Home builders encounter unique amenities, materials

Custom home builders strive to fulfill the homeowner's desire to make his or her home something special.

Ron Middleton of Middleton Homes said he has often searched far and wide to find materials out of the ordinary to create a certain look.

Middleton said that he has added a room, such as a home theater, that has cost more to build than some houses.

Sara Ray, owner of Sara Ray Homes, said people are spending a lot of time planning their custom homes and are willing to spend the extra money to install things like granite countertops and commercial-grade appliances.

Two of Ray's recent customers have had elevators installed. The immediate advantage is convenience, but the long term benefit is that in the future, when they are older, they won't have to climb stairs, she said.

Janell Manley of Janell Manley Homes Inc. just completed a home with a mosaic tile inlay in the entry. "It turned out very pretty," she said.

Michael D. Smith, owner of Michael Dee Smith Homes, recently built an entry floor that mixes tile with blocks imprinted the owner's children's handprints.

For another homeowner, Smith built a dumbwaiter to haul wood from the main floor to the basement.

Without a prototype, Smith improvised and used a garage door opener to operate the unit.

Sam Watts, owner of Homes by Sam Watts, said that walk-in showers, big enough not to require doors, are becoming popular in custom homes, and more people are requesting steam showers made of tile, cultured marble or granite.

Watts said he has just completed a $534,900 French country-style spec home in phase II of Stone Meadow that incorporates the latest features popular with upper-level home buyers.

The house includes stainless steel appliances, granite countertops plus massive support columns in the basement, covered with concrete and crafted to look like stone pillars.

Linus Campbell, owner of Campbell Homes, said people are using rubberized tile for both interior and exterior surfaces. The flooring is expensive but very durable, and it will take a lot of abuse, he said.

Custom home owners are using a lot of faux painting on walls in key areas to create special looks. Designs can be anything from rock backgrounds to colorful gardens, according to Kevin Clingan, owner of Clingan Home Design and Construction.

Howard Bailey, owner of Howard Bailey Company, recently completed a custom project with two extra large fireplaces made of volcanic rock imported from Denmark. The one in the main living area has a five foot opening, he said.

In reflecting on unique features, Manley said she recently installed a brass-plated towel warmer in the master bath of a home. The homeowners spotted the unit at Harry Cooper Supply while shopping for bathroom fixtures and added it to their plans.

Bailey said he worked on a $2 million remodeling job on East Catalpa where he built a five-car attached garage and then added a 12-car detached garage. The most distinctive addition in the renovation, however, was a wooden covering to a steel bridge that spanning a small creek that runs through the property.

Probably the most unusual thing Ray has recently incorporated into a home is a doggie shower, she said. Made of cultured marble with a hand-held shower head, the unit was placed in the home's utility room.

At the husband's insistence, and over the wife's objections, Watts said he once incorporated an antique concrete lion's head into a fireplace mantel. In the end, everyone was happy with the result, he said.

Middleton said one of his most interesting projects was the flooring in the dining room of a rustic lodge style home near Cassville. The wood was taken from the decking of a roof on a wharf in New Orleans.

This same house consumed 13 semi-truckloads of wooden beams out of an old textile mill in the Carolinas. The beams were used for supports, flooring and trim.

The crown jewel of the project was an antique apothecary cabinet that Middleton refurbished and installed in the kitchen.

Campbell may top the list for the unusual with a recent home project in which he built a full half-court gymnasium with rubberized tile flooring and a 21-foot ceiling.

The court contains an NBA-approved basketball goal. While two walls of the room are highlighted by windows, the other two walls are covered by a mural, painted on site by artist Margo Skiles. The scene is bleachers and more than 8,000 spectators.

"The effect is like a football stadium full of fans," Campbell said.

Clingan recently built a wine cellar into the basement of a custom home.

Though the concept is not unique anymore, Clingan said, the room doubles as a "fraidy room," where people can go in case of storm. Clingan said he includes fraidy rooms in all his upper level houses.