There are a lot of decisions to make when constructing a new home. Having a large production builder as our contractor, the task was made somewhat easier with an all-day “selections appointment,” where samples of all the products were presented and a specialist was on hand to answer questions and give guidance.
I must admit to a certain hedonistic streak when it comes to bathing—be it a long hot soak in the winter or a wonderfully cool and refreshing shower in summer. So when we decided to update and renovate an existing powder room, we did not want to settle for a standard shower configuration.
The original working area was fairly small, measuring about 32 inches square, and we had no expectations that we would be able to fit a tub-and-shower combination in the space. Once we completed the demolition, however, we were delighted to discover an extra 18 inches with which to work. That would certainly be enough space to permit a more elaborate shower enclosure than we had initially anticipated installing.
We began shopping at various kitchen and bath stores to come up with ideas, although in the back of our minds, we kept comparing all of the new options to a unique solution that we briefly enjoyed in the early ’80s. Back then we lived in an 1870 Victorian home, which boasted a lovely, six-foot-long soaking tub and a separate, tiled shower enclosure. The shower enclosure was quite innovative for the time and featured three rows of jets spaced at knee, back and head heights along the three walls. When you turned the jets on, you were completely enveloped in multiple sprays of water. We had never seen anything to compare to this luxurious approach.
2020 Alton inspires major drive-by gawking. Photo: John Patron
The luxurious super-green house underway at 2020 Alton Road in Miami Beach is moving right along on its way toward LEED Platinum certification. Outfitted with top-of-the-line, energy-efficient products and systems, this project—from the Florida Green Home Design Group—strives for superlative indoor air quality and net-zero energy use.
The current asking price for the two-story five-bedroom, solar- and wind-fueled, rainwater-harvesting, totally iPad-automated house is $2.2 million. Even now, before the decorative details and finishing touches have been completed, it’s easy to appreciate 2020 Alton Road, on track to become the smartest, safest, and most energy-efficient residence in town.
When my husband and I lived in New York City with our two young girls, we had a single bathroom in our one-bedroom apartment. And it was small. If you’re a parent, you probably understand that for many years you almost never get to go to the bathroom by yourself. Can you imagine two adults, a toddler, and an infant cramming into one 5′ x 8′ bathroom for various duties together? Someone always needed to go potty while someone else was brushing teeth. It was the domestic version of the clown car.
My walk-in pantry
When we lived in our tiny Manhattan apartment, we had 48 inches of total counter space and one 18-inch-wide pantry cabinet. Needless to say, food and supplies were stuffed into every conceivable space available—above cabinets, under beds and everywhere in between. Having come from such small urban quarters, maximizing space was our top priority as the floor plan for our new-construction home was being finalized.
My husband spotted an “Optional Storage” area in the garage, which could be put to good use as a mud room and expanded pantry (original floor plan detail below).
When we were weighing options for our home, a new construction, I was almost certain we wouldn’t elect to put in a central vac system. The price tag was high—we could buy 5-10 amazing vacuums for what the system would cost to install. Besides, what did I care? I’d always hated vacuuming and left most of it for my husband. But when I saw the way his eyes lit up at the salesman’s pitch during our selections appointment, I decided we should splurge. It would make him immensely happy, I knew.
One benefit of moving to suburbia from New York City and building a new home was getting to customize our space. At the top of our must-haves list for the house was what we’d had too few of in our old apartment—windows. You have to understand, city life can be dark. In many midtown apartments, you’re lucky to have more than 3 or 4 windows, and even luckier if they don’t face an air shaft. So when we were choosing options for the house, we chose light, light, light!
The Noonan family's first trip to the basement
Late in 2010, my husband and I, and our two young children (2 and 9 months old), moved from our teensy New York City apartment to Southern Delaware and began the process of building a new house. It was like hitting the square-footage jackpot—we could afford so much more for the same money. We were like kids in a candy store. First on our wish list: a full basement. We fantasized about a home gym, an office, a playroom for the kids, storage for tools, a craft area, media room, kitchenette, and guest room with an extra bath!
Today is my third and last day at the Builder’s Show in Orlando, and while I have a bit of “building product” overload, I still managed to find some new products that proved unexpected, smart and “green.”
Jeld Wen, manufacturers of quality wood doors and windows, stopped me in my tracks with this copper-clad double hung window. Part of the company’s custom program, the window can be made in a variety of interior woods—pine, knotty alder, douglas fir, mahogany, oak, walnut and cherry—or any one of 41 clad exterior colors. My vote is for the copper!
Jeld Wen Copper Clad Wood WIndow
Owens-Corning Panther
Day two at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando turned up some more great introductions. I started the day tailing the Owens Corning Panther (no kidding!) before ending up with the team from HGTVremodels at the Cool Energy House in Windemere, FL—a deep-energy retrofit demonstration house that will save more than an estimated 50% in total energy costs. Here are some of the discoveries sandwiched in between.
Trex showcased a variety of new offerings, from stair and railing lighting to outdoor furniture collections (all flat-shipped for RTA). Another new introduction: a new steel deck framing system called Elevations.
