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Low Maintenance, Italian-Style for Young Professionals
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The rear courtyard outdoor living space of Villa Cortena draws in potential buyers with its fireplace and extraordinary views. |
The latest in a series on the secrets of The Nationals model home merchandising winners.
By Jan Mitchell
The Gold model home winners in the 2006 Nationals Awards have secrets to share about the different aspects of model home merchandising. Whether it’s use of materials or colors, the scale of the project or just breaking the rules, all of them reveal hot trends that are emerging today.
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The spacious kitchen with its casual eating space is a perfect fit in this model, targeted to a couple with two teenage children. |
Model: Villa Cortena
Community: La Bellezza at Peregrine
Award: Best Model Merchandising $650,000 to $1 Million
Builder: Keller Homes
Merchandiser: ColorDesignArt
Location: Colorado Springs, Colo.
Because La Bellezza at Peregrine is nestled in a setting not unlike the hills of Tuscany, Keller Homes chose old-world, Italian-style architecture for its courtyard villas in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The Gold award-winning model, Villa Cortena, is 3,505 square feet with entry and rear courtyards.
The kitchen offers views off the spacious rear courtyard, which ColorDesignArt of California merchandised with an outdoor grill and a fireplace for chilly nights.
One of the biggest challenges for the community was to present it so it appeals to a variety of age groups. Merchandisers met the challenge by tailoring three models to appeal to slightly different lifestyles.
“We had one home with a Tuscan interior, another with a tailored, Ralph Lauren direction, and Villa Cortena, the Gold winner, had a cleaner, more textural, contemporary look,” said Yolanda Landrum, of ColorDesignArt.
She said that Villa Cortena was targeted to appeal to a couple with two teenaged children. One bedroom was merchandised for a music-loving son; another sat ready to welcome a daughter home from college.
Keller Homes’ marketing has worked. A mix of young professionals and empty nesters, none too keen on high maintenance, have purchased half of the 45 villas at La Bellezza at Peregrine since the community opened in May 2006.
Many of the buyers are Keller Homes repeat customers, said Pam Keller, executive vice president of sales and marketing for the builder.
La Bellezza at Peregrine also won the National Gold Award for Best Detached Community of the Year over $500,000.
Jan Mitchell is the senior editor of NAHB’s Sales + Marketing Ideas magazine. She also writes about model merchandising, interior design, architecture and consumer trends for other industry and consumer publications, including Professional Builder magazine and its online counterpart, Housingzone.com. Her bestselling book, “Sales and Marketing Checklists for Profit-Driven Builders,” is available through BuilderBooks.com. She has served as a judge for regional and national builder marketing competitions and is a member of the National Association of Real Estate Editors. For more information, e-mail Mitchell at mitchell.jan@comcast.net.
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Villa Cortena was merchandised with a clean, contemporary look, as exemplified by the sink chosen for the guest bath. |
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