Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Wisteria Lane

Being the first to build in a development certainly has its perks! We had our pick of lots, models, colors, etc and found just the perfect combination for our family. We are old(ER) than most first time home buyers and we've only got one child left at home so we went with a smaller floor plan, obviously, the Venice. Because its on the lower end of the price range we were able to load it with "extras" to make it unique. Six months into it, we are still unique in that we remain the only Venice in the place. What's upsetting to me is the fact that while there are restrictions on colors and elevations in order to keep things appearing too "cookie cutter" every single house on the street I face is a Rome! Not a bad floor plan, actually very nice, but 8 or 10 in a row makes me feel like I'm living on Wisteria Lane or that I should suggest renaming our community Stepford. Despite the attempts to make them look different it feels like we are becoming the epitome of a suburban bedroom community. :(

10 comments:

  1. Aw, sorry! I agree that things are getting a uniform feel, but I think it may be the small lots and the fact that the different models do look really similar. They sold a couple Veronas but they're down behind our house because the lots there are wider. Venices are nice because the windows and look show more variation than the others, I still find it tricky to tell Milans and Romes apart, but I think a few of the new homes are Naples. I wanted to do a post on the Renaissance line but I haven't gotten there yet.

    Hopefully things improve by the time Kings Bottom gets built up. I think they are trying to get a little more variety, the new model home will be different and kinda cool looking, they made another major change in colors a few weeks back and they're adding more elevations.

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  2. I feel your pain. We were one of the first houses to go up on our street, and now there are 7 or 8 Romes (which is what we have) and maybe 2 Milans. Our SR says they keep hiking the price of the Rome up, but people still choose it.

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  3. Faith, I understand you totally! I know it sounds selfish but I did not want our cul-de-sac to end up looking cooking cutter too nor did I want a Elevation C Rome with stone because when people pick this elevation they add the stone. With that said, I purposely changed over to brick to stand out from the rest of the Rome's. We had no idea what we would end up with because of the long wait. We have two and a half Romes in our cul-de-sac and I say two and half because the last Rome (elevation A) isn't directly in the circle but towards the end. Our cul-de-sac is comprised of the following: two Romes (Elevation C with stone and elevation C with brick and a front porch, two Milans, a Victoria Falls and and the only Oberlin in our community approved per request. The cul-de-sac next door to us have three Romes with the same color brick and elevation. We currently have the Jasmine model in our community but the Rome has become very popular along with the Naples and Milan. We offer the Avalon, Ravenna, Verona in our community but people aren't buying those models. They are currently building a Rome model because of it's popularity and I can only imagine what it's going to look like down the road.

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    1. OMG!! This is definitely Wisteria Lane with Roman Countrymen! Ugghh!! Sorry Faith!!

      btw--I have to admit photo is a great shot!! What can they do about it? Have you talked to your Sr? I know they must sell the houses that people want but some lots are slated for various elevations/models? Do they intend to spread them out over time? How many homes can they build in your community?

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    2. The whole community is going to be huge, but all the lots are owned by a developer that sells them to RH in little groups, so there isn't much of lot choice at any given time. They did add some more elevations, but I don't know if that's going to fix what Faith is talking about.

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  4. Thanks for the compliment on the pic! Taken with my 4s ...

    Julie is correct, I believe we were told that there are a total of 1,000 lots in the neighborhood but they're only purchasing small quantities at a time. There is another builder who has also begun selling homes in our neighborhood but they're starting at over 300k. (I certainly can't afford that!)

    Anyway, when we signed our contract we were the first to break ground for the RH part of the development. At that time, there were only 42 houses in the entire place. Now that they have pretty much built out the street in front of me (except my favorite little "pocket park") with nothing but Romes, it's a bit disappointing. I just thought since they made such a big deal about choosing our colors and the fact that our closest neighbors would be unable to choose the same ones that there would be just as much restriction or more on the number of the same model home that could be located side by side. As a matter of fact, we made our color choices before they even built the first model home here, which caused them to have to change the choices for the model because we took their color scheme!! LOL I realize the Rome is the most popular model with RH right now it just seems ridiculous to have them all in a row like this.

    I don't think they have particular lots slated for certain models/elevations, although some of the larger homes obviously will only fit on larger lots. Again, we were lucky in that we have a corner lot and with choosing a smaller house (even with the morning room addition) we have a comparatively large, flat yard and the reason we chose it was because at the time it was the only lot available on which we could place a side load garage. Again, something else that makes us look different (we're STILL the only side load RH in the neighborhood)

    I apologize as I really do love my community and I try to stay as positive about things as possible. I guess I just had a "moment"...

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  5. Hmmmm, I have to wonder if all of us sat back and took the same pic would it really reflect the same thing?? They are RH homes with siding....In our plan the SAVOY is the big hit, we are the 3rd one in a row our street! I think my plan helps a little because we go up a hill and around bends which helps break it up....I think a straight flat street doesnt help the look...Maybe that helps you a little bit:(

    We are all aloud to have moments.......

    We are the very last house in our phase, they are digging the next phase to us now, 7 homes on each side to a cul de sac, and its a flat street, I think it's gonna suck too!! But when we bought the lot it was a gorgeous farm next to us, they hadnt dug yet.

    Oh my now you have me worried..LOL...

    I will take a pic of it today and post it....

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  6. We are on the street you are facing and neither our home nor the home on either side of us is a Rome. Once the park is done in front and the trees come in I think it will look great. :)

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    1. We were told they were Romes. They are very similar in elevation. I'm excited about the park getting fixed up its going to be beautiful this summer!

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  7. The Rome is popular in our community too, but the most expensive! What I see the most of is the Venice, because up until 3 months ago, that was the cheapest home you could get. Now they have added a Florence, and that's what we chose. We are a family of 3 and don't need much room (certainly not a Rome size!!), and we are the first Florence! Since we signed, no one else has picked one, and the two that are finished on my cul de sac are Romes. Very different elevations though. I can see your frustration though!

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