Downtown Triplex New York, New York In a historic district along lower Broadway, we renovated an existing duplex and designed a new penthouse to create a stunning four-bedroom triplex and roof terrace. Bluestone and a pergola built with sustainably-harvested ipé wrap the top floor. The lower terrace has an outdoor kitchen, fire pit, and dining area; steps lead to the upper terrace where a hot tub and sun deck have sweeping views of the skyline. At the interior, a two-story high stair wall clad in American black walnut with stainless steel trim visually connects each floor. The walnut veneer was purchased from FSC-controlled sources and the rooms have been finished with fabrics and rugs that are naturally low-emitting materials. With construction materials that either contain a high percentage of recycled content or are formaldehyde-free, the project is an expression of how elegance and responsible design are part of a healthy, beautiful family home. photos: timothy bell

Inspiration for a stone exterior home remodel in Chicago

Hot tub - huge traditional backyard custom-shaped and stone hot tub idea in New York

Downtown Triplex New York, New York In a historic district along lower Broadway, we renovated an existing duplex and designed a new penthouse to create a stunning four-bedroom triplex and roof terrace. Bluestone and a pergola built with sustainably-harvested ipé wrap the top floor. The lower terrace has an outdoor kitchen, fire pit, and dining area; steps lead to the upper terrace where a hot tub and sun deck have sweeping views of the skyline. At the interior, a two-story high stair wall clad in American black walnut with stainless steel trim visually connects each floor. The walnut veneer was purchased from FSC-controlled sources and the rooms have been finished with fabrics and rugs that are naturally low-emitting materials. With construction materials that either contain a high percentage of recycled content or are formaldehyde-free, the project is an expression of how elegance and responsible design are part of a healthy, beautiful family home. photos: timothy bell

Downtown Triplex New York, New York In a historic district along lower Broadway, we renovated an existing duplex and designed a new penthouse to create a stunning four-bedroom triplex and roof terrace. Bluestone and a pergola built with sustainably-harvested ipé wrap the top floor. The lower terrace has an outdoor kitchen, fire pit, and dining area; steps lead to the upper terrace where a hot tub and sun deck have sweeping views of the skyline. At the interior, a two-story high stair wall clad in American black walnut with stainless steel trim visually connects each floor. The walnut veneer was purchased from FSC-controlled sources and the rooms have been finished with fabrics and rugs that are naturally low-emitting materials. With construction materials that either contain a high percentage of recycled content or are formaldehyde-free, the project is an expression of how elegance and responsible design are part of a healthy, beautiful family home. photos: timothy bell

The homeowners requested a green, transitional style remodel of their lower level that included a kitchenette. A close-up of the recycled glass countertop shows the many different colors of glass the homeowner chose. The interior designer and the homeowner were able to select what percentage of each of the available colors of recycled glass they wanted for the countertop. They were also able to specify the base color for the top. It features a touchless bar faucet and a composite granite undermount sink. The yellow paint color for the walls was inspired by the yellow color of glass found in the countertop. Unafraid of color, the homeowners’ choice of lively paint colors clearly shows there are many shades of green remodeling!

At Best Homes, we have a wide variety of floorplans available with customizable options throughout your dream home. We don’t, and won’t, take short cuts in our construction process, nor will we substitute lesser materials and labor costs to compete with lower priced builders. Our pricing is simply based on a percentage over the cost of construction. Our customers appreciate our transparent, no non-sense approach to helping them find the right design and amenity level to fit their desired price point. Stock plans or custom designs, your lot or ours, building with Best Custom Homes is a choice you’ll be glad you made.

LEED Certification Level: Platinum. Builder: R & S Engineering & Construction. The Cavanaugh Residence is a contemporary split level with a split personality. Totally designed from the ground up to minimize impact and maximize energy and water efficiency, its beautiful facade belies its hard-working, high-producing systems, earning it a LEED Platinum score of 116.5, and a HERS rating of minus 22. The 2774 square foot home produces over 100 per cent of its power with a 10.8 kw pv system, and captures 100 per cent of its freshwater needs from the curved metal roofs through an engineered collection and purification system, stored in an integrated concrete cistern. Constructed of locally made SIP panels on an infill waterfront lot, the home is oriented to maximize the production of the pv panels. Six inch SIP panels work together with a highly reflective, highly emmisive cool standing seam roof, icynene insulation in ceiling and floors, and carefully placed high efficiency windows and doors to create a tightly sealed environment. The 17-seer Trane heat pump variable speed compressors and TAM 7 air handlers, along with a whole house dehumidifier and fresh air intake provide a comfortable, clean indoor environment while using little energy. In the shoulder seasons, natural ventilation cools the home with fresh breezes drawn from lower windows in each room flowing through the curved ceilings to clerestory windows at the top of the house. Natural daylighting, with windows placed in corners and high clerestories, bounce the abundant natural light so that the owners use the interior LED lighting primarily at night. Windows were sited to frame views of the neighboring park and water, and capture the light, but represent a very low percentage of glazing to wall to conserve energy. Primarily native, xeriscaped turfless landscaping sips reclaimed water from its drip and bubbler irrigiation system, and requires little trimming or chemicals. Established trees, protected during construction, shade the home, FSC certified decks, and yard, providing a cool place to enjoy the outdoors at any time of the day, even in Florida's summer heat. Rainwater is diverted from the bay through the engineered collection and filtration system to an integrated concrete cistern hidden beneath the decks. Abundant Florida rainwater supplies 100 per cent of the home's needs, including drinking, bathing, and cleaning. Naturally soft, the highly filtered and UV purified water requires no chemical treatment or water softener. Coupled with minimal hardscape and permeable drive and walkways, almost all ground water remains on the lot, and out of storm sewers and bay runoffs. Designed as a forever home for this active retired couple, an open floor plan provides diagonal interior views along with great circulation space. Wide hallways and doors, curbless showers, an elevator, and extra blocking in the walls for grab rails insures the couple of being able to use their home even if physical disabilities arise. The home's footprint is minimized by building over the conditioned crawlspace and over-sized garage, and the finished floor height, at least two feet above flood code requirements, significantly reduces insurance costs while maximizing storage space for camping and water sports equipment. Materials, fixtures and appliances were carefully selected for energy and water efficiency, local production where possible, recycled content/recyclability, durability, and cost-effectiveness. The owners were very involved in vetting and materials selections, and assisted in just-in-time purchasing to minimize waste. Scrap materials were sorted daily for re-use elsewhere in the project (blocking, concrete forms, drywall scraps as acoustical insulation in interior walls, etc.), resulting in a tiny waste pile at the end of a dumpster-free project. Concrete waste was hauled to a local recycler to become road base, and extra useable materials were returned to the vendor or donated to Habitat Restore. Cost-effective choices, and careful planning, saved significant dollars in construction cost as well as landfill space. One of the biggest challenges was finding qualified subcontractors who would work within the guidelines. With the help of our LEED consultant and meetings and explanations, most subcontractors not only bought into the ideas readily, but offered up new ideas. Highly skilled and professional, the team of subs, LEED consultant, and contractor proved that LEED construction is excellent construction. The team, the owners, and I also found that LEED construction makes great economic sense. Most materials (other than increased insulation and photovoltaic panels) cost no more, and sometimes less, than those employed in construction of a lesser standard. The owners have been living in the home for a year now, and are thrilled with the results. No power bill. No water bill. Extremely low insurance bill. Minimal ground maintenance. No fabric softener. Reduced use of soap, detergents, and shampoos and cleaning supplies. Less time cleaning with spot-free rainwater. Careful planning and materials selection brought the project in under budget, and the home operates at an extremely low cost, both to the homeowners, and the environment. Who wouldn't be thrilled?

At Best Homes, we have a wide variety of floorplans available with customizable options throughout your dream home. We don’t, and won’t, take short cuts in our construction process, nor will we substitute lesser materials and labor costs to compete with lower priced builders. Our pricing is simply based on a percentage over the cost of construction. Our customers appreciate our transparent, no non-sense approach to helping them find the right design and amenity level to fit their desired price point. Stock plans or custom designs, your lot or ours, building with Best Custom Homes is a choice you’ll be glad you made.

Clint Hart
Inspiration for a rustic exterior home remodel in Austin

LOCATION: LEWES, DELAWARE PROJECT YEAR: 2019 PROJECT COST: $2,000,000+ BUILDER: GARRISON HOMES A large percentage of my work is helping clients with builder selections. Let’s face it, building a new home can seem so overwhelming. I’m here to help you get through the process and love the end result. When we selected the finishes for this home, I had no idea Jenn had such great taste! I loved working with you guys from exterior to kitchen design to tile selections and hope to do it again on the next one.

LOCATION: LEWES, DELAWARE PROJECT YEAR: 2019 PROJECT COST: $2,000,000+ BUILDER: GARRISON HOMES A large percentage of my work is helping clients with builder selections. Let’s face it, building a new home can seem so overwhelming. I’m here to help you get through the process and love the end result. When we selected the finishes for this home, I had no idea Jenn had such great taste! I loved working with you guys from exterior to kitchen design to tile selections and hope to do it again on the next one.

Luxor offers both zoning and dimming capabilities that provide virtually limitless design possibilities. Zoning allows lights to be programmed into preset themes, which can be activated for special occasions such as parties, or activities such as barbequing. Dimming allows lights to automatically emit any desired illumination percentage anytime, anywhere within a system.

"Integrity" displays intricately beautiful rugs with a geometric uniqueness, perfect for adding a spark to your living space. This collection offers a spectrum of hues and patterns, making it impossible not to find the perfect one for you. True to it's name, a percentage of the collection's proceeds will go toward funding care for our veterans through "Wounded Warrior Project." Pieces such as these can pull together any area in your home, as well as helping those who have risked their lives pulling together our nation.

LOCATION: LEWES, DELAWARE PROJECT YEAR: 2019 PROJECT COST: $2,000,000+ BUILDER: GARRISON HOMES A large percentage of my work is helping clients with builder selections. Let’s face it, building a new home can seem so overwhelming. I’m here to help you get through the process and love the end result. When we selected the finishes for this home, I had no idea Jenn had such great taste! I loved working with you guys from exterior to kitchen design to tile selections and hope to do it again on the next one.

WORKING LIGHT FUNCTION: The neutral sidelight can be used as your working light if you need. RECHARGEABLE: With 3600mAh built-in rechargeable batteries (USB cable included), you can take it anywhere you need a handy light. With a USB charging port (5V 1A), it can service as a power bank for your smartphone or mobile devices in emergency. INFINITELY DIMMING: The headlight and side neutral light mode can be infinitely dimmed (adjustable brightness percentage: 1%~100%) MAGNETS & HOOKS AVAILABLE: There are 4 magnets on the base if you want to stick it to a metal surface, like a bike, car, or a tent pole. It can also be hung using two metal hooks at the bottom. SOS:The sidelight of red light flash mod can de as SOS signal light if there any situations if you need, such as, searching, seeking for help, making prominent, etc.

LEED Certification level: lEE FOR HOMES (V.3),SILVER. In Oct 8,2015, USGBC honored a Brazilian Project with the First LEED FOR HOMES certificate of Brazil, awarded with a high Silver score, ((81.5 final ptos - 12.5( HSA) resulting 69 ptos)) due to green strategies applied in different areas of construction. This outstanding result could only be achieved with the collaboration of a well-integrated team of professionals, focused on unifying solutions suitable to all areas of construction, with materials that provide high efficiency and counted on an experienced and dedicated team, the support given by homeowner during entire process was essential to success of this project. The owner, who embraced LEED concepts, found his incentive on his granddaughter, who must have the opportunity to grow in an environment with availability of all natural resources, and endeavored to gather the team and to find solutions that best fit each opportunity. The consequence of this work was an exceptional residence, being an impressive showcase of green building strategies that have come together in a home. Alphaville Dom Pedro Residence, as the project was named, sets an example of quality and sustainability, achieving new standards required by condominium rules of construction in Campinas city, 80 miles from São Paulo, state's capital capital. The construction was managed by LCP Engineering & Construction, using the innovative Ecogrid® technology, based on SCIP (Structured Concrete Insulated Panel) construction, which provided this home a high thermal-acoustic performance, reduction on waste generation during construction and minimal energy consumption. Furthermore, this project was planned to take full advantage of the sun’s potential, through the usage of solar and photovoltaic panels, designed to produce the energy needed to heat all water from house and pool, as well as generate part of the electricity consumed. Being one of the most treasured resources, a special care was given by the project team to the water management system. Saving water plays a big role in this fascinating project: action was taken to allow all water used in showers, sinks and from the rain to be reused after the treatment through a natural process, phytoremediation by wetland, for irrigation and toilets. Also efficient faucets and showers that have a low flow rate were used. The irrigation and landscape design, fully done with native vegetation, demands a low amount of water to fuel the drip irrigation system implemented on 100% of the landscape area. Separate zones of irrigation were installed according to watering needs, equipped with an automatic activation system, moisture sensor and pressure regulation devices, all programmed to minimize evaporation losses. Polypropylene Random Copolymer (PPR) pipes were used replacing the PVC as non-toxic material, guarantying the joints between pipes and fittings for total security system . Furthermore, a high degree of internal living quality was achieved minimizing the bacterial proliferation; mold, mildew and termite free due to the Ecogrid Technology. All finishing used on this residence, like tiles, faucets, toilets have a high percentage of recycle materials, provided by local manufacturers, promoting the maturity of the local industries complying with the rating of the certification process. This marvel project is extremely important to the national market, representing a significant milestone in the Latin in Brazilian Residential Building Sector, bringing the LEED for Homes certification and establishing sustainable parameters to future home builders for example: The house produces 46% of the energy used, NET Zero, Inverter Split air conditioning system, 100% of the hot water coming from solar panel, PVC free, use PPR pipes, Use phytoremediation process achieving 62% efficient water reuse, 95% efficiency in non construction waste, Confortable and Healthy Interior Environment. In rapids highlights, *Inovation in the technologic process of construction , ECOGRIDE, witch besides the environmental comfort, regards for the salubrity and owner,s welfare. *Exceeded average rates of energy efficiency with the use of photovoltaic panels, HVAC and home appliances with the inverter technology. *Consolidated the importance of social and education environmental practices of the workers and owner. *Reference on sustainable urban condominiums with quality and connectivity in the state of Sao Paulo and Contribute for the Brazilian market improvement and proved that actual market is already prepare to supply the sustainable construction. But the must important was…. “Once Upon a Time“… there was a devoted grandfather, who believed in a better world for his granddaughter, seeking for solutions to leave a legacy of learning and achievements ways for future generations. This beautiful love story has a happy ending, with the reception of First Leed For Homes Silver in Brazil and First Leed For Homes Silver in Latin America, for this wonderful residence. A home full of love, affection and “sweet home” for many happy moments between this grandfather and his granddaughter.

Custom blend of weathering green slates with unfading green slates. A percentage of the weathering slates will turn brown or buff over time.
Inspiration for a timeless beige house exterior remodel with a hip roof and a tile roof