Construction Loans for Custom Residential Properties

  Chicago Tribune Article on Pre-Construction

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

<< continued from previous page

Builders Start to Rethink the Design of the American Home
Chicago Tribune
October, 2003
By Barbara Ballinger Buchholz, Chicago Tribune

   Architect and author Sarah Susanka places fault elsewhere. “Homeowners have had no way to give design professionals feedback on what rooms they really want. They’re told what they need for resale but not given a chance to say what rooms they don’t use and would eliminate,” says Susanka, based in Raleigh, N.C.
   Connecting generations. In a mobile society, a house becomes a connector when people change locations and try to maintain generational connections. “A traditional design clear across the country still gives the feeling that home is a refuge,” Clark says.
   With all these influences, it's not surprising that a majority of design professionals make changes only when a groundswell of homeowners demands them. The early years of a new century may inspire a bit more tinkering, though it's not as drastic as some architects think it should be. Changes that may begin to arrive in your 21st century neighborhood, if not there already, include:
   1. More rooms serving multiple functions, as houses of long ago did. “We have a lot more slashes when we name rooms, such as living room/study and kitchen/family room/breakfast room,” says architect Richard Ruvin of Weissman Ruvin Design Partnership in Lake Forest. Boston architect Jeremiah Eck of Jeremiah Eck Architects Inc. goes a step further and thinks names should be shelved and rooms referred to only as a formal or informal space.
   2. Smaller, higher-quality houses. When Susanka introduced her “The Not So Big House” concept five years ago, a lot of design professionals and homeowners thought McMansions would vanish as quickly as you could say “Palladian window.” Yet, the big house genre remains alive for those who equate bigger with better and still have the funds.
   Susanka’s message was not to eliminate big houses altogether but to lobby for an alternative that trades unused space for higher quality materials, even for those who can afford the extra space. “I tell people to lop off what they don’t use and make their smaller, more livable, informal spaces more beautiful,” she says.
   Many remain wary of such a trade, though exceptions are emerging, primarily among active adults who want to downsize without paring quality and maybe even upgrade features, and owners seeking something extra, perhaps a shared outdoor area instead of wasted private spaces.
   Architect Ross Chapin of Langley, Wash., has focused on the latter with “cottage developments” that include houses as small as 800 to 1,000 square feet, but clustered around a large green to foster a sense of community.

continued on next page >>
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

  Questions?  Call us Toll Free or Send an Email, with any questions or concerns that you may have. Visit Our State Specific Contact Page, where you can find our phone numbers to call us, contact us by email or complete our short, secure application form.