California is known as a center for innovation in production housing. So I was more than a little curious when told that Los Angeles-based KB Home, which recently re-entered the Chicago new housing market, has introduced several plans from its home base to the Midwest.
To see what a California design looked like, I headed to KB Home’s Tyler Ridge, a new development of 154 houses in Kenosha, Wis.
Some of the houses also are available in the builder’s Streams of Plainfield development in southwest suburban Plainfield.
The Golden State serves as a design center because it is a magnet for newcomers and there is a continuing need for new housing despite some of the nation’s severest land use restrictions.
Much of the state’s water is imported from its neighbors and its well-publicized earthquake, mudslide and fire zones mean the land on which to build is limited and expensive.
To appeal to buyers and keep a lid on already high costs, Californians are credited with such ideas as the now ubiquitous open floor plan, which eliminated space wasted on hallways. The state also has seen production experiments such as prefabricated multi-story townhouses.
Tyler’s Ridge opened in February and about 18 homes have been sold, most to Illinoisians, said members of the sales staff.
The development is adjacent to the established Horizons and White Caps subdivisions developed by Vernon Hills-based Zale Builders, which KB bought in 2003.
I admit I was somewhat disappointed not to see more design differences at Tyler’s Ridge from what is already available to Chicago-area home buyers.
To be fair, KB is not the only builder operating in metropolitan Chicago with a West Coast connection. Perhaps, it is testimony to how quickly good ideas travel.
Zale was a pioneer in Chicago-area builders opening developments north of the state line. But it has been joined by a number of others. When asked who KB competes against for buyers, sales agents named not Wisconsin companies but several companies familiar to Chicagoans.
Anne Sosinsky, a KB sales agent, noted that on specified days at her daughter’s middle school, students are allowed to dress in the colors of their favorite football team.
Half the class is dressed in Chicago Bears navy and orange and the other half shows up in Green Bay Packer green and gold, she said.
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To compete in this booming market, KB is showing two-story, three-bedroom models, three of the eight floor plans available to buyers.
These are homes that blend easily into Wisconsin or Illinois. The roof lines and detailing of the models are traditional with elements from shingled cottages, clapboard homes of New England, and a bit of American Four Square from the rural Midwest.
The models have covered front entrances, two with porches, and garages that for the most part do not overwhelm. Brick or stone, an upgrade, is used on the facades along with vinyl shingles for another more subtle decorative touch.
The first floor interiors are characterized by open layouts with angled walls and architectural columns to define rooms. The floor plans have good first-floor traffic patterns.
Scant attention is paid to closets and a transition area by front doors. Perhaps this is because heavy winter coats and cold weather are not common in California or, perhaps, the homes are designed with the assumption everyone will enter the house through the garage.
And, like most of its competitors, KB appeals to those who are paying the money by allocating plenty of space to master suites, often at the expense of secondary, presumably children’s, bedrooms.
In the 2,264-square-foot Hamilton, for example, a visitor will step through the front door and find the dining room is immediately to the left and the living room to the right.
There is a small coat closet to the right of the front entrance, but it is barely big enough for more than a couple of heavy coats come winter. And there is nothing to slow the icy blasts of a Wisconsin winter from chilling diners or anyone using the living room when the front door is opened.
A half-wall divides the living room from the family room at the back of the house. To the left of the family room is the breakfast area which opens onto the kitchen. A powder room and the laundry room are near at hand. Access to the garage is tucked off the kitchen.
The Hamilton floor plan revolves around a centrally located stairway to the second floor. So the dining room can be easily reached from the kitchen as well as the adjacent living room.
Upstairs, the master suite is generous, as is the hall bath. The two secondary bedrooms would work best for an infant and young child.
The largest of the models is the Wentworth, with 3,365 square feet. It is decorated to be a show-stopper.
Visitors enter the combination living/dining room, which is divided from the rooms at the back of the home by a wide low wall and an angled wall with a two-sided fireplace.
The fireplace works nicely to serve both the formal dining area on one side and the family room behind it. The stairway to the second floor is to the left of the front door.
Adjacent to the family room at the back of the house is the kitchen, where there is enough granite to dazzle most buyers. There are yards of the stone in the wide open plan. A cockpit-style counter with dual sinks divides the kitchen from the breakfast area and the family room.
Sales agent Lynn Misurelli says she and other sales people at the development hear from buyers that “the kitchen is to die for.”
I admit I was impressed initially. But I’d urge serious buyers to take a second look. This is a kitchen with a work triangle so big you’d need roller skates to get around.
The catering staff will have plenty of room when they are in for a big party, but on a day-to-day basis do you really want to use so many steps to get an egg out of the refrigerator, crack it into a skillet on the stove and then walk to the sink to drop the shells into a garbage disposer? Big does not automatically mean well-planned and this kitchen is one example.
In contrast, the roomy laundry/mud room between the kitchen and the garage is well planned. There is a transition or mud room large enough for a couple of people to take off boots and remove coats without bumping into each other and plenty of storage with closets on two walls. The adjacent laundry room is big enough for full-size appliances and additional storage.
Upstairs are three bedrooms and a sizable loft which could be an optional fourth bedroom. The master suite has a large master bath and the walk-in closet appears to be the same size. But the sumptuousness of the master suite appears to trim space from the hall bath and one of the bedrooms.
One matter of note especially for those on a budget; these models are greatly upgraded. No stripped-down base model is shown.
Builders use models to showcase options and upgrades and KB shows decorating options to great effect with a lot of Hollywood pizazz. One memorable child’s bedroom decorated for a girl was painted bubble pink with apple green closets.
The base price for the Hamilton model is $240,400, but those who would like to duplicate it will pay more than $340,000.
The base price of the displayed Wentworth elevation is $294,300 but options boost the house as shown to $456,929.
“It has many, many nice things,” Misurelli says.
Indeed it does, but I hope those spending that much for a house will consider some behind-the-walls upgrades as well as more visible choices.
On the day I visited, there was a noticeable temperature difference between the basement and first floor and between the temperature on the second floor and first.
If such differences persist over several visits, they may indicate the need for a better heating and cooling system. Money spent on windows, a furnace and air conditioning with improved energy efficiency will help save on utility costs and make a home as comfortable as it is beautiful.
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Tyler’s Ridge
Address: 6311 105th Ave., Kenosha
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Developer: KB Home
Phone: 262-857-2900
Web: www.kbhome.com
Description: Ranch and two-story houses with three bedrooms, 2 to 2 1/2 baths, partial basements and attached two-car garages. Prices from $227,900 to $272,900. Annual assessments about $200. Prices as of May 15.
Amenities: Carpeting in living, dining, family and bedrooms and hallways, walk-in closet in master suite. Laminated kitchen countertops, Whirlpool appliances, cultured marble bath countertops. 10-year limited warranty.
Neighborhood: Development of 154 homes near stores and restaurants, Lake Michigan, downtown business district with trolley system, rail service, marina, parks and Interstate Highway 94.