Blog

New Bethesda Home from our Paramount Portfolio of Homes Collection.
Take a video tour of this new home. We can build this same home on your lot
or one of our building lots.

We can also modify this home plan and customize it to your needs.

This private wooded Bethesda home building lot is available
for sale on April 21.
The home for sale is located in Bethesda Maryland (home to be built). You’ll fall in love
with the walkable neighborhood. The streets are lined with trees and
lots of families and children live in the cluster.
The building lot and the existing home couldn’t be better located. It is in the very heart
of Bethesda. Here is one of the potential homes which could be built for sale
on the building site.The Bethesda home for sale is located across the street
from Walt Whitman High School and down the road from Pyle Middle
School. Kenwood Country Club is a mile or so down River Road.
And a shopping strip center further down River Road hosts a
Whole Foods Grocery.

You’ll have three metro subway stations that you could easily drive to.
The first metro station is the Bethesda Metro at Wisconsin Ave.
This station is about 2 miles away. The second metro station
is the Friendship Heights Metro. This metro station is also about 2 miles
from this Bethesda home for sale. And the third metro station
is in Chevy Chase, the Tenley-town metro. Here is a video of the
existing Bethesda home for sale which would be torn down and a video
of the gorgeous wooded lot which is 33,000 sf — truly a rare find
in Bethesda.

Since the house for sale is located in downtown Bethesda, it
goes without saying that you could drive just a few minutes
to all the fine dining and shopping downtown Bethesda has
to offer. The Crescent Trail is a few minute bike ride away
and you can bike or walk to the Bethesda central
business district. You can also bike or walk to the canal and the
Potomac River near Glen Echo. Here is another home plan that
we could build on this Bethesda home for sale building lot.

Once you get to downtown Bethesda you could just browse and hang out
reading books at the Barnes and Noble. Or if you’d like to take in a movie
there is a cinema right off of Bethesda Ave. And for those that love
computers and technology, the Bethesda Apple has all the new Apple iPads,
Apple iPhones or Apple MacBooks.

After you’ve caught a bite of food to eat at any one of
the outstanding restaurants Bethesda has to offer, you might just
get right back on your roller blades or bicycle and continue down the Crescent
Trail until you pedal into the Kennedy Center.

Check out the home for sale (to be built) in Bethesda Maryland here.

And if you need a Bethesda rental home to stay in during the time
your new home is being built you can choose one of these rental
homes in Bethesda.

Looking for a great new home in Bethesda? We have a new home on a 33,000sf wooded lot in Bannockburn.
The home will be built soon and can still be customized. Take a look at the Bethesda building lot
and the new home features.

We’re almost complete with out addition and renovation of a 1920s log home.
See more project photos of this major home addition and renovation here

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.

See more project photos of this major home addition and renovation here

Features:

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

Hot off the presses (ignore the incorrect 2007 Copyright date)!
You asked and we delivered!

Washington DC is not as conservative as some people think.
We have seen a fairly large demand for contemporary or
modern style home plans. This is one we designed that has
3 levels and 4 bedrooms.

Call it a contemporary home plan, a modern new home plan
or some might call it Bauhaus architecture. Call it what you
like. We are seeing more and more demand for the non-traditional
new home plans. And we are responding to that need.

Kevin, our staff genius architect, has created over 90 new home
plans that fit perfectly into the Bethesda, Chevy Chase, McLean,
Falls Church, Potomac, Arlington neighborhoods.

These are no McMansions. You’ll love the new home plans
with the scale and massing that fit right in (your neighbors will
love it too).

This new home floor plan has been value engineered to be built very affordably
yet still give that ZING-head-turning curb knollwood-elevationappeal and
a great open floor plan. Plenty of windows in the rear
to capture all the views.
We can design this with 9 or 10 foot ceiling heights. And since
we have an in-house “World-Class” architect, customizing the
floor plan for your unique tastes and style is easy and smooth.
We can also customize the home plan for whatever topography and shape
home building lot you would like to build this on.

More good news – this new home can be built as a modular, prefab
or with panelized construction methods – Saving time and resources.
You can’t even tell these are modular homes and prefab new homes.
If you would like to see the floor plans call me at 301-370-6463 or email me at
info@paramountconstruction.net.

Here are the floor plans for this Bauhaus influenced new home plan:

On your next large scale home remodeling project or major home
addition, follow these tips to save lots of time and money.

On a large remodeling or renovation job, the key is making existing
conditions of the work area as close to a new home as possible.

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 rob@paramountconstruction.net
to get on our schedule.

Do Want A Custom Home That Reflects Your Lifestyle? Not Some Cookie-Cutter House
Plan You Can Find In A Magazine, But A Design That Truly Reflects Your Lifestyle? Check
Us Out – World Class Architecture Designed For You. This home has 9 foot ceilings, wood
floors, luxxury bath great yard – 13ksf Award Winning Architect and Builder Paramount Construction
Homes Starting at $425,000 on your lot – call 301-370-6463
s 9 foot ceilings, wood floor granite tops great design Several new homes under construction
– call 301-370-6463 for home tours go here for our homes for sale
Or if you already have a lot and you need an award winning architect to create a set of custom home
plans click here

Check out our answer here:

Wheeeew…it’s over – – we had over 200 guests visit our Bethesda Open House yesterday!

I want to thank everyone for attending and I hope you liked what you saw.

First, I want to announce the winner of the Flip Mino Camera Drawing – the winner is…

…Mary H. (we’ll be contacting you today and sending out the
camera) – Congratulations!

Second, I apologize for not being able to meet with everyone individually and answer your
questions.

So I wanted to give you a quick FAQ below to answer some of the
most common questions and least technical (which I’ll answer in future emails – like,
does the $6500 tax credit apply to building a new home, can you really get tens of thousands
of dollars in tax credits with a tear-down and how do you obtain a “Green” LEED rated home?).

Here you go:

Q: Did we create the architectural design and perform the construction of the new home on Berkley Street?
A: Yes. We are architects and builders. Kevin is our on-staff, full-time architect.

Q: Is the home for sale or did we build it for an owner?
A: The home is not for sale, the home was built for the owner.

Q: Was the home design from our Paramount Portfolio Plan Book or was it custom designed?
A: When the owners were checking our references, they visited and met the owners of
our Belmont Model and fell in love with that home. However, given the owners unique needs
and wants and given the unique characteristics of the lot on Berkley, we created a custom design for
the owners.

Q: Do we charge a premium for creating a custom design vs building a home plan from our Paramount Portfolio
of over 80 New Home Plans?
A: Currently, we do not charge anything additional to create a custom home design.

Q: Was there an existing home on the property that was torn down?
A: Yes (we had many questions about the potential tax benefits of tens of thousands of dollars associated with the
tear-down, and a subsequent email will detail the benefits and how that works)

Q: What was the price of the Berkley home and what was included? What was not included?
A: Price was in the $600K +/- range and was all inclusive – demolition of existing home, excavation, permitting,
blueprints, engineering, surveying, utilities, custom selections, etc.

Q: Do you take on home additions and home renovations, as well as new homes?
A: Yes. Currently we have six projects of that type in process.

Q: Do you take on small remodeling projects – $50k to $200K?
A. No, but given the demand, we are considering accepting a few projects on a very limited basis.

Q: I want to build a new home but I don’t have land. Do you have land or lots? Can you help?
A: Yes, we have about 10 lots in Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Mclean and N. Arlington.

I hope this helped.

I’ll be sending out another FAQ in the next few days on some of the more technical issues brought up
and we’re working on a video series that will answer many questions at an even deeper level, which will
come out in the next few weeks.

Again, Kevin and I really appreciate your interest in what we do and please feel free to email me at
rob@paramountconstruction.net or Kevin at kdavis@paramountconstruction.net or call me at 301-370-6463
with any questions you have.

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)

Click here to see photos of this award winning new home

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.