Pop Quiz: Name This Architecture Style!
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey
Hint: This architecture style is often known for being square or rectangular with one or one-and-a-half stories and steeply pitched, gabled roofs. In the mid-20th century these small homes were popular in suburban developments.
ANSWER: See if you are correct >
Guiding Your Clients Through Home Modifications
By Erica Christoffer, Contributing Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
Home modifications are an important step in getting buyers with disabilities into a new home. That’s why it’s important for real estate practitioners to be educated on the needs of their clients, where they can find specialized contractors, and the availability of financing programs.
According to the U.S. Census, 51.2 million people have some level of disability, which accounts for 18 percent of the population. Of those, an estimated 1.6 million Americans residing outside of institutions are wheelchair users.
Stephen Beard is a sales associate with Keller Williams Realty in Oakland/Piedmont, Calif. who specializes in accessible housing for people with disabilities. He has developed relationships with contractors who specialize in building wheelchair ramps and other types of home modifications and accessibility architecture. This is especially important in more established markets with older homes that typically do not easily lend themselves to modifications.
Beard understands the issues around mobility challenges as someone living with Cerebral Palsy who uses a cane.
“I saw an opportunity to specialize in real estate in a way that would allow me to serve this community that has not had many advocates in the real estate community in the past,” Beard says. “I am always thinking, ‘Are we going to be able to build a ramp here? Or is the bathroom big enough to do a 360-degree turn around in a wheelchair?’ because there are so few properties that are accessible to begin with here [in the Bay area].” Read more
Pop Quiz: Name This Architecture Style!
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey
Hint: This style of home is known as being narrow and rectangular with one and one-half stories, low-pitched gable or hipped roofs, and small covered porches at the entry. This home style was popular in the 1880s until the Great Depression.
ANSWER: See if you are correct >
Pop Quiz: Name This Architecture Style!
Hint: Its decorative details — such as its patterned shingles — often make this architecture style standout. This architecture type often incorporate modern materials and combines it with 19th century details, such as curved towers and spindled porches.
ANSWER: See if you are correct >
Is This the Home of the Future?
Filed under: Architecture, Green Design, Home Trends, Photos and Slide Shows
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey
2009 American Home, Photo by James F. Wilson
LAS VEGAS – How would you like to have a listing like this—an 8,816-square-foot energy efficient, technologically advanced show stopper? The 2009 New American Home, the latest in a 26-year series of demonstration homes, was unveiled here at the International Builder Show this week.
The contemporary-styled home displays energy efficient features, latest construction techniques, and new products and trends, from a calming rejuvenation room that overlooks the zero-edge pool to decorative water systems that capture rain water for reuse.
This home, on the market for $4.2 million, will be on display for the next 18 months.
The home is extremely energy efficient. The electric bill is estimated to be $467 per year and total utility costs for the home, which include electricity and natural gas usage, are estimated at $2,500 per year. Not bad for an 8,816 square foot home.
The home mixes natural gas-powered heating and cooling systems, bifacial solar panels, roof-top solar water heating, horizontal louvers for shading, 90-degree corner windows, and sliding pocket doors throughout that transform indoor spaces to outside. The home’s lighting, temperature, doors, and more can be controlled by an iPhone.
The home also features several dramatic outdoor spaces, from a basement-level subterranean courtyard showcasing a fountain spanning a wall with a fire burning underneath.
Watch the video below taken on a Flip video camera or peruse a slide show on the next page to see more images of all the details.
