THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 24, 1996 TAG: 9603220077
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARCIA MANGUM, HOME & GARDEN EDITOR
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
EVER DREAM of designing your own home? Everything you want would be at your fingertips - the laundry room near the bedrooms, the kitchen pantry handy and spacious, and the garage big enough for both cars, all the bikes and a workbench.
No more putting up with someone else's obsession with orange shag carpet or affinity for all-white interiors.
Now you can help design The Virginian-Pilot Reader Home. Readers' preferences will be reflected in a home to be built this fall at Homearama '96 at South Shore Estates in Virginia Beach, off General Booth Boulevard.
Starting today and continuing the next three Sundays, the newspaper's Home & Garden section will publish a four-part survey to let readers voice their opinions on what they want in a new home. Here's what to expect:
Part 1 (see Page G?) asks about the architectural style, the exterior material, the room layout and other basic design elements.
Part 2 focuses on the kitchen - what design works best and what particular features are most important.
Part 3 moves to the master suite and asks questions about bedrooms and baths.
Part 4 picks up the loose ends, asking about various ``extras'' that can go into building a custom home.
Once the results are in, builder Charlie Anderson will go to work designing the house readers have chosen. It will be open for all to see Oct. 5-20 at the 15th annual Homearama, a showcase of new homes sponsored by the Tidewater Builders Association.
Anderson, owner of Charlie Anderson Builder Inc. in Chesapeake, was chosen by the builders association, in part because he has built homes in 11 consecutive Homearamas and has won numerous awards through the years.
Tidewater Builders Association and Charlie Anderson Builder Inc. are sponsoring the Reader Home, along with The Virginian-Pilot.
Because the house will come under Homearama guidelines and will be for sale in the South Shore Estates development, it can't be the million-dollar home of some people's dreams. But the Reader Home survey is a chance to speak out and let local builders and developers hear what you want in a house.
The parameters are that it will cost between $245,000 and $265,000 and will contain 2,400 to 3,000 square feet. Not a mansion, but not a shack either.
According to the National Association of Home Builders and the U.S. Census Bureau, in 1993 the typical new American home contained 1,945 square feet and cost about $126,000.
Only 13 percent of homes were near the 3,000-square-foot mark and only 9 percent topped $250,000. Clearly our Reader Home will be a cut above the average.
Still, readers must think about how they want to spend their budget, Anderson points out. For instance, for a typical 3,000-square-foot house, it costs about $20,000 more for a brick exterior than it does for vinyl siding, Anderson notes. In the same-size house, raising the ceiling from the standard 8-feet to 9 feet raises the cost at least another $2,000. An archway with fancy moldings can cost $3,500 more than a typical doorway.
``What builders want to know is if people are willing to pay for these nice upgrades if they know what it costs,'' Anderson says. The Reader Home survey will provide some answers.
Anderson urges readers to think about their choices as they press the buttons to vote. If you select 3 1/2 bathrooms, keep in mind that each bath costs at least $2,500. That may mean you decide to forgo a second fireplace later on in the survey.
To help Anderson make the choices, some readers will be selected to participate in focus groups after the survey is completed.
Construction will start in late spring, and readers will get regular progress reports in the Home & Garden section. We'll acquaint you with the builder and his crews and explain some of the ins and outs of custom building.
When the surveys and focus groups are completed, we'll report on reader preferences in interior design and other facets of home building that may be influenced by local lifestyles and priorities.
A recent national survey conducted by Yankelovich Partners for the American Society of Interior Designers showed a desire for homes with more environmentally friendly products, more flexible use of space, more natural light and computer controls for energy and security.
Other features that are proving popular locally and nationally include arched windows and doorways; gabled roof lines; vaulted ceilings; home offices; gas fireplaces; and large kitchens with space for cooking, eating, entertaining and relaxing.
So prop up your feet, pull out a sketch pad and think about what you'd like to see in your ideal home. Then pick up your phone and help us build that house in Hampton Roads. ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY VICKI CRONIS AND JOHN EARLE/The
Virginian-Pilot
Graphics
READER HOME
HOW TO VOTE
READER HOME SURVEY, PART 1
[For complete graphics, please see microfilm]
by CNB