Installing Permex Shutters, Viewing the Open Floor Plan, and Meeting the Affordable Home Buyers

Project: Manhattan Remodel and Cape Cod Affordable, Episode 17, Part 1



At the Mashpee, Massachusetts homes, general contractor Wes Lohr is adding finishing details like the Permex shutters from J&L Shutters. Developer Joe Valle reviews Massachusetts' Act 40B affordable housing law and John Livermore looks at how homes become Energy Star-certified. He also shows Bob energy-saving products for any home. Homeowners Kelli and Scott Jacobson tell how a first-time homebuyers seminar at the local housing assistance corporation helped them discover programs designed to help working families purchase their first homes. Bob talks with them about the open floor plan of their Cape Cod-style home, the Vermont Castings electric fireplace that will tie their design together, and the Kenmore stainless-steel appliances Kelli selected for the kitchen. Bob also meets homeowner Kim Brown, who selected Maple beadboard cupboards and black finishes for her Kenmore kitchen appliances. Kim's ranch-style home, open layout, and Whirlpool high-efficiency, large-capacity laundry system are perfect for a young family. Emma and Jacob Josselyn welcome Bob to their Cape Cod-style home with a look at their new Vermont Castings cast-iron electric stove. Designer Katherine Kaess joins them to review the design principles of feng shui and make suggestions for encouraging the flow of life-force energy or chi throughout the home.
Part 1: Installing Permex Shutters, Viewing the Open Floor Plan, and Meeting the Affordable Home Buyers
Bob meets general contractor Wes Lohr at the Colonial-style affordable home in Mashpee, Massachusetts. The exterior of the home is receiving finishing touches as synthetic Permex shutters from JL Shutters are installed. These solid, handsome shutters feature a lifetime warranty against defects and a ten-year warranty on the painted finish from Sherwin Williams. Bob is inside one of the Mashpee, Massachusetts, affordable homes where the work is nearly completed. Bob walks us through a non-traditional open floor plan in this Colonial-style home. The living room opens onto the eat-in area of the spacious kitchen. Off of the kitchen is another room suitable for use as a dining room, study, or playroom. Bellawood floors run throughout the rooms. Kenmore appliances have been installed in the kitchen. Developer Joe Valle explains Massachusetts' Act 40B to Bob. This statute allows a developer to make full use of the land, without the constraints of stringent town zoning laws, in exchange for the creation of quality affordable homes. This four-acre parcel would typically have two homes, but Act 40B has allowed for the development of 11 homes, four of which are affordable in price. They will sell for half the price of the market homes in the neighborhood. The remaining homes will be sold at market price, but by law all of the houses must be of the same quality, size, workmanship, and layout. Bob meets Kelli and Scott Jacobson and their daughter who will soon be moving into the Cape Cod-style affordable home in Mashpee, Massachusetts. Scott is a contractor and Kelli an at-home Mom. They explain that in this community it would have taken 20 years of savings to enter the housing market. Scott credits Kelli for getting them into a first-time homebuyers seminar at the housing assistance corporation. They all agree it's important to learn what's available in the community, what's being built, and which programs can help families purchase an affordable home. Bob discusses the choices they have made for their new home, including the stainless-steel line of kitchen appliances from Kenmore. Kelli explains that they have a more modern and professional look, which is suited to her love of cooking and entertaining. They will also have a Vermont Castings electric fireplace installed in the dining room that opens onto the living room and the kitchen.
Part 2: Reviewing the Kitchen and Layout of the Ranch-Style Home
Part 3: Installing Wall-to-Wall Carpet, Building an Energy Star Certified Home, and Saving Electricity and Protecting Electronics in the Home
Part 4: Feng Shui for the Home
This project deals with two very different notions of home. Bob begins on New York City's Upper West Side, where an 1890s Brownstone is revitalized through high-quality craftsmanship and sensitive design. New York's past meets its present, as the entire floor is recaptured and refurbished to create a spacious urban apartment on the doorstep of Central Park.

At the same time, Bob works with a Cape Cod developer to apply Massachusetts land use statute 40B to create affordable housing, and a neighborhood of homes in Mashpee, MA. These Energy Star certified homes show how quality building practices and reasonable asking prices can work together to provide livable, affordable homes and neighborhoods to those who work in our communities.

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