EcoHome Magazine Highlights Generation Homes’ GrowHOMES
We had the pleasure of recently meeting with EcoHome Magazine to discuss our GrowHOME concepts and share with them our passion for this unique concept of building a home that can grow and change as a family changes.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
A northeast Florida home builder is offering buyers a new concept in sustainability, one that will help keep their homes livable for years–and maybe even generations—into the future.
The GrowHome from Jacksonville-based Generation Homes is designed and engineered for easy expansion and alteration, enabling it to change as the owners’ needs change. For example, the company’s 1,765-square-foot, three-bedroom unit has the potential to expand to 2,165 square feet of living space through the addition of a bedroom and bathroom over the garage and a breakfast area near the kitchen. Generation Homes is offering the GrowHome model in two communities and on individual sites in northeast Florida.
“Renovations and additions have always been a part of owning a home,” explains vice president of operations Stuart McDonald. “What’s innovative about this concept is that the plan for growth and change is engineered into the home’s design, making it simple and cost effective to grow the home when the family needs it to grow.”
To provide room for expansion, McDonald and architect Tony Weremeichik of Canin Associates in Orlando paid special attention to engineering details such as the foundation, footings, trusses, and wall construction, which is 4×4 rather than 2×4. They pre-plumbed and ran electricity to the areas where growth might take place and left essential materials out of the “grow walls” to make them easier to tear down later.
“It’s still going to cost to remodel the house but not quite as much as starting from scratch,” McDonald says. Plus, the new space will be fully integrated with the original house, and the façade and roofline will remain cohesive. (See floor plans in related slide show).
To read the full article and to see a slideshow of photos of Generation Homes’ GrowHOMES, follow this link.