Idea House’s time has come – again

Run Date: June 22, 2008

Visitors to Sunset magazine’s latest Idea House will see more than the latest whiz-bang ideas for home design and decor.

They’ll also see a house that’s part of a new-home development rich in the magazine’s and Menlo Park’s history.

The Idea House, called Residence Six, is part of Lane Woods, 32 single-family detached houses that SummerHill Homes is building along Willow Road just west of Sunset’s headquarters.

While the Idea House is about 2,998 square feet, the other two-story houses range from 1,719 to 2,429 square feet. Their prices start at about $1.5 million and go up to more than $2 million.

The Idea House opens Friday. Although designed by the same architect, its floor plan differs from the rest. It will not be available for sale until the exhibition closes at the end of August.

Lane Woods’ 4 1/2-acre site was once part of 7 acres owned and used by Sunset, which had a 40,000-square-foot office building there. Like others on the Sunset campus, it was designed by Cliff May, famed for his ranch-style houses.

Like the nearby Civic Center, Sunset’s acreage was carved from Sherwood Hall, also known as the Hopkins estate, which once covered 400 acres between Ravenswood Avenue and San Francisquito Creek. Timothy Hopkins received it as a wedding gift from his adoptive mother, the widow of railroad magnate Mark Hopkins. His bride was her niece, and he had been managing the family’s financial affairs.

Lane Woods gets its first name from the family that founded Sunset. Its second name comes from the 198 trees that were on the site. SummerHill is saving 100 of them, including 11 that are to be transplanted, said Elaine Breeze, the Palo Alto company’s senior vice president. It’s planting 76 new trees.

“Preservation was a big deal for us and the community,” she said. That’s why a courtyard from the office building has become Lane Woods’ centerpiece park. Ringed by mature trees, it has several benches around a fountain in the courtyard.

There’s another small park along Paulson Circle on the project’s north side.

A path worn by people cutting across the site is becoming a public bike and pedestrian path that includes the neighboring Morgan Lane residential project. On the south, it links to a foot bridge that crosses San Francisquito Creek into Palo Alto.

The split-rail fence around the project echoes Sunset’s fencing.

Designing the project was “all driven by the trees,” Breeze said. Therefore, lot sizes vary, as do the houses’ shapes. For example, Residence Three, one of the two model homes, is wide and shallow, allowing “us to preserve the row of ash trees along the back,” Breeze said.

Trees even determine the location of the two-car garages.

In the Residence Three model, it’s on the right rather than facing Willow Road. With no huge door dominating the streetscape, it looks like a more integral part of the house.

Cost close to $2 million

Residence Three, with four bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms standard, has 2,392 to 2,429 square feet, depending on the garage’s location. Its price ranges from $1.8 million to $2.05 million.

Approached from a small front porch, the front door opens to an entry hall centered between the dining room and a library. Both rooms are two steps down from the entry, lending a sense of formality and symmetry.

The cozy library has a gas fireplace. As an option, the library can open to the family room, or it can become a bedroom with a closet replacing the fireplace. If this space is configured as a bedroom, the half-bath off the entry hall becomes a full bath.

Continuing the entry’s symmetry, the stairway is opposite the bathroom. The entry then leads to the family room and kitchen, both two steps down. The family room has an optional gas fireplace. Patio doors lead to the shallow backyard.

An island defines the kitchen, whose main working area is L-shaped. Along one wall are the coat closet, oven, refrigerator space and pantry as well as a passage to the dining room.

The kitchen is equipped with Wolf stainless steel appliances, granite counters, maple cabinets and 18-inch-square ceramic tile flooring. Similar cabinets are used in the bathrooms, while similar tiles are seen in the bathrooms, nook and entry.

Across from the dining room passageway is the laundry room, with sink, cabinets, window and space for side-by-side appliances. Just past the laundry room is the interior door to the garage, which also has a door to the backyard.

Upstairs, the landing overlooks the entryway. A linen closet and full bath with two sinks also are in this area.

The model has a loft to the right that can be configured as a bedroom. Both options have a door leading to a deck over the porch.

Two other bedrooms are on this side of the house. The larger one is shown with two full-size beds and a window seat.

The master bedroom occupies the rest of the upper floor. It, too, is shown with a window seat.
Big bathroom, closet

Almost as large as the bedroom, the master bath includes a walk-in closet just inside the door. The bathroom itself has a toilet closet, oval tub, shower stall and marble-topped vanities that are conveniently opposite each other.

All of the houses are GreenPoint Rated. This program stresses – among other factors – energy efficiency, resource conservation and indoor air quality. They have dual-zone air conditioning and forced-air gas heating, 50-gallon water heaters with recirculating pumps to all fixtures, and wiring for ceiling fans in the family room and master bedroom.

They’re also wired for high-speed networking.

As part of a city requirement to provide below-market-rate houses, Breeze said, SummerHill is donating “upward of $2.5 million” to Habitat for Humanity, which is building a 22-unit affordable project in Menlo Park.

The Sunset Idea House will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays (except July 4), Saturdays and Sundays from June 27 through Aug. 31. Tickets, available only at the door, are $15 general, $5 for those ages 6 to 12 and free for those 5 and younger. People 60 and older receive a $3 discount on Fridays. Credit cards are not accepted.

For details call (800) 786-7375 or go to www.sunset.com/sunset and click on Idea Houses.

Builder’s Notebook: Vickie Nyland, Taylor Morrison, Bay Area Division

Run date: June 7, 2008

Housing has changed. The American dream, for many, has become an attractive condo or townhome built with sophisticated features such as granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and open kitchen/family room spaces. Throughout the Bay Area, new communities are sprouting up which offer a variety of home buyers opions for comfortable homes in well-located urban sites. Several of these modern communities were conceived and built by Taylor Morrison.

Urban infill is increasingly the source of new homes for Bay Area buyers, and Taylor Morrison is a prominent provider of these home developemnts which stress wise use of space proximity to jobs and transit, shared park spaces and, very importantly, according to Vickie Nyland, Northern California division president for Taylor Morrison, “attainable price points.”

“Our MO [modus operandi, or way of accomplishing a goal] for the last sever years has been in these kinds of communities – homes with attainable price points, close to transit and to work. Our core is the Bay Area, particularly Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties: We’re very location oriented.”

Understanding their demographic, a mix of singles, married couples, retried people as well as families with children, the home builder has focused on urban infill as a way of providing convenient locations, attractive architecture and ecologically sound features.

“Reuse of land is of our main areas [of focus],” explains Nyland. The company has zeroed in on light industrial areas that could be redesigned for housing and are near emerging and established employment centers. For example, communities in San Jose attract buyers who may work in Fremont and Hayward, while buyers in Concord are close to BART, could work locally or commute to San Francisco or south to Pleasanton.

These new neighborhoods are different from developments of just five years ago. They’re denser, said Nyland, but most offer parks which residents can enjoy. They are also more affordable and have higher levels of features. “Providing a higher level of quality gives these people a good experience,” said Nyland.

Respecting the cultural diversity of new buyers, among them many Asian and East Indian customers, “We show appreciation for their cultures” and work to design living spaces that will appeal to their traditions and preferences. For instance, notes Nyland, the company integrates principals of feng shui into home design.

Some neighborhoods are also designed with a younger demographic in mind, including Modern Ice, a development in San Jose that “is a bit denser and has more stairs,” describes Nyland, but is appealing o younger, hip buyers, many of whom are making their first home purchase.

“It’s fun to see the excitement of these buyers. They are showing that they really trust us to help them through these new steps [towards home ownership].”

In some cases, according to Nyland, lenders with whom the builder works are gibing seminars to help potential buyers understand the loan process, and sales reps for Taylor Morrison also educate buyers about homeowners’ associations and the requirements, dues and benefits of such associations.

Neighborhoods of townhomes and condos may be denser, but they are also more energy efficitent and each has distinctive characteristics.

“I push us towards functionality,” she says, “It may be dense, but we have to provide good living spaces, with good flow and function that works. Architectural features change, colors change and attached projects’ are being designed for their sites and the ambience they can bring to a community. “We know how to do this really well,” notes Nyland with pride.

She continues that the home builder aims for great kitchen orientation, for example, stressing that the flow from the kitchen to adjoining space is very important: “Our kitchens are built to have interaction. That’s the gathering space,” she insists. And, she likes to include deck space for a barbeque.

As for energy issues, Nyland observes that the definition of energy efficiency has changed over the years, and progress continues. “We’re integrating different features and staying in a reasonable cost spectrum. Consumers aren’t yet ready to pay” for many of the eco features, but tankless water heaters, man-made stone and Corian instead of marble, and conservation practices in construction – recycling of building materials, use of fly ash in concrete, for instance, are ways Taylor Morrison works to minimize a community’s carbon footprint.

For the long term, they are evaluating future building practices according to some of the green construction programs now being formulated on a wider basis in the Bay Area and California.

“And, by building in urban areas we are helping save fuel and lessening the area’s footprint,” she reminds.

“Builders are on the forefront of encouraging cities to change from industrial to residential,” she continues. “A key element is that we have a vision and show them [a city] how good the area could look in a few years. Color, architecture, green areas, interesting streetscape…once a city starts” encouraging a revamping of older areas nearby.

In today’s home market, no discussion would be complete without talking about prices. While some builders have featured higher prices, then provide incentives, Taylor Morrison takes a different tack. “This is another reflection on me,” notes Nyland. We aim to set the right price for the market. We are fair and competitive and we want our prices to show that.” The company does work with individual buyers and may provide interest-rate buy downs or other benefits. With Nyland at the helm, watch for Taylor Morrison to “continue what we do well, offer attainable price points and keep our eye out for housing in the right spots in the Bay Area.”

Visit www.taylormorrison.com for information on Bay Area home communities.