It's Showtime for Show Homes

At this month’s Southern Building Show in Atlanta and the Pacific Coast Builder’s Conference in San Francisco, attendees will have the opportunity to view two fabulous show homes — each with its own unique style and design. Carl Seville, along with Jimmy Carrion and Michelle Brinkman of SawHorse, Inc. in Atlanta, presents the Earthcraft Remodeling Showcase Project, a completely remodeled 1918 Tudor home in the Druid Hills Historic District of Atlanta.

On the opposite coast, Sarah Susanka’s “Settling in the City” follows her design principles set forth in her book, Home by Design. The completely remodeled 1930s Oliver Rousseau house in Pacific Heights incorporates healthy home products and technologies which offers a safe, energy-efficient and comfortable living environment.

For all spectators, both homes serve as a hands-on display for ideas that they can incorporate into their own remodeling businesses. These two show homes are great examples of the many options in design and construction.

Historic renovation for the new ages

Making its debut at the Southern Building Show, the Earthcraft Remodeling Showcase Project features a 4,700-sq.-ft home that packs an environmental punch by meeting all qualifications for the EarthCraft House Certification. EarthCraft is the first green renovation program in the country that provides remodeling contractors with a comprehensive methodology to turn existing homes into efficient, healthy and durable structures ? meeting the highest standards of sustaninable, energy-efficient construction. With 100 percent performance testing of every project by qualified, independent inspectors, both the contractor and home owner are given hard evidence that their house meets the strict criteria of the EarthCraft House Certification Standards. “Initially the EarthCraft House program was designed exclusively for single-family, new construction homes,” says Dianne Butler, EarthCraft House Development Director. “The success of the program and the satisfaction of the consumer created a new demand for expanding the criteria to include a broader range of housing options including remodeling.”

This success has paved a path for an Earthcraft Showhouse. This home educates remodelers about the advantages for both the homeowner and the contractor in building with energy efficiency and sustainable products in mind. This home, estimated at $1.4 million dollars, features five bedrooms and four and a half baths with an unfinished full bath.

Curb appeal
Since the home sits in a historic district, all alterations and improvements had to be approved by the governing historic commission. “To begin production on this home, I had to submit a fairly extensive report to the historic commission,” says Seville. “I wanted to make a bigger presence to the front of the home, but the commission is very resistant to changing the front exterior or anything that can be seen from the street.” Seville designed a new front dormer (that was eventually approved) and concentrated on restoring the exterior brick and original roof tiles.

“Accommodating the historic guidelines can set you back if you don’t expect it,” he says. “Half of the roof tiles on this house were destroyed. I found a very similar product with a lower cost, but the commission wouldn’t approve the product.”

With this, Seville used a clay tile on the main house, and the porch roof is prefinished standing seam metal. “The vast majority of the exterior materials will never deteriorate and won’t require replacing,” he adds.

The exterior front of the home also features casement windows, along with double-hung units at the rear of the house. These offer simulated divided lights, Low-E argon filled glass and features PVC exterior trim. “These efficient, durable windows will keep the house cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter and resists rot,” says Seville. In addition, the house is sealed with a self-adhering flashing around all windows and exterior doors to keep out unwanted moisture.