Donald Petersen built a winner on his first try.
The North Shore custom-home builder won regional and merit awards in the Best in American Living Awards, a design contest sponsored by Professional Builder magazine and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The winners in the national competition were announced at the NAHB’s recent Builders’ Show in Houston.
Petersen’s four-bedroom, 3,200-square-foot residence in Glencoe was judged best in the East North Region in the category of one-of-a-kind homes under 4,000 square feet. It is Petersen’s first custom home.
The architect was Dirk Denison of Chicago.
The house was built in 1993 on a 50-foot-wide lot. Priced at less than $1 million, the home is on the market. Petersen is using it for his office.
“Although Petersen could build only a 30-foot-wide home, he managed to make the building feel grand by massing exterior elevations and adding volume ceilings, creating the ambience of a traditional English country home,” said Professional Builder magazine.
“We tried to have it blend in with its surroundings,” Petersen said. “It was built on an in-fill lot. It has a rakish, pitched roof, and doesn’t look like a new home.”
Petersen, 36, said home building has been a lifelong interest, though he first worked in the interior design field and then earned a master’s degree in urban geography from the University of Chicago.
Two other Chicago area residences were winners in the Best in American Living Awards. They were the Eaton model at Concord Development’s Concord Pointe subdivision in west suburban Carol Stream, and Sundance Home’s Crystal model at Ravinia Woods in north suburban Gurnee.
The Eaton won a merit award for best single-family attached home with less than eight units an acre. The Eaton is part of a five-unit building that includes three townhouses and two stacked flats.
Priced from $136,490, the 1,488-square-foot unit comes with three bedrooms, or two bedrooms with a loft, and 2 1/2 baths.
“The interior of the Eaton features a volume ceiling over the living room and a corner fireplace. Drywall sculpting and curved corner beading are unusual at this price level,” said Professional Builder.
William Maybrook, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Concord, commented: “We were able to pack a great deal into 1,488 square feet and still have a lot of style and design. It has a separate breakfast room and extra storage under the stairway.”
The 44-acre Concord Pointe development is planned for 325 single-level and two-story townhouses.
The project was designed by Bloodgood Sharp Buster Architects and Planners. The interior design was by Kathy Andrews Interiors. The land planner was Jen-Land Design.
Sundance Homes’ Crystal model received an honorable mention in the category of single-family detached homes from 1,501 to 1,800 square feet.
Priced from $165,990, the 1,722-square-foot Crystal was designed by Kephart Architects.
It has three bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, formal living and dining rooms with a volume ceiling, kitchen with a pantry and adjoining breakfast room, and a sunken family room measuring 20 1/2 by 13 1/2 feet, which offers an optional nine-foot ceiling, fireplace and media center.
The family room is five steps down from the kitchen and breakfast room.
Michael Schall, vice president of sales and marketing for Sundance, said the Crystal’s special features include its angled front entry, which provides a longer sight line than in standard floor plans, and the extra wide (five feet) staircase with an arched opening above it that matches the look of the Palladian window on the opposite dining room wall.
“The shared use of space in the dining room and living room gives it a much bigger feel,” Schall said.
The 300-acre Ravinia Woods development will include 502 single-family homes in three series when complete.
California sweep
The Best in American Living Awards were dominated by California entries, which won in 22 out of 73 categories. No other state was even close in the number of winners.
But though California may be the inspiration for much of the nation’s new housing designs, the House of the Year was from Tennessee.
The 3,012-square-foot custom home was built in Memphis by McCown-Speck Construction. The traditional design was by Looney, Ricks, Kiss Architects.
The red-brick home has white exterior trim, steeply pitched rooflines, and both front and back porches. It is located on a 50-foot-wide lot in a historic district with an eclectic mix of architectural styles.
Atop the garage is is 300 square feet of expandable space for future use as an office or studio.
Professional Builder noted, however, that “the selection of this house for the award was not unanimous.
One judge said this house failed to present any truly innovative ideas.
Contest judges who were builders defended the choice because it is a house that can be duplicated nationwide.”
It is estimated that it can be built for less than $260,000.
The winning homes across the country contained certain design elements that represent trends. Roy Diez, associate publisher and director of editorial projects for Professional Builder, pointed out six of these trends at the awards ceremony.
Sensible trends
“These trends show that homes are more sensible, reflecting a national yearning to return to more traditional, simpler times,” Diez said.
The trends, which also were pictured in a video presentation, are:
– A return to simple, elegant and traditional exteriors. Traditional materials, though, are moving around the country. Board siding is showing up in California, while stucco is being used in the heartland, especially in custom homes.
– The creation of family-friendly homes and neighborhoods. Porches are more in demand, and they are placed so neighbors can talk to each other. Yards are becoming extensions of living rooms.
How we really live
– Planning spaces for the way people actually live. Living and family rooms now flow together. Builders are providing bonus spaces that can be used for a home office or for play.
Also popular are flex rooms that can be used for different purposes, or can change over time-for example, a living room that could be later converted into a bedroom.
Baths are getting smaller, but are retaining their efficiency.
– A return to practicality. Volume spaces are being toned down, since many buyers don’t want to heat high vaulted ceilings.
Lower ceilings are more intimate and friendly. However, high, flat ceilings are still in vogue. Transom windows are used to let in natural light.
Split stairs are more popular, with one part of the staircase leading to the formal living room, while the other leads to the informal living areas of the house. Some homes are eliminating the front stairs altogether.
– Interior sculpting with a purpose. There are fewer plant shelves, but niches may be used to display art work. Double tray ceilings are popular.
Floor plans are not as wide open as they were. Individual rooms are back, but they are separated by such devices as two-way fireplaces and half walls. Large cutouts in walls let in light.
– Quality touches are on the rise. Builders are realizing that quality attracts buyers.
