRILLIANT YOUNG MAN SENT A MEMO TO his board of directors outlining his plans for the new business magazine he intended to publish. The memo said, in part, “We will not be over-optimistic. We will recognize that this business slump may last as long as an entire year.” The man was Henry...
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During Tuesday night's investor conference call, M/I Homes CEO Robert H. Schottenstein stated that the housing sector's "challenging conditions" are caused by a number of factors including a difficult mortgage market, discounting by home builders, a lack of job growth (especially in the Midwest)...
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With pretax charges totaling $33.4 million, M/I Homes is reporting a net third-quarter (ending Sept. 30) loss of $21.7 million. According to the company, the charges include land impairment and abandonment charges, joint venture investment write-offs, and severance costs. During the third quarter...
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News of another home building sale or merger can be viewed skeptically, but in the comparatively strong Carolinas market the union of The Mungo Cos. with 1st American just makes sense. The deal, which is potentially worth $20 million, was announced late last week. "I felt I was a one-man operation...
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Embattled builder Levitt and Sons notified the state of Florida that it is laying off 158 construction employees in Fort Lauderdale by the end of the year. The layoffs come less than a week after the historic builder received four default notices totaling more than $300 million from two of its...
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Big builders are walking away from land options by the millions, so it might be logical to assume that there are plenty of land deals waiting for small- to mid-sized builders. While The Orange County Business Journal ran a story last week that reported how local builders now have land opportunities...
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October 2007 news and views from the world of green building.
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With home orders falling 23 percent, closings sliding 28 percent, and a 41 percent cancellation rate, Meritage Homes joins the long list of big builders who faced an unstable third quarter. The Arizona-based builder is reporting a net loss of $119 million for the period ending Sept. 30, 2007.
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With home orders falling 23 percent, closings sliding 28 percent, and a 41 percent cancellation rate, Meritage Homes joins the long list of big builders who faced an unstable third quarter. The Arizona-based builder is reporting a net loss of $119 million for the period ending Sept. 30. The results...
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The Ryland Group is not immune to the housing downturn as the large builder reported a $54.7 million loss, or $1.30 per diluted share, for this year's third quarter, but president and CEO Chad Dreier says his company is better prepared than most to navigate through the downturn. "I think it's hard...
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In a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, the Levitt Corp. says its subsidiary, Levitt and Sons, has received a number of default notices from Wachovia Bank and KeyBank. The company also reiterated that while the builder is pursuing negotiations with its lenders to restructure...
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Germany's Technische Universität Darmstadt won the U.S. Department of Energy's 2007 Solar Decathlon competition. The Solar Decathlon, the third event of its kind, was held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Twenty university teams from the U.S., Puerto Rico, Spain, Germany, and Canada signed...
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This video will help you understand the basic principles of installing LP CanExel premium siding and show you the versatility of the LP CanExel product line.
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Three students from the University of Maryland architecture program claimed the top three spots in the first-ever TCA/PCA Storm Housing 2007, a Tilt-Up Concrete Association- and Portland Cement Association- sponsored international competition that seeks conceptual designs for a storm-resistant...
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This is an abstract that shoudl be short but descriptive, to make people's interest perk along.
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On the whole, house prices are down and will go down further. According to the inaugural housing report from former Credit Suisse managing director and now-founder and CEO of Zelman and Associates, Ivy Zelman, supply/demand imbalance in housing will stabilize in 2010 or 2011. Home prices will...
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In a move that may signal the end for a historic builder, Fort Lauderdale-based Levitt and Sons has ordered workers to halt construction on all of its projects. The company currently is building in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Last week, the builder's parent corporation, Levitt...
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The end may be near for the home builder best known for building New York's Levittown on Long Island from 1947 to 1951. The Levitt Corp. released a statement Thursday saying subsidiary Levitt and Sons "did not pay the approximately $2.6 million of interest payments due to its five lenders on Oct...
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After a 36 percent month-to-month jump in August and continued unrest in the mortgage market, it would be easy to assume that the U.S. foreclosure rate would continue to skyrocket. The good news is that foreclosure activity decreased eight percent nationally in September according to a monthly...
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Builders were dealt a blow this week when the U.S. Supreme Court opted not to hear a case in which New Jersey builder MiPro Homes claimed the township of Mt. Laurel, N.J., unlawfully seized a 16-acre parcel that was under site development and had been legally zoned and approved for construction.
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A new law is now in effect in Albuquerque, N.M., for developments of five acres or more that requires home builders to obtain a special certificate from the city which specifies that the project is not disturbing an archeological site.
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This video illustrates how Superior Walls are manufactured under roof, transported to the jobsite by trucks and installed on-site, usually in less than one day!
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Charles Village, first known as Peabody Heights, was developed after the Civil War as a get-rich-quick scheme. Investors thought high-salaried professionals would be attracted to the area because of its proximity to the estates of Baltimore's most affluent residents. But it just didn't sell as...
Even Chris Stuhmer admits that there is no such thing as a Las Vegas housing style, but that hasn't stopped him from pioneering one—or more. Known locally and across the country, and proudly so, as a design-oriented builder, Stuhmer applies a personal and professional passion for architecture with...
For all of the innovations he's pioneered in housing design and the attention he's received for them, Carson Looney has no pretense about his job or his legacy. In fact, he disdains the marketing side of architecture in favor of simply serving his clients with thoughtful solutions. “Our first ad...
Perhaps more than any other architect of the late 20th century, Jack Bloodgood is responsible for bringing a design sensibility to mainstream housing. A product of architect-built housing in Westchester County, north of New York City, he set out to proliferate the concept of lifestyle-oriented...
Despite a move in mid-September by the Federal Reserve Board to lower its Federal Funds Target Rate from 5.25 percent to 4.75 percent in an attempt to force interest rates down and home buying activity up, it is now clear that the housing correction still has a long way to go before it peters out...
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Meet the judges of the 2007 Builder's Choice Awards.
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Lakeside Library is a multi-function accessory unit designed to complement a 100-year-old lakeside vacation house. The main house is a rambling, horizontal structure clad in red cedar shingles with dark green trim.
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To counteract the dark-alley-kitchen syndrome commonly seen in Chicago row houses, architect Mark Peters used translucent laminated glass walls to bring natural light inside and to create the illusion of spaciousness.
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Simplicity was the imperative in designing the railing for this 8,818-square-foot art deco home, according to architect Mark Nasrallah. The rail's clean, curvilinear motif perfectly complements the bold, geometric elevation of the Floridian house.
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The dominant visual element of the arrival court at this Hudson Valley farmhouse is a barn-board-clad tower, which serves as an entry point and links the main wing of the house to the guest quarters. The entry under the tower is like a breezeway with big barn doors on each side.
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This 3,000-square-foot, ranch-style welcome center is a prototype whose earth-savvy building practices earned it a platinum LEED ranking from the U.S. Green Building Council. Sustainable features include salvaged construction-site stone for the fireplace and chimney, and ceiling trusses that were...
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Who says a garage can't be both practical and gorgeous? That's certainly the case with this two-story, 1,152-square-foot, two-car garage that repeats many of the details of the main house.
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Working within tight limitations can yield spirited design, as this well-executed architectural maneuver proves. The program was simple: Renovate a bath on the top floor of a small row house and make its attic stair and attic space usable. The goal, says architect Todd Ray, was “to interweave all...
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Too often, city living means sacrificing space (and privacy) for location. But this Spanish-colonial townhouse, designed by JZMK Partners, allows buyers to have it all, in spite of zero–lot line restrictions. Its first-level garden patio and two second-level decks provide al fresco retreats. And...
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For architect Eric Zuziak, inspiration for this unusual duplex wasn't hard to find. The contemporary lines and strong geometry of the three-story Los Angeles residence echo those seen in his own home.
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Any housing venture that promotes public transportation in auto-choked L.A. deserves props; this infill project meets that objective and more.
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Street names such as Four Tops Drive and Miracles Boulevard were only appropriate when this 47-acre Detroit neighborhood got its groove back. After half a century as an isolated ghetto with little to no connection to surrounding neighborhoods, this prime turf near the city's mid-town district is...
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Hard to believe this gem of an infill site was once occupied by a junkyard. “Local folklore even has it that the eccentric former owner had a bomb shelter under there, which we haven't confirmed, although we did find a reinforced underground concrete room when we started digging,” says architect...
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Introducing higher density to an established Houston neighborhood of single-family homes was a gutsy move. But this 144-unit upscale loft project was an instant hit with professional singles and couples craving the option to lock-and-leave. The four-story building adds a contemporary vibe to an...
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This mixed-use project provides affordable housing for seniors in a new neighborhood adjacent to San Francisco's South of Market area. It is the first building in the country to allot a specific percentage of the residential units for seniors living with AIDS, says architect Tom Brutting. The...
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Until recently, migrant and resident farm workers in Pajaro, Calif., had no choice but to live in sub-standard, one-story units that often flooded. While many residents were temporarily housed in trailers, KTGY Group and South County Housing replaced the deficient housing stock with 63 two-story...
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With its vertical proportions, board and batten siding, and gable brackets, this 3,575-square-foot “folk Victorian” concept home gives a polite wink to tradition on the outside, but quickly dispenses with it on the inside for the sake of saner, more harmonious, big family living.
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Vacation homes often grow larger when renovated, but this updated Massachusetts cottage maintained the scale of its neighbors. Restraint was in keeping with the client's wishes, but as a side benefit, it ensured compliance with architectural restrictions set by the local Historic District...
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Herryford Village was intended to be the same as hundreds of other neighborhoods Clark Realty Builders has developed with Torti Gallas and Partners on military installations across the country. But when an environmental impact study showed that several acres on the original site were unavailable...
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Central Oregon is a dramatic landscape of high desert, big sky, and long, linear fields of volcanic rock. Rising from this dreamlike terrain is the 54,500-square-foot Prong-horn clubhouse, named for the bands of animals that roam wild in the area. Part of a destination resort that draws folks...
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With its simple shape and clever economy, this 1,440-square-foot waterfront house updates the classic fishing shack.
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Most college students can't wait to get out of the dorms and into off-campus housing. At Wofford College, seniors have a reason to stick around: a New Urbanist–style neighborhood of cottages to call their own, complete with rockers, hammocks, and barbecue grills.
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This L.A. home brings together two popular California traditions—modern architecture and outdoor living—in a serene union. Located in an established community, the one-acre lot had mature trees the owners wanted to keep and an existing house they did not. William Hefner Architecture and Interiors...
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Boasting some of the most beautiful and well-maintained bungalows of the late 19th century is Washington's Cleveland Park neighborhood. Its residential streets are distinguished by that most significant Craftsman icon: the front porch. But that certainly wasn't the case with No. 2909.
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Barry Berkus, Principal of B3 Architects, has one word to describe his client, KB Home, on The Park Houses at Playa Vista: brave. With their “contemporary brownstone” aesthetic, the four-story Park Houses use steel, glass, and colorful cement (a bold palette not often seen in production building)...
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Built in 1942 as temporary housing for shipyard workers during World War II, the homes in Tacoma's Salishan neighborhood were intended to have a 10-year life-span at best. After the war, however, the city converted the houses to rental units for low-income families, and they remained in use for...
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As one of the nation's most revered bastions of colonial architecture, D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood is not known for being structurally avant-garde. Except in the case of this boutique mixed-use project, which honors historic precedent and then crowns it with what architect Mark McInturff calls a...
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Agoos/Lovera Architects was challenged with converting an early–20th-century Connecticut horse barn into a recreation facility and guesthouse for family gatherings. Although most of the changes were internal, the team carefully considered the barn's history and architectural details when choosing...
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There is more than one way to do a site-specific building. You can go with the one-with-nature approach or the contrast-to-nature approach. Or you can do a little of both. Johnsen Schmaling Architects made this vacation home modern but used the bark of the trees, the foliage, and the hillside to...
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In contrast to the sterile strip malls marooned on asphalt islands across the country, The Glen Town Center remembers a more graceful era of downtown shopping districts, one in which houses, department stores, theaters, and greenswards commingle to create an enticing sense of place.
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The prevailing architectural style in Rosemary Beach is “Dutch West Indies,” but the family that commissioned this 5,500-square-foot residence wanted a home blending Italian and Moroccan influences. Fortunately, the irregularly shaped lot was the biggest and farthest from the beach in the TND...
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Packing a couple thousand graduate students into 11.4 acres is no easy feat, particularly when it involves knitting 840 units of campus housing into a dense urban framework without overshadowing the old-growth neighborhood next door (Westwood Village, circa 1922). Working in partnership with...
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In conceiving the most poetic use of this bluff-top location overlooking downtown Aliso Viejo, William Hezmalhalch Architects considered not just how to frame the site's killer views for those who would live there, but also how the residences along the perimeter would be seen from below.
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Located in a breezy beach community along Florida's northwest coast, this 3,544-square-foot idea house has just about every thoughtful detail an empty-nester could wish for—generous display shelving for art and collectibles, built-in bunks for grandchildren, tactile indulgences such as reclaimed...
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Urban planner Tom Gallas literally wore out a car making the trip from D.C. to Philadelphia as many as three times a week during the planning process for this turnaround project in the City of Brotherly Love. “It took some time to develop a strong bond of trust [between the developer and urban...
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As crisp and picturesque as autumn in New England, the Stonebridge Club is a social hub for residents at The Pinehills, a master planned community. Red and white with rambling appendages, the main building is meant to evoke an old New England barn. Yes, the two-building compound is the nexus for...
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The old affordable-housing model is being thrown out as thoughtfully designed homes for low-income families are fast replacing the drab, concrete boxes of the 1960s and 1970s. Douglass Square reflects that shift.
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The problem facing the architect and developer of Three-65 at Victoria Gardens was how to tie this infill project (mixing flats and townhouses) into a neighborhood of single-family detached homes to the north and a recently opened regional mall to the south.
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When it comes to the adaptive reuse of churches, especially those with historic easements, one thing really matters: windows. Just ask architect Jai Singh Khalsa, whose firm has been repurposing churches and other institutional buildings since 1980. “We're currently doing a number of buildings that...
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How do you design a state-of-the-art student apartment building located just a few hundred yards from the Rotunda of the University of Virginia, which was executed by none other than Thomas Jefferson? Very carefully.
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The median home price in Morgan Hill, Calif., is $750,000, far out of reach of service workers such as teachers and police officers. To mitigate the area's workforce housing shortage, architect KTGY Group teamed up with South County Housing to give families earning below the area median income of...
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These six heavy concrete buildings were operating, albeit inefficiently, as cold storage for a wholesale fruit and vegetable market when architect Pappageorge/Haymes purchased them for condo loft conversions. Located in the South Water Market historic district, the 926 units are within financial...