We’re really proud of the fact that three of our design and build projects have been nominated for the prestigious Montgomery County Builders Association Home of the Year Awards. These nominations are based on design quality and building craftsmanship and execution of architectural details.
The first project that is nominated is a one story addition to a home on Arrowood Road in Bethesda. The home backs to the Burning Tree Country Club Golf Course. You can see a photo below of the kitchen. To see really nice cabinet photos click here
Country Casual Bethesda Home Addition Nominated For MCBA Award
Another project nominated is a large addition and whole house renovation of a log home originally constructed in the 1920s.
Kinda strange, but this home is also on a golf course – Manor Country Club Golf Course. The views are outstanding and after our addition and renovation project the owners are now able to enjoy views from about every room in the home – Imagine views of the beautiful pond at the 11th hole, gently rolling hills and nothing but green as your cooking dinner and entertaining your guests gazing through a 20 foot tall wall-o-glass in the kitchen-family room. It’s really quite a view! Take a look at the second photo below. Click here for more pictures of this amazing addition.
Many of you came to visit us at this home in October when we had an open house event and gave tours. We had over 200 people at the open house and we’re planning another event sometime in the spring since we promised we’d show the home again to about 20 people that missed the tour of this really unique and interesting project.
Rockville Home Addition With Killer Golf Course Views
And the last project nominated (not on a golf course) is a new custom designed Arts and Crafts home in North Arlington. Here are more photos of this home
This is another project that lots of you stopped by to visit when we had a two day open house event a few months ago. Are you beginning to see that not only do the homeowners enjoy their homes, but I think I get as much fun out of showing them off as the owners do?
So much fun in fact that (as you may have heard) we’re building a few model homes around town and should be breaking ground in the coming weeks on a few (more on that later).
Stay tuned for more breathtaking photos of these award nominated projects.
And for any of you that missed our open houses and have called asking to get on our VIP private tour list of homes currently under construction (new home in Falls Church, new homes in Bethesda, additions in Bethesda, additions in Silver Spring, new home in McLean). just enter your name and email below.
Arlington Arts and Crafts Custom Home Nominated For Award
The home is located on the 10th hole of Manor Country Club in Rockville, Maryland.
This Whole House Renovation project was very challenging from a design perspective as well as a construction perspective.
I first met our future clients at an open house they attended at another award winning project of ours in Rockville. During our first conversation, the owners described how they had a very unique home. They told us that house was a log house originally built in the 1920s with additions added on over the years. And adding to the unique nature of the project, the home was located on the 10th hole of Manor Country Club in Rockville.
They went on to tell us about there long journey to find an architect that was up to the challenge of creating a design that would blend with the existing 1920s log home architecture. And the risk was high since the project would be highly visibly to every one that played on the golf course. So their challenge was finding someone that could create a design that they’d be proud of and that so many others would see while they were playing the golf course.
Not only were the owners a bit worn out trying to find an architect, but they also needed a builder capable of handling the engineering required to modify a log home with huge timber walls and roofs.
Luckily, the project that they met me on was equally challenging, and they were impressed enough with our work that they retained us to help them solve their design and construction problem.
So our primary design goal was to blend their new addition design into the existing architecture of the 1920s log house. And along the way, we wanted to create as many walls of glass to capture the breathtaking views of the “back nine” at Manor Country Club as we could.
So we added a two story master suite and bedroom above as a wing on the left side of the house and a one story family room and kitchen addition on the rear. The master suite addition also had a new screen porch attached to it and the family room – kitchen addition had a new single car garage built underneath. We also designed a beautiful stone patio with a bar-b-que grill and a decorative water fountain outside of the family room – kitchen addition.
To capture the absolutely phenomenal views of the golf course we had to create some new, larger openings in some existing log walls. We also designed a 20 foot tall bank of glass in the kitchen- family room addition to create dramatic views of the golf course.
One of the challenges for us was finding a craftsmen that had experience patching log walls and filling the joints between each log so it looked perfect. Since we removed so many huge bearing interior log walls and inserted steel beams to hold up the structure, finding the right person was critical to making the job look great. Luckily, we didn’t have to search too far because the owners had been using an old craftsmen for years on their house. So he was happy to help us out and I think he enjoyed the challenge dealing with more than the maintenance work he had been doing in the past at the home.
We many structural challenges working with the log home that we had to overcome. And the design we created creatively compliments the old style log house while bringing in a sense of modern architecture.
Traditional style architecture Carderock stone Woodmode cabinets 5 inch clear cherry wood floors custom stain color Custom architectural millwork Master suite on first floor Expansive 360-degree views Hardiplank vertical siding with battens Pella Windows
So if the home is empty; no animals, no kids, no people and no furniture, in other words, as close to the condition the builder would face when building a brand new home, the vendors and subcontractors will price the job with lower prices.
This is because the hassle factor has been reduced.
The vendors and subcontractors don’t have to work around the furniture and worry about ruining it, they don’t have to worry about keeping dogs and cats in the house when the workmen go in and out of the doors. They don’t have to worry so much about safety of the little kids, they don’t have to make sure the utitlities are on at the end of each day – the water, the electricity , the heating and cooling.
So when we can get this type of condition, we explain to the vendor that they will be able to work faster and have fewer interruptions.
Plus the construction workers are always trying to be friendly to the homeowners and visa versa, the homeowners want to be friendly to the workers. So what happens is that “hello” in the morning can turn into a 30 minute chat about what the worker thought about the Washington Redskins or Obamas State of the Union or about the pipe burst at the Shady Grove Red Line Metro Station. And the cumulative impact is that the job ends up taking longer.
Now you might say what about the cost of moving out and fining a place to stay?
Well you can rent a pod for I think $80 per month. Also, through good planning the home builder may be able to set aside certain areas in your home that are not being worked on and block those areas off by building temporary protective walls to move some furniture and store it during the duration of the job.
Also, we have temporary homes that we put our clients in that we rent back to the client for $1500 or so per month. These homes are in Bethesda, Chevy Chase, McLean and Arlington (call and reserve these way ahead of time).
We have seen jobs that we estimated 10 months to complete but where the client moved out and we saved 4 months of time.
So when you net out the 4 months of interest savings on a construction loan and the lower unit prices from the vendors, against the cost of moving out, we’ve actually seen savings of $3000 or more.
Plus lots of these homes that are being renovated were built prior to 1978 and have lead paint. So if you have little kids you really don’t want them exposed to the dust particles and it’s just a lot more pleasant not living on a “construction site” for 5 months.
I always joke and tell our clients that they’ll live longer if they don’t live on site!
So when you think about that, this tip is really priceless!
Thinking of selling our home? Call 301-370-6463 – – We Buy Homes.
We are now reserving construction starts slots for summer and fall 2010. Don’t miss out on these low interest rates. Email me at [email protected] to get on our schedule.
Friends and clients always ask me if we’re working on any interesting projects and I always say that all of our projects are unique and one of a kind.
But we haven’t had a project like this one for many years!
Take a Look at the original home here:
Original Log Home Bedroom
We met the owners, Dr. and Mrs. Mennitt, of this Rockville log home over a year ago at an open house we held in Rockville.
The owners had a very unique property right off the 11th hole of Manor Country Club in Rockville Maryland.
Not many homes are located off the 11th hole of Manor Country Club…but what made the property a real “one-of-a-kind” is the fact that it is a log home built in the 1920s.
We started creating a design in the spring 2009 and finally started construction of a two major additions and a complete renovation of the home in September 2009.
One primary addition is a kitchen-breakfast room-terrace addition off the rear of the home. The other major expansion is the two story addition on the side and rear of the home. The master suite and screen porch is on the lower level and the upper level has another large bedroom.
Across the board (with the exeption of of a few vendors like appliances ) our vendors are reporting that their labor and material costs are relatively low. The pricing we have been getting for direct costs of new custom homes & large additions to homes in the Washington DC area have remained low for a few years now. However, we are noticing vendors getting slightly busier than they’ve been in the last year or two.
Here’s one of our excellent vendors, Glen Embry, of Metcalf HVAC, explaining what he thinks of the current market:
Ever meet a stuffy architect? Think they’re easy to work with? Think the home design process would be fun with one of those “big-name” architects?
Life is too short.
Our home design process is smooth, easy & fun. No limits on how much design for your home. No limits on how much time on your design. Every design detail explored. No ego on our side. We just want create the best design for your home.
Watch one of our home design meetings here:
Take a look at the award winning finished product:
Award Winning Architectural Details Log Home Addition Renovation
Interior Design Architectural Detailing Goes Into Our Projects
Click here to look at more project photos of this award winning log home renovation addition here.
Another reason it’s a great time to build your custom home — home prices are low and work quality is high. Here is an electrical contractor who works in the Montgomery County Maryland, Fairfax County Virginia, N.W. Washington D.C. area and works on new homes for area home builders: