Home Design Indianapolis

In this story from IBJ.com's Norm Heikens, high-end homes are rebounding in the Indianapolis area, good news for central Indiana homeowners looking to build a new high-end home. Learn more about Estridge Custom Galleries, founded in 1994 to provide custom designed homes in distinct neighborhoods from around $500,000 to over $1 million, here.

High-end home market hits foreclosure lull - Norm Heikens for IBJ.com

July 24, 2010 - Until this year, Indiana’s foreclosure epidemic knew no demographic boundaries. Über-expensive homes, those priced at $1 million or more, skidded into foreclosure right alongside starter houses in the most notorious vinyl villages.

But suddenly that’s changed. Since March, not a single foreclosure on a house priced at $1 million or more has been filed in the Indianapolis area—a possible sign of better times ahead in a niche where selling prices are down 20 percent or more from their peak in 2005 and 2006.

The pullback follows more than 60 filings in the segment in the past two years, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif., firm that tracks default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.

Overall, foreclosure filings are on the upswing in the Indianapolis area, rising 22 percent, to nearly 20,000, in the 12 months that ended in May.

Just about everyone but prospective buyers wishes the blight would go away.

Many of the million-dollar homes ending up in foreclosure were owned by executives who found themselves unable to pay mortgages after losing jobs or businesses, or going through a divorce or suffering health problems.

Others were owned by contractors who built on speculation and then saw demand for mansions vanish almost overnight as the economy skidded into recession. Read Norm Heikens' entire IBJ.com article here.

Learn more about Estridge, central Indiana's premiere custom homebuilder, here. Learn more about Estridge Custom Galleries, founded in 1994 to provide custom designed homes in distinct neighborhoods from around $500,000 to over $1 million, here.

Check out BuilderOnline's take on Symphony, one of the largest developments ever in Indiana, an Estridge project currently in the zoning phase with the city of Westfield, Ind. Read a portion below, or the entire article here.

Estridge Moves Forward With $1.2 Billion TND; With 1,400 acres and more than 3,800 homes, Symphony is one of the largest developments ever in Indiana. - Alison Rice

July 22, 2010 - The housing downturn hasn’t curtailed the Estridge Company’s ambitions. This fall, the Carmel, Ind.,-based company plans to start breaking ground for Symphony, a traditional neighborhood development (TND) north of Indianapolis. At 1,400 acres and 3,860 homes, it will be one of the largest new-home developments ever in Indiana.

But Symphony will be notable for more than its significant size. Composed of a handful of “villages” linked by trails and roads, the $1.2 billion project in Westfield, Ind., will offer buyers and residents the chance to live in a community designed to bring together multiple generations: singles seeking urban density in suburban locations, sports-crazed families with minivans and soccer cleats; and aging seniors in need of continuing care.

“We want to model what new neighborhoods should be,” says Paul Estridge Jr., president of the Estridge Company.

Symphony seeks to accomplish that through an “intergenerational approach” that mixes housing types and prices across the development, rather than the customary “silo-ing” in many new-home developments, where the product offered only appeals to one market segment. Under that model, when housing needs change, buyers must move elsewhere, no matter how much they might love their community.

In the works since 2002, Symphony’s plans have evolved during the downturn. “It’s a blessing, because if we hadn’t have done this during a recession, we would have done [Symphony] on a quicker time frame,” Estridge says. “We would have missed the realization that we needed to be on a different track than we were on.”

“That’s the lesson of the recession,” says Brian Canin of Orlando, Fla., planning firm Canin Associates, which designed Symphony. “Before the recession, you could say, ‘I have the luxury of targeting just the $500,000 to $2 million market. Now we have to cater to the very broad spectrum of everyone who needs a house and put the money where it really works.” Read Alison Rice's entire article via BuilderOnline here.

Learn more about Estridge, central Indiana's premiere homebuilder since 1967, here.

The question seems simple: "How do I choose the right homebuilder for my family?"

• Custom Builders
• Production Builders
• Semi-custom Builders
   

Working with a few hundred new central Indiana homeowners annually, the Design Consultants at the Estridge Design Studio in HOMExperience are often asked about the most popular design features for new Estridge homeowners. This month Tina Dahl, Design Consultant with HOMExperience, focuses on a recently popular design feature: The Simplice Pull Down Faucet.  

This month, the most popular custom design feature amongst Estridge homeowners is the Simplice Pull Down Kitchen Faucet. 

The high arch design of this popular kitchen faucet by Kohler compliments many home decor styles with availability in Polished Chrome, Vibrant Brushed Nickel and Matte Blackas well as provide great functionality in the kitchen. Estridge homeowners appreciate the choice between a spray, an aerated flow and a pause function. Plus, The quiet hose with Kohler ProMotion technology allows 360-degree rotation. As with all Kohler faucets, the Simplice finishes resist corrosion and tarnishing.  

- Tina Dahl, Design Consultant, HOMExperience.

April Estridge Design Studio Feature: Distressed or Scraped Hardwood Flooring
May Estridge Design Studio Feature: Dual HVAC Systems

Thinking about updating your Indianapolis home or building a new home with all new design features? Visit HOMExperience and explore more than 24,000 design features to personalize your new home or gather ideas to update your existing home. For more information on HOMExperience, click here.

• A shock to the wallet: Cracks, discolorations and signs of warping in electrical outlets and cords are bad signs. Look to replace them. Be sure you hire an electrician if you find an outlet that no longer holds a plug. Improperly working outlets, fixtures or light switches can shock hundreds of dollars out of your wallet.
   
• Care for your air: Be sure you regularly change your air filters. Dirty filters cause more than 60 percent of all service calls. Look to change your air filters every month, particularly if shedding pets or kids are present in the home. Kids and pets can be dirty!
   
• Do you feel that draft: Windows and doors are the two biggest losers of cool air in the summer. To prevent this look to weatherproof both your windows and doors. You’ll find a benefit in your bills during both cold and hot weather. Check the seal quality of your doors and windows with a digital thermometer. Be sure to inspect caulking for cracks or distortions.
   
• Leaky toilets and faucets leak money: Fix that drip – it could save hundreds of dollars annually on your utility statement. Call a plumber if you find you’re up a leaky creek without a paddle.
   
• Be bold concerning mold: Make sure the caulking in your bathroom is secure and not cracked or damaged. Water penetration, which leads to mold and other issues, can be prevented if the subsurface, typically drywall, remains dry. Additionally, you can avoid replacement of fixtures if the surface, typically tile, is kept watertight.
   
• Leaky roofs lead to lighter wallets: Just because you have a leak doesn’t mean you have to replace the whole roof. But you should avoid a bucket -- a small leak can cause dozens of issues, turning into a major and expensive fiasco. Call a roofer and be crystal clear you are looking to repair the single leak, not replace the entire roof.
   
• Juice up that pump: Be sure you monitor your sump pump. Charge or change the batteries regularly. You may need to update the pump itself every few years. Water in the basement can cause thousands of dollars in damages, plus destroy any personal items in storage.

HomeLife's Helpful Homeowner Hints for June

Spring and summer present a danger to central Indiana homeowners that often goes overlooked: lightning strikes. Lightning protection systems, or grounding systems, provide direct paths to the ground to help avoid fire and other damage caused by lightning. HomeLife's Helpful Homeowner Hints for May will help you prepare your home for potentially damaging spring weather:

• If lightning is nearby, avoid open areas like fields, isolated trees, water and high ground.
• During a storm, avoid using your home's telephone, unless there's an emergency.
• Consider purchasing a Surge Protector Device (SPD), which diverts any electrical surge to the ground surrounding your home.
• Be sure your surge protector is UL Standard 1449.
• Make sure your protector will protect ALL of the equipment in your home it's meant to protect.
• Don't forget other utility lines leading to your home, such as phone lines or coaxial cable lines for your TV cable or satellite, need to be included in protection.
• Buy a SPD with a warning alarm or light that indicates when it needs to be replaced.
• Look for a SPD with a manufacturer's warranty.
• Invest in an Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI) which can detect dangerous arching conditions that could occur in your home's fuse box during a lightning storm. 

Estridge is Indianapolis' hometown builder of premiere homes and neighborhoods. For more information on Estridge, click here.
 
For more information on Estridge's HomeLife Maintenance & Reliability Program, a three-year inspection program designed to identify a check-list of items requiring maintenance, touch-up and repair, click here.

At Estridge, we've witnessed a distinctive movement to emphasis on true outdoor living and entertaining areas built in Indianapolis homes. From outdoor fireplaces to covered lanais to built-in grills to gorgeous landscaping and more, hoemeowners are putting time, energy and investment into their outdoor living. Below is an article from our community design and development partners, Canin Associates providing tips on how to create this in central Indiana homes.


Inside Out - Trends that Bring the Outdoors In
PRINT THIS ARTICLE

Among the many new trends in home design, blending the outdoors with the indoors is high on several home buyer preference lists.
 
In a recent Better Homes & Gardens online survey, 68% of future homebuyers preferred outdoor grilling and living areas in their new home. But that's not all. Outdoor living areas also rank high on return for investment and they improve a home's resale value.

Popular trends in floor plan design actually happen outside the walls- fantastic outdoor spaces that are both useful and appealing, especially when they create pleasing scenery when you look out of your windows. Plan your outdoor living spaces for your enjoyment - but be sure to plan them well.

Not Just a Leftover Slab: Consider your outdoor living space as an extension of your family room or kitchen, and design it as you would any other room in your home.


Food Network: At get-togethers, everyone seems to flock to where the food and the drink coolers are. Outdoor kitchens and detached cabanas - some complete with a gas grill, bar top and refrigerator- are still very popular. (Enjoy grilling recipes from our HOMExperience cooking class)

Live & Laugh: Enhance your outdoor environment with the right landscape to stir the senses. Add elements that you can see, smell and hear. Popular new outdoor features include gas fire tables for you to enjoy the warmth and glow of a fire while being with company.

For more trends and to view the full article in its entirety, please click here.

Visit the Estridge Design Studio at Clay Terrace to learn about creating an enjoyable outdoor living space in your new Estridge home.

On Monday March 15th, a pilot release of the new Ameritage Collection of homes was introduced to central Indiana homeowners. This new Collection by Estridge, Indianapolis home builder, features homes designed for the way homeowners live today with the flexibility to change and grow with their evolving lifestyle.

The HARRISON new home design is built from $199,900.

The COLVIN new home design is built from $219,600. 

The ROBERTSON new home design is built from $209,900.

The Ameritage Collection offers Estridge quality construction married with personalization and affordability, with homes starting at $199,900 in Estridge Brownsburg neighborhoods.  Plus, Estridge quality construction practices, combined with the 3-year HomeLife Maintenance and Reliability Program, produce safe, sound and reliable homes. 

Each Ameritage Collection new home offers the 21st Century Lifestyle Living Triangle creating circulation between the great room, harvest room and kitchen and creating natural flow and family connectivity. And that’s only the main level. On the upper level, homeowners will find central landing areas which create larger bedrooms and a connection of bedrooms like those found in historic Indianapolis homes. 


 

The customization doesn’t end with the home footprint: homeowners love the jumbo garages! Each home includes a jumbo garage with the square feet of a 3-car garage, offering storage space for lifestyle, as well as cars, with variations and options such as increasing the depth of the garage, adding a third bay, or creating a side-entry. 
 

Ameritage Collection designs each present a “kit of parts” with structural and feature details allowing truly personalized flex spaces, garages, interiors and home exteriors. Homeowners can personalize the Ameritage Collection traditional exteriors with many features, such as dentil molding, varied window trim and roof dormers, so your home mirrors your personal style.

The Ameritage Collection is available to build in select Estridge new home neighborhoods:

Whispering Pines in Avon (317.669.8635),

Hession Fields(317.669.8627) and Highland Green (317.669.8631) in Brownsburg

Edenwilde (317.669.8633) in Indianapolis. 

Visit any of these selected Estridge neighborhoods to learn more and build your new Indianapolis home with special pilot release pricing. Or call 317.669.8619 to Ask Angie about building a new Ameritage Collection home.

The 49^th Annual St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild Decorators’ Show House and Gardens
April 24, 2010 - May 9, 2010
www.showhouseindy.com

The Historic Booth Tarkington House

4270 North Meridian Street

Indianapolis, Indiana

This year’s tour will feature the Historic Booth Tarkington Home at 4270 North Meridian Street. Booth Tarkington, the two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author of "The Magnificent Ambersons” and "Alice Adams” purchased the home in 1923 and lived there until his death in 1946. Built in 1911, the 11,000-square-foot Tudor and Craftsmen style home features a third-floor office space where Tarkington did his writing. Current owners Doris Anne and Tim Sadler purchased the home in 2008.

HOMExperience by Estridge is proud to be a designer in the 2010 Decorators' Show House. HOMExperience designed the 2nd Floor Landing and Hall and created a gallery hall showcasing original artwork from local Indianapolis artists.  
 

St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for Wishard Health Services, runs The Decorators’ Show House. At 49 consecutive years, The Indianapolis Decorators’ Show House is the oldest show house event in the country. The 2009 Show House raised more than $240,000.

Daily Public Tours are available Tuesday through Sunday, April 24 through May 9, 2010 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets can be prepurchased for $17 at Marsh Supermarkets, or at the door for $20 and $17 for Seniors (65+).

Visit showhouseindy.com for information about tours, tickets and events or call the information only hotline at 317.767.0390.

Selected Estridge neighborhoods in Avon, Brownsburg and Franklin Township recently introduced a pilot release of the Ameritage Collection by Estridge. The Ameritage Collection features homes designed for the way you truly want to live today with the flexibility change with your changing lifestyle. Featuring jumbo garages, flex spaces, full lower levels and open living areas, this Collection of homes offers incredible opportunities to build a new home with prices from $199,900.

The Harrison, a 2-story Ameritage home by Estridge, Indianapolis's premiere new home builder, was introduced at Hession Fields in Brownsburg and Edenwilde in Franklin Township on Monday, March 29^th.



Visit Edenwilde in Franklin Township and build your Harrison home from $199,900.
Visit Hession Fields in Brownsburg and build your Harrison home from $199,900.

This unique new home design from Estridge, your premiere Indianapolis new home builder features Georgian style home exteriors:

-          True period architecture with a gable roof and symmetrical design

-          Classical exteriors with transom window framing front door, surrounding entry lights, detailed door surround and more

With a new home design created for the way we live today:

Entry Areas:

-          Flex space off of front door

-          Separate family foyer keeps clutter out of the living areas

-          Sight line from entry to back wall enhances the open, spacious feel

Central Living Areas:

-          Open living area with 21^st Century Lifestyle Living Area – connection between harvest room, family room, and kitchen

-          Transom windows provide sunlight to family room and provide definition while allowing for functional furniture placement

-          Kitchen sink on breakfast bar island encourages interaction between spaces

-          Walk-in pantry offers generous, hidden kitchen storage

-          Spacious harvest room allows for dining furniture placement and multiple uses

-          Inclusion of hearth room and family room allows homeowners to stay connected while participating in varying activities

Upper Level:

-          Upper level landing area eliminates the need for hallway circulation and creates generously sized bedrooms

-          Walk-in closets in three bedrooms

-          Spacious master suite with three generous windows

-          Convenient hall linen closet

Generous Storage Space:

-          Open lower level with space for multiple functions

-          Jumbo garage features 2-car doors with 3-car square footage offers great storage! Create more space by personalizing up to a 4-car side-load garage!

Interested in learning more about this home?

View the Harrison new home design.

Spring is the perfect time to start selecting plants for your Brownsburg, Carmel, Fishers, Indianapolis, Westfield, Avon or Zionsville area home. Which plants will work best in your yard? Which plants will help your real estate value? Estridge suggests homeowners and homebuilders follow these tips when selecting plants during spring:

1.      Ask yourself many, many questions: How will you use the area you are planting in? Recreation? Decoration? Do you have children? Are you concerned about security? Do you want shade for your hammock? Will you be tossing a football around? Remember, your new plants will grow so avoid placing them too close together.

2.      The flowers, shrubs and trees you choose now can save you money on water over the summer. Ask your local nursery for a selection of native central Indiana plants. Plants from the Hoosier climate zone could require less water than others, and are more likely to survive local pests, saving you money on replacing them.

3.      Try smart landscaping design. Group plants together with similar water needs to improve water efficiency. Ask your local nursery on efficient landscape design techniques. They should be happy to help.

Monday March 15^th, a pilot release of our new Ameritage Collection of homes was introduced to central Indiana homeowners. The new Collection features homes designed for the way homeowners live today with the flexibility to change with their evolving lifestyle.
 

The Ameritage Collection offers Estridge quality construction practices married with personalization and affordability. Ameritage Collection designs each present a “kit of parts” with structural and feature details allowing truly personalized flex spaces, garages, interiors and home exteriors.

Who decides the best use of that flex space? You, the homeowner, of course.

Each Ameritage Collection design offers the 21^st Century Lifestyle Living Triangle creating circulation between the great room, harvest room and kitchen. This Triangle provides natural flow and family connectivity. And that’s only the main level. On the upper level, homeowners will find central landing areas which create larger bedrooms and a community feel like those found in historic Indianapolis homes. 
 

And the customization doesn’t end with the home footprint: homeowners will love the jumbo garages! Providing the square feet of a 3-car garage, the jumbo garage always offer storage space for lifestyle, as well as cars, with variations and options such as increasing the depth of the garage, adding a third bay, or creating a side-entry.
 

Homeowners can also personalize the Ameritage Collection traditional exteriors with many features, such as dentil molding, varied window trim and roof dormers, so your home mirrors your personal style.

  

Plus, Estridge quality construction practices, combined with our 3-year HomeLife Maintenance and Reliability Program, produce safe, economic and reliable homes.
 

This distinct Ameritage Collection is available to build in select Estridge new home neighborhoods including Whispering Pines in Avon (317.669.8635), Hession Fields(317.669.8627) and Highland Green(317.669.8631) in Brownsburg and Edenwilde (317.669.8633) in Indianapolis. Stop in any of these selected Estridge neighborhoods to learn more and take advantage of our special pilot release pricing, starting around $210,000 including homesite! Or call 317.669.8619 to Ask Angie about building a new Ameritage Collection home.

So, why is  Fully Furnished & Finished a pilot release until January 10^th?

As an Indianapolis new home builder, and like many other organizations, we are constantly looking to better serve our homeowners and build them the home of their dreams. Our home décor store at Clay Terrace in Carmel, HOMExperience, provides us with the unique opportunity of working with homeowners throughout the full home design process - not only building their new luxury home, but furnishing it as well. This relationship presented us with a disconnect which some homeowners feel between the home they imagine themselves living in and the empty one they move in to.

We believe that we can better serve clients by providing them with a fully furnished new Estridge luxury home when they move in. But, we want to know what you think and what our homeowners think. This short pilot release allows us to get feedback from the greater Indianapolis real estate market to see how Fully Furnished homes better serves our homeowners needs. So, we invite everyone to join the conversation.

Visit www.fully.estridge.com to learn more, share your thoughts and provide feedback on how we can better serve our homeowners.