If you’re looking to avoid the carbon-copy sameness that marks almost all subdivision developments, you likely will find High Meadow in Naperville a welcome change of pace.
Featuring homes of some 31 custom builders arrayed seemingly randomly on almost 600 lots, there is very little chance that you will mistake a neighbor’s home for your own. And to get a taste for what you might expect in the way of diverse home styles, you can sample offerings by 11 builders on High Meadow Road.
High Meadow will be hard to miss, because it’s right across the street from the Cavalcade of Homes, opening Saturday at Saddle Creek.
While the models are on lots approximately uniform in size-about 12,000 square feet-the lot sizes available at High Meadow are almost as varied as the building styles; some are 24,000 square feet or more.
And though the prices on all of these models reflect everything you see, including upgrades, some do not include lot prices. Be sure to ask about this, as lots in High Meadow cost between $40,000 and $50,000. In general, most homes here fall into the $200,000-to-$300,000 price range and offer 2,000 to 3,000 square feet.
One of the more intriguing models at High Meadow is the Griffin from Lakewest Builders (another version of this design is at the Cavalcade). This house was designed in consultation with mothers.
For instance, the kitchen is virtually centered on the ground floor, separated from the neighboring dinette and family room by a waist-high counter with sink. This allows a parent to keep an eye on children playing in the family room while he or she spends time in the kitchen. It also allows whoever is in the kitchen to interact with whomever is in the dinette, and, thanks to a large connecting doorway, with whomever is in the formal dining room up front as well.
The same counter that looks out on the family room accommodates two or three stools on the family room side, making it perfect for lunch or snack time. It also allows the person in the kitchen to converse with someone else, without that someone else crowding the kitchen and getting in the way.
And all of these rooms are but a few steps away from a centrally located half bathroom, just the other side of the kitchen wall.
The kitchen is roomy enough at 11 by 11 feet, but the family room is more than twice as large, at 22 by 14 feet.
The front of the house has a 13- by 11-foot dining room and a 15- by 12-foot living room. As you enter the foyer, the dining room is to the left of the foyer, the living room to the right. Straight ahead of the foyer is the hallway leading to the family room, but before you get there you see an attractive winding wooden staircase leading upstairs.
Here, as in many of the High Meadow models, are four good-size bedrooms, including a 16- by 14-foot master bedroom with a giant master bath, walk-in closet and fireplace.
Across the hall is a large second bedroom, 15 by 12 feet.
The master and second bedroom are linked to the third and fourth bedrooms by a bridge that overlooks the foyer. Once over this bridge, these two bedrooms-12 by 11 feet and 13 by 11 feet-straddle a good-size bathroom that features cultured marble counters, ceramic tiles and a cast-iron tub.
Farther down the hall, over the garage, is a 15- by 14-foot den. If somebody needs to get away from the rest of the family to get some work done, this is the perfect place.
This version of the Griffin, with all options shown and including this lot, is priced at $259,900. Standard features include central air conditioning; gas family-room fireplace; oak railings and ballisters, cabinets and built-in desk; laminated kitchen countertops; ceramic tiling in bathrooms, kitchen and laundry room, and insulated triple-track aluminum windows.
Options shown on this model include the home’s brick front ($6,500), the den above the garage ($3,500), 9-foot ceilings on the first floor ($2,700), the master bedroom fireplace ($2,500) and the coffered ceiling in the master bedroom ($750).
A completely different type of design at High Meadow is the Isis from Austin Homes. From the combination cobblestone driveway and walk to the two-story family room with its balcony-like bridge overhead on the second floor, this is arguably the most interesting design on the block.
Perhaps one of the most refreshing differences with the Isis is that, although the garage is forward on the house, it sits perpendicular to the house so that the garage door is visible from the home’s front door, but not from the street.
As you enter the large (10 by 11 feet) two-story foyer with a semi-exposed oak staircase just off to your right, the first impression this house gives is that it is open and roomy. To your left is a large living room, and straight ahead, after you walk beneath the balcony-like bridge on the second floor, is the home’s most impressive room: a two-story family room with a fireplace centered on the back wall.
There are windows everywhere especially so the family room, with tall windows at floor level and windows up above. To your left, off of the family room and separated by a door, is a decent-size office or study. To your right is a fairly large (almost 14 by 21 feet) combination kitchen and dinette. Just off the kitchen is a large walk-in pantry.
In the kitchen you can see one of the useful touches Lynne Austin adds to her custom homes: a tilt-out shelf on the front of the sink cabinet to store sponges, dishrags, etc.
Upstairs, the four bedrooms are arranged on the corners of the house. In a right corner is the master bedroom suite, here with a vaulted ceiling. At 17 feet, 10 inches by 14 feet, 5 inches, this room is big. But wait until you see the matching walk-in closets and the 11- by 12-foot master bath. If the family room weren’t so beautiful, you might be tempted to just stay in the bedroom.
The three other bedrooms are comfortably sized, as is the second upstairs bathroom. To get from the master bedroom to bedrooms three and four on the other side of the house you go across the bridge that overlooks the family room, and the sight is brilliant.
The version of the Isis shown, as is, costs $209,000, not including the lot. The house has 2,834 square feet, not including the large basement and 2 1/2-car garage.
There is plenty of oak flooring here, cultured marble columns around the family room, French doors in the dining room, six-panel solid doors, and vaulted ceilings in the master bedroom and bath.
If you would like something a little bit more traditional, yet still elegant and stately, try the St. Andrews from Stembridge Builders. At 2,800 square feet, this house is about the same size as many of the other models. But the layout emphasizes large rooms.
As you enter the house, the dining room (14 by 13 feet) is to your right and the living room (13 by 12 feet) is to your left. But except for the staircase straight ahead, it is almost as if the two rooms blend together across the foyer.
The kitchen, at 10 x 16 feet, is one of the largest you will see out here; when combined with the 9- by 15-foot dinette, the effect is impressive; it’s even more so when you gaze from the dinette out the back bay window or across a half-wall into the adjoining 17- by 17-foot family room.
About the only shortcoming on the main floor is that its single half-bath is behind the kitchen, putting it clear across the house from the living area.
A 10- by 11-foot den is tucked away in the back of the house, at the back of the garage.
The second floor is a study in simplicity. The four bedrooms are arranged as corners of a square. The master bedroom is an L shape and feeds into a huge master bath and walk-in closet. Combined, the master bedroom and bath are almost 22 feet across.
Bedrooms two and three, on the opposite side of the house (both 13 by 12 feet) feature sizeable walk-in closets. Bedroom four, next to the master bedroom, is an impressive 13 by 11 feet and is next to the large second bath.
The model shown, including lot, is priced at $259,900. Options featured include 9-feet ceilings on the first floor ($3,500) and a marble and wood surround fireplace in the family room ($800). The pocket glass French doors between the family and living rooms costs $1,050, and the effect is worth it. The masonry front and aluminum siding on the house are a nice combination.
High Meadow is a distinctive development featuring premium quality homes, and the eight models not described here are easily as impressive as the three that are. If you’re shopping for a home in the $200,000-to-$300,000 range, take a look here.
To get there: Take Interstate Highway 88 west to U.S. Route 59. Turn south to 111th Street and then east to the entrance. Phone: 708-527-1555.
