The phrase “monotony code” fits into the category of words and expressions that have personal, often foggy interpretations. Take expensive, upscale, luxurious, affordable, entry-level and other such amorphous adjectives used to describe housing in different price ranges. Unfortunately, some builders’ “afforable” may be my “Are you kidding? That’s what I call expensive.”
Monotony, or “anti-monotony,” codes are rules created by municipalities or land developers to avoid cookie-cutter housing, the type that has become a blight on many suburban areas. In general, monotony codes are a blessing if they’ve got some guts and if they’re enforced. They can vary enormously. One development may allow only two identical houses to be built on the same block; another area’s guidelines might be so lenient that all the houses on two adjacent blocks are the very same design except that their siding/roof/shutters color schemes are different.
Hawthorn Woods’ village officials adopted a rather strict monotony clause to preserve the custom-home character of the area. Realen Homes went a step beyond the village rules: Every one of the 63 homes to be built at The Summit, in the northwestern suburb, would have a different exterior. This is how the Summit’s code works. There are 10 house plans (nine with two stories, one ranch) that do not vary enormously because all the two-story homes are in a fairly similar size range — 3,108 to 4,629 square feet. Each of the plans has four to eight elevations (the look of the home’s exterior, including design and materials). Once a buyer chooses an elevation, that elevation is retired.
Prospective buyers can check results because there are several four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bathroom Rutherfords and Windsors already built.
One Rutherford has an elevation that combines brick, frame siding and shutters in warm beiges accented with white. There’s a porch and a three-car front-loading garage. The second Rutherford, with a traditional elevation, combines white frame, red brick and dark shutters. Its roof has three dormers; its three-car garage is side-loading.
In the case of the Windsors, one home combines siding with a mottled brick in sandy beige and has a side-loading garage. The second Windsor is faced with red brick accented with pale siding, shutters and doors of a too-prominent three-car, front-loading garage.
They’re the same house but a walk or drive past these homes (not next to each other) doesn’t quickly reveal that.
It will be interesting to see how buyers, with the rather creative guidance of sales manager SandraHarris, will turn the Citadel model into a different look. As constructed, the Citadel has distinctive features such as a synthetic stucco and natural stone exterior, a two-story bay and three garages separated into a single and a double. Harris says semi-custom options on various plans have included changing sizes of rooms, adding dormers and/or pitched roofs and more.
The Citadel’s interior is impressive to the point of being daunting. It is traditional in having its very large two-story foyer flanked by formal living and dining rooms and, like so many expensive houses, overdone by a decorator. At the rear of the house are a den and a multi-windowed, two-story family room. The friendliest place is the kitchen just off (but not wide open to) the dining room. The breakfast area is big, bright and roomy, the kitchen with its center island, two walls of cabinets and counter space, both a pantry and butler’s pantry and windows over the corner-placed sink is a dream for anyone who likes cooking and/or entertaining.
Plus points on the second floor include the increasingly popular “princess suite” designated for the indulged teen-aged daughter who gets her own bathroom. There are walk-in closets in the other two bedrooms, and a second stairway provides easy access between the bedroom wing and the kitchen. The bridge that overlooks both the family room and the foyer allows a lot of natural light to brighten the upper level. Negatives: There’s a 20-by-13 foot bedroom that’s certainly big enough to have its own bathroom but doesn’t. Both the master bedroom and bathroom are almost sinfully spacious. Five of the other floor plans also have the traditional foyer flanked by living and dining rooms. Three have adjoining living/dining rooms. All eight vary slightly in location and size of family room, den and kitchen/eating areas. All have what I consider lop-sided second-floor layouts: enormous master suites and most often three bedrooms sharing one bath and one toilet. Only three of the 10 plans have 3 1/2 baths.
In fact, the smallest, the 2,608-square-foot Southfork ranch, base-priced at $439,900, has what I believe is the most modern plan with the most efficient, sensible use of space. There’s a large foyer that opens to a combined living/dining room on one side and on the other opens to a bedroom (den, flex, anything room). At the back of the house are a wide-open kitchen, breakfast area and huge great room. The opposite wing has a comfortably large master bedroom, bath and walk-in closet, plus a good-sized bedroom and bath. There’s an optional extra bedroom/bathroom over on the kitchen side that is so logical a place for additional space, no matter what it’s called. Too bad the garage is a front-loader.
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Contact Genevieve Buck at the Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611; or e-mail gbuck@tribune.com.
House Hunter will appear on Sundays in Real Estate during the six-week run of the Festival of Homes advertising section.
