Downtown Batavia is 40 miles west of downtown Chicago, yet the names of the town home models in one of the western suburb’s new developments are more associated with city streets: Ashland, Belmont, Clybourn, Dearborn, Edgewater.
Kirkland Chase Courtyard Townhomes, promoted as “a traditional neighborhood in Batavia,” has several of the elements that give “a little city atmosphere to the community,” says its sales manager Michelle Budzyn.
In addition to the deliberate choice of Chicago streets for model home names, these town homes, Budzyn points out, have raised concrete porches–stoops, really–along with fenced-in back yards and individual garages out back facing, of all things, good old-fashioned alleys.
If that doesn’t sound like a touch of the city, what would?
“I love to hear some of the empty-nesters say, `This reminds me so much of where I grew up,’ ” says Budzyn, referring to couples who were sold on a Kirkland Chase town home after seeing the yards and location of garages.
Such are the lures for downsizers willing to give up big houses, but loathe to surrender every inch of their private outdoor space. The same apparently holds true for the young professionals who are first-time buyers–either leaving their parents’ homes or abandoning expensive rental apartments in favor of investing in a homey place to live.
West Point Meadows in Tinley Park, reviewed in House Hunter in August, has been popular, in part, to having this private outdoor space.
Personally, I’d like to think that the prime reason prospective buyers are drawn to check out Kirkland Chase is that they’ve discovered a town home complex without rows and rows of two- and three-car garages.
For one, there’s a mix of single-family homes in the $300,000 range and town homes, base-priced from $181,900 to $203,500. With 39 town homes in nine clusters, each with three, four or six units, the development isn’t overwhelming in size and promises some variety.
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There are five models–four available for walk-throughs–with similar floor plans. Each offers at least one distinctive element, however.
In each of the homes, the front door opens directly to the living and dining rooms, which fill the width of the home. Behind them are kitchen or family room.
The Dearborn is both the largest home and the only one with first-floor master suite. In this model, the master bed and country kitchen are at the back of the home, resulting in a couple of pluses: First, the bedroom faces the backyard and so, has a view (or access, if owners opt for sliding glass doors). Second, the upper floor has two bedrooms and, between them, a Jack-and-Jill bathroom (double sinks/vanity separated from tub/commode). The plan also offers a nice loft space, which is open to and overlooks the sweep of a two-story living/dining room. It’s impressive and offers lots of light.
The Ashland is unique in this development since it’s the only model with a detached garage and will undoubtedly be the favorite of those who want as much back yard space as possible.
Other homes are connected to the garages by way of a slender passage that includes a powder room adjacent to a hall. The hall, in turn, leads to and through a laundry room, which opens to the garage.
But, because the Ashland’s garage is totally detached, its floor plan has to be reconfigured to make space within the home for its laundry and powder rooms. So, the Ashland is akin to other models, with the living and dining rooms in the front. Across the back of the model is a big island-centered country kitchen and a nice sized laundry with storage closet and a door leading outside. Ashland owners can opt to have a covered walkway to the garage, which doesn’t cut yard space.
The powder room, then, is shifted to a convenient spot between dining room and kitchen. Next to the powder room is a walk-through pantry (called butler’s pantry) located between dining room and kitchen.
The Belmont has a pro and a con: It has the biggest kitchen, certainly large enough for dining furniture, and it has a dining room as well. The second floor has a huge master bedroom, but an ordinary-sized bathroom, shared by the second bedroom. One full bath is not enough.
The Clyborn is by far the best plan for the cook or host of the house. The kitchen’s island offers great viewing of all that’s going on: To the left, the backyard; straight ahead, the patio; to the right, the family room. The model has a wall between family and living rooms. I’d open it up and give the whole front a nice, airy feel.