This is an ideal plan for in-town building lots.
Take a video tour here:
Hurry, be the first to see these building lots and new homes available now in the following areas:
1. Green Acres Bethesda – starting at $1.29M
2. Kenwood Park Bethesda- starting at $1.39M
3. Bradley Hills Bethesda- starting at $1.37M
4. Section Five Chevy Chase- starting at $1.79M
5. Falconhurst Potomac – starting at $3.89M
6. Chesterbrook McLean – starting at $1.39M
7. Wyngate Bethesda – starting at $1.189M
To find out how to access these lotsgo here and enter your name on the form and hit send
and we’ll contact you or call 301-370-6463 or email info@paramountconstruction.net
Here is a wonderful custom designed new home on 3 acres in McLean. The home design
was created to capture the tremendous views on every side of the home.
The master suite is on the first floor. The ceilings are 10 feet on the main level.
Five inch clear maple floors with custom wood floor stain are one of the many
custom features which set this home apart.
The powder room has a custom designed marble sink. The homeowner was deeply
involved in the entire design process and her refined tastes and sensibilities
are reflected in this custom home.
The structure was designed and engineered using panelized wood framing
techniques. The framing package was fabricated and the panels were assembled
in an indoor facility and then shipped out to the site and erected.
There are lots of custom WoodMode builtins which provide function and design
elements which add to the custom feel of the home.
Business conditions stayed weak through 2009’s 3rd quarter for housing design architects, yet specific segments at the market’s lower end look ready for a 2010 recovery, according to fresh numbers from the AIA.
Since the billings for architects are usually a good prediction of future activity in construction, this could be good news for homebuilders.
Design work for affordable homes for first-time buyers jumped from -64 percent in the third quarter of 2008 to -2 percent in a year over year comparison, according to architects responding to the latest AIA Quarterly Design Trends survey. (Percentages indicate the number of respondents reporting sector ‚improving‚ minus the number reporting ‚ aweakening.‚)
The feeling towards the move-up market had an improved gain that traveled from -57 percent down to -29 percent within the same time frame.
Each market segment has been boosted through decreasing home costs and good mortgage rates. AIA cheif economist Kermit Baker noted the kick-start the affordable market received from such aid as the federal tax credit for those purchasing a home for the first time.
The third quarter of 2009 showed strong gains in remodeling activity, with 27 percent of architects reporting an increased demand for both renovations and additions, up from 13 percent in the year prior. Kitchen as well as bathroom remodeling jobs increased by a very large percentage, from approximately eight percent during 2008 to approximately twenty six percent during 2009, an increase of more than three times the percent for one year.
Additional market segments have not been as fortunate. The townhouse/condo market remained stagnant, with a score of -43 percent in 2009 vs. -49 percent in 2009. Interest in custom/luxury homes and second vacation homes remained extremely low, at -48 percent and -70 percent, respectively.
Through the third quarter of 2009, the AIA‚Äôs residential billings index rose sharply from a score of 20 in the fourth quarter of 2008 to 38 in the second quarter of 2009, but then remained flat at 38 overall. Individual scores not above 50 are indicative of negative activity, however “less bad” categories are those that show scores that are ten or above.
Moving from a score of 35 in the first quarter of 2009 to 47 in the second quarter, new project inquiries at architecture firms remained similarly meager last year, but inched closer to the halfway mark.
Geographically speaking, reports from architects suggest that recovery will be concentrated most heavily in urbanized areas. Some 69 of respondents in the latest survey indicated a rise in demand for infill development, up from 63 percent in 2008.
Happy custom home building client in Bethesda Maryland describes her process for selecting an architect and builder to design and build her custom home.
Lots of homeowners are trying to decide of adding on to their home is better than tearing the house down and building a new home. But where do you start? Who do you turn to?
Yingjie was faced with this dilemma. So listen and watch Yingjies story.
Yingjie first met with an architect. But the architect wasn’t much help. He was not able to tell her if adding on to the existing home or knocking down and building new was the best way to go.
Next, she met with a builder. But the builders home plans were unimaginative and looked like “one of those” homes that
so many builders put up – B-O-R-I-N-G!!!
Then, her life magically changed when she received a message one day from Paramount Construction.
Listen and watch Part 1 of her story here:
Here is Part 2 of Yingjies story and about her new Bethesda custom home building experience and how she went through the process of of selecting an architect and builder and what some of her concerns were:
Read the full interview here:
Part 1
A Life-Changing Story Yingjie Shu, of Bethesda, Tells How Life Has Changed Since Rob & Kevin Designed & Built Her Custom Home (Winner of the Gold Award)
Hint: Yingjie has Become Self-actualized due to her New Custom Home Which Reflects Her True Essence….
Ok, Maybe That’s a Bit Lofty, but She Sure is HAPPY
(R = Rob)
(Y = Yingjie)
R: What is your name?
Y: Yingjie
R: What is your name?
Y: Yingjie
R: Where do you work?
Y: U.S. News and World Report. (laughter). I really don’t know how to get started. Like you said, it took us years on debating, wrestling whether to expand our house, or tear down our house, we do love our old little house.
R: So, you….what’s your process?
Y: At first, we hired an architect, the architect came here and talked to us about one hour. I thought before the guys came here that he should have ideas and at the end he would give us some ideas whether to build a new home or expand our house. So, after I talked to this architect, I still don’t have any idea.
R: Because you are just not sure whether you should knock it down or add on?
Y: Yes, after we talked to him, we still have no idea. Looks like we have to pay him in order to have some ideas. At that point because we don’t know that architect, we are not willing to do that. So, we gave up that idea and started to look at other builders. There’s one builder that came over, you know, his plans, whatever, then he showed us, took us to of the some houses that he built and when I looked at that house, I’m not impressed, you know, they all looked like one of those houses up there. There is no character, you know. So, we let it go, you know and then suddenly, we received Paramount’s Open House Invitation in Falls Church, so you know, it was like winter time. So I said, hey, let’s go, let’s just check out. So, we went there. So, when we were driving close to the house, I said to Bill, ‘That’s it!” Co’z the house looks so charming from outside and then we went inside and our hat just brimming. I just said “Hey, Bill, that’s it”. We love the floor, we love the fixtures, we love the design especially the master bedroom, you know. So, at that point, I said “Hey Bill …….
R: Did you talked to Kevin or Rob there?
Y: Yeah, we talked to Kevin and Rob and have some ideas. I guessed Kevin asked us, you know, what we want, what we liked at the house, whatever. So, then you came over to our house with a sketch, what our house should look like. And we discussed whether we should, you know, renovate or tear down the house. You did some analysis and you said, “Tear down, get a new one”. So that’s what we did. And then you gave us some reference to another house in DC and I went there and when I saw the house, I said, “Oh, my gosh, I love this house”. So, I said, you know, we will stay with Paramount. Build a house that has us, that has the character, has the charm, something really referencing us instead of just one of those out there. And we’re very happy.
R: Now that you’ve lived in here for…., how long have you lived here?
Y: About how many…three, four months.
R: How’s your life now compared to the old house?
Y: I think it’s beyond what I can say, it’s beyond. I am extremely happy, you know. I think the house is not huge but it’s the perfect size for us and the space is really well-designed, well-used, you know. Pretty much we can use every room, you know, we have in the house. We just love everything in the house. We love the windows, we love the kitchen cabinets, we love the lights, we love the wall, the shape, you know. We love the basement, we love the loft, oh, we love the floor. We just love it, we love everything.
R: How was the design process from the beginning? When we first met you, how was the process?
Y: I think the process was really really easy. I think Kevin did a good job to get us through what we need to do. So, a lot of things we have no idea, you know, the color, the design, all that kind of things. He really get us to, you know, what will fit, you know, meet our need, meet our budget, you know, fit our style and everything came out well.
R: How about during the actual building, during the actual construction period, how was that?
Y: It’s great, really. I think everybody is really really professional. I think the neighbors love it too, you know. The impact on the neighborhood is very minimum. And whenever we come here, we always see progress, you know,”how’s the house by the way?”. We come here everyday, we passed by, you know. So, everyday, there is some progress, you know, and we’re really happy.
R: And where there meetings on a regular basis during the construction period?
Y: Yeah, yeah, we had weekly meetings.
R: You had that? How was that? Did they keep you informed?
Y: Yeah, they kept us informed, really helpful. What hasn’t been done and what’s, you know, going to be done. I think that’s really really good.
R: What do you think of the quality of the work?
Y: Oh, great. Oh, by the way, there was once… Because I don’t know much about building, that kind of thing. So, there was once I took a guy at work. He is like our facility manager, he came here. So, I showed him, at that time we were doing the outer trimming, you know. So, he said, “This is definitely a Bethesda house, not a Rockville house”.
R: What did he mean?
Y: Quality. He said its top quality stuff. He said, “Yingjie, just relax, everything’s gonna be alright for you”. So, that made me…from a colleague, somebody I can trust, somebody who knows about facility. So, that’s really comforting.
R: Where there any unpleasant surprises or changes that came up here during the construction?
Y: None that I am aware of. No.
R: How about the timeframe. How fast did it go, the construction? Did they deliver on time?
Y: I think what’s really beyond our expectation, you know, I think it’s longer to get a permit than build the house, you know. But I guess the permit is just America’s deal.
R: How about the after construction service or issues that came up?
Y: Oh, it’s great! Actually the part I was really impressed… couple of times, you know, Mike showed up to see and say, “Ms. Shu you need to do this”. “Oh, my gosh, Mike I completely forgot about it”, you know. It’s really really good, follow-up.
R: Has ______Zuckerman said anything about the house?
Y: No. But I did talk to his nephews. (laughter)
R: And are they gonna come over?
Y: I told them. I said, “ I have an open invitation, come over”.
R: How about the Obama children. Have they been over to play with Ray yet?
Y: Not yet. (laughter) They’re too young for Ray.
R: I thought Ray likes older women.
Y: But they are younger. (laughter)
R: They are younger? I thought they are older than him.
Y: They are ten (10) and seven (7).
R: Could Ray bay-sit, at least? (laughter)
Y: Maybe.
R: So well, when friends have their Christmas party here, will the Obama’s be here?
Y: (laughter) I have to ask him. We’ll love to have them here.
R: Ken what am I missing? (video taping about to end)
Part 2
A Life-Changing Story
Yingjie Shu, of Bethesda, Tells How Life Has Changed Since Rob & Kevin Designed & Built Her Custom Home (Winner of the Gold Award)
Hint: Yingjie has Become Self-actualized due to her New Custom Home Which Reflects Her True Essence….
Ok, Maybe That’s a Bit Lofty, but She Sure is HAPPY
R: You’re really on trying to decide if you should knock it down or build new, you’ve interviewed the architect, you’ve interviewed the builder.
What kept you up at night? Was there any… like.. what went through your mind, if there was any fear, what was it? Before, pre making any decision?
Y: I think it’s still we’re making big chance, you know. There’s a lot of money gonna be involved. We don’t’ know anything about building and even though we went to your Open House, we got some references, but still there’s risk out there, you know. So, there were period of times at the beginning, I said, “Oh, my gosh, did we make the right decision?” you know. How about the house, is it gonna come together, how about wasting all the money, co’z we hear all the stories, you know.
R: Stories like what? What’s the worst story that you’ve heard?
Y: Like for example, I have a friend. Her sister is building the house, then suddenly, I think they poured the concrete in and there were cracks, you know. So, they have to stop the work, hire another contractor to pour the concrete and do that whole thing again, then re-fill it again. And eventually, they went to a, they had to go to the court, you know, that kind of things, throw the money down the drain, you know. That’s just really horrible, you know. I think, that house, their house, my friend’s sister started early in that house but then, you know, when they’re getting close to finish everything, they were still gonna finish the trimming. So, you hear a story like that or something, you know, people stopping the work for whatever reason, you know, the builder would go bankrupt, you know, whatever. And then the job is hanging there, never finished. So, you hear those kinds of stories. Or another thing is just, you know, you have a fixed price and then they keep raising the price and then saying, “We need to do this, we need to do that”, and all kinds of problems and then the price just went up, you know, dramatically and that’s kind of a nightmare too for us.
R: How did you get the comfort level that Paramount wouldn’t do that or wouldn’t go and have cracked foundations or wouldn’t have a price that they kept going up or wouldn’t build a complete job on time?
Y: Well, I think when everything goes on schedule
R: But how did you make that decision with Paramount?
Y: At the beginning….?
R: Yeah, because how did you determine that the price was fair, that Paramount could perform?
Y: Well, um, well the price of course we checked with some other builders, you know, we checked with a friend. So, we have some rough idea how much it’s gonna cost, so the price, you know, Paramount presented to us, like it fit in our budget, we can do what. And in terms of, you know, assurance of the work, we talked to the references and all the references we talked to were happy with the work, you know. So, we just feel like, you know, we checked, we checked with all the references, we checked like 4 or 5 references and every single one praise Paramount. So, we feel like, you know, we just have to take a chance. And also, we saw the Open House in Falls Church in 23rd St, we saw the quality of the house and I said, “Hey, we cannot go wrong”. So, we did take our chance but the risk is worth it and yeah, everything is just worth it.
R: Last question. (laughter)
Were there things that kept you up at night during construction?
Y: No. No.
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.
This homeowner in Bethesda tells you why he chose Paramount to design and build their home
Get Your Architect Consultation Now!
Kevin is our “Genius Architect” (he’s really good).
He’d Love To Brainstorm Design Ideas With You
On Your Custom Home Or Large Addition.
Just enter your information and we’ll contact you
to discuss the project you’re thinking about:
Read The Reasons why Bill chose Paramount Construction to
design and build his custom home:
BILL: My name is Bill Adams.
I work at the Urban Institute.
INTERVIEWER: And before how did you make
the decision to go through the design and build process? What
was your process?
BILL: Well I think you know we were thinking
about do we need an architect first, do we, and we did. We talked to a couple of
architects, had them come out to our previous home and we were struggling
at the beginning with do we expand the house
that we have or do we tear it down and build a new one. And so we were looking
for a little guidance there. The first, or
actually more than one, a couple of architects we talked
to they didn’t give us that on the initial visit. And it was
going to
require us, you know investing some money. We didn’t feel
comfortable with that. So we kind of just you know, some time
went by, we went to a couple of open houses. And then one
time we went to an open house for Paramount Construction.
Paramount Construction was building a house in Falls Church.
And we were really impressed by the house. Very you know,
well make house, very good quality, well designed. And immediately we both felt that wow, these are really top-notch builders.
And we thought right then and there you know, this company is going to build our house for us.
And when we met with the Paramount professionals, they came out to our old house and we were, as I said we were unsure about
whether we should expand our old house or tear it down. And they went through a couple of different scenarios but in the end,
we trusted them and they had the recommendation of tearing down the old house and building a new house. And we felt very
comfortable after that conversation with them that we were doing the right thing.
INTERVIEWER: How did the whole process go? The design process with Paramount.
BILL: The process went great, very smooth. We would meet on a weekly basis with Paramount staff, with the architect and others.
And it was, it was very well planned out and we had at various times make decisions about certain features and we weren’t always
sure about what we wanted. And so we were presented several alternatives and you know after talking a little bit with the architect,
we were able to make decisions very quickly. And in many cases he was, the architect was recommending things that we hadn’t thought
of and suddenly a light bulb went off and said yeah, that’s what we want.
So it was, in that sense it was, it was a pretty easy process.
INTERVIEWER: And how about the quality of the workmanship?
BILL: The workmanship is superb. Just looking around the house, I mean the features are excellent, very detailed features. Very, you can
tell just looking at it, it’s very high quality work. And we’re just extremely happy with the way it came out.
INTERVIEWER: And you looked at like standard builder plans as part of your research.
BILL: We did. We looked at some model homes. We talked to a builder, another builder and we went to see one of the homes that he had
built. And it was, it was okay. It was nice but it just, it didn’t have that spark. Okay, it was basically a big box and had some nice features
inside. But what appealed to us about Paramount was the customized nature and the different features we could introduce into the home
to make it unique and to make it our own. And so you know, we did compare with other builders but I think none of those other builders
had what we wanted. But right away with Paramount, we knew okay, this is a company that I can handle customized designs, can handle
special features, and build it all into a home that we’d be happy with.
INTERVIEWER: Do you feel you paid any premium for that?
BILL: No, I mean I think we, it was really included in the baseline price, which we very much appreciated. Just the fact that we could have
an architect available to us at no cost, it was included in the whole package, we thought was tremendous.
FEMALE: Yeah, especially after we changed the plans.
BILL: Right, that’s true. Several times we had to make adjustments to the plan because of various issues that came up, in some cases out
of our control because the county had certain requirements about the footprint, the building space. And that’s one thing that impressed
us is that Kevin, the architect for Paramount, was able to really come up with some excellent alternative designs that met our needs.
INTERVIEWER: Were there any additional design fees with all these changes?
BILL: There were none. There were none. So we really appreciated that aspect of the whole project.
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:
Our award winning staff architect has created over 60 new home plans in our Paramount Portfolio of New Homes that fit seamlessly into our Maryland, Northern Virginia & Washington DC area neighborhoods. You can choose from one of these new home plans, modify one of these new home plans or we’ll create a new custom home plan just for you. We’ll present an architectural rendering of the front of your new custom home and concept home floorplan. Check out just a few new home plans here
5500 Finished Square Feet In This New Custom Home For Sale In Bethesda – 13,000 Square Foot Gorgeous Lot In Bethesda With a Walk-Out Basement. All This Designed By Award Winning Architect & Builder — Paramount Construction.
