Dream Homes 2012 by Albert Lea Tribune

Page 12 • DREAM HOMES • Albert Lea Tribune • Thursday, January 12, 2012

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Home has spacious feel

A spacious great room is at the core of the Calabro, a small three-bedroom home with a wide open feeling. Interesting windows, stucco detailing and a hip roof add street appeal to this contemporary Mediterranean-style plan. As a change from homes with a clear delineation between living areas, there is no formal living room or dining room in this plan. Those who enjoy open spaces will find this relaxed, comfortable gathering area quite appealing. The great room is totally open to the kitchen and offers sliding door access to a wide screened porch. The Lshaped kitchen has everything: oven and microwave, built-in cooktop, a corner appliance center, dishwasher, and pantry. An angled combination work island/eating bar provides minimal separation, and the great room has a wet bar with a counter and overhead cabinets. Laundry facilities, including a utility sink, are but a few steps away. The utility room is also directly accessible from the garage, which comes equipped with a long workbench. Amenities in the owners’ suite are surprisingly luxurious. You enter through French doors, the walk-in closet is huge, and the bathroom has twin vanities and an oversized shower. Glass blocks create a short privacy wall. The other bathroom is just inside the entry, handy for chil-

dren dashing in from play. A pocket door allows two to use the bathroom at once, both in complete privacy. Bedroom three in the Calabro can be used as a study, and bedroom two boasts a vaulted ceiling and dramatic boxed-out window — an ideal location for a window seat. For a review plan, including scaled floor plans, elevations, section and artist’s conception, send $25 to Associated Designs, 1100 Jacobs Dr.,

Eugene, OR 97402. Please specify the Calabro 11-083 and include a return address when ordering. A catalog featuring more than 550 home plans is

available for $15. For more information, call 800-634-0123, or visit the website at www.AssociatedDesigns. com.

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Page 2 • DREAM HOMES • Albert Lea Tribune •Thursday, January 12, 2012

Albert Lea Tribune • Thursday, January 12, 2012 • DREAM HOMES • Page 11

Mid-size home has plenty of options

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Home has country-style porch A wide country-style porch wraps around most of the Freemont’s front facade. Arched multipaned windows add a graceful touch of elegance to a home designed with family living in mind. And once the kids leave home, the owners need rarely climb the stairs. Upstairs bedrooms can be kept ready for grandchildren and other visitors. Stand in the vaulted entry and you are right in the center of the home. French doors on the left open into a living room brightened by a wide window bay. To the right, another set of French doors open into a dining room, with a smaller bay window and an arched window higher up.

Directly ahead, a polished wooden staircase curves up to a second-floor bridge that overlooks both the entryway and the family room. This bridge offers a vantage point for observing the scenes below. Two more bay windows brighten and expand the family room and eating nook. Both include doors which open onto a huge deck. The family room also has a fireplace. A powder room is conveniently close to the front door as well as to all the other rooms on the Freemont’s ground floor. Large and luxurious, the owners’ suite has a walk-in closet, separately

The Goldenheart is a mid-size home with a wealth of options, starting with the front porch. Spanning the entire front façade, it can easily accommodate a porch swing or a suite of outdoor furniture. That’s not unusual, but two sets of front-facing doors are. The entry door, of course, leads into the foyer. The atrium doors to its left lead into what could be a study, home office, guest room, or a combination of these functions. The two-story narrow lot design works well in a town home setting. Savings on infrastructure and land requirements thereby make this layout greener than the average home. Clean exterior lines and a simple roof profile also create construction and maintenance efficiencies. Isolated and on the ground floor, the owners’ suite allows single-floor living for the primary owners. While

somewhat compact, the bathroom there has both a tub and a separate shower, and the walk-in closet is roomy. Children can take the upstairs rooms plus the large loft, ideal for a shared computer/study area. Once the children move on, these rooms can be kept ready for grandchildren and other guests. And as for long-term guests (in-laws, adult children, etc.), this plan may be built with (or without) a guest apartment that extends over the garage. The Goldenheart’s great room offers yet another choice; it is designed with two possible layouts. In both, the kitchen is open to the great room, but one provides a little more separation, while the other has a truer great room feel. Utilities are near the kitchen, and a door in the dining area opens out onto a large screened patio.

In the large garage, space is available for two cars, storage and a shop. For a review plan, including scaled floor plans, elevations, section and artist’s conception, send $25 to Associated Designs, 1100 Jacobs Dr., Eugene, OR 97402. Please specify

4Freemont, Page 4

the Goldenheart 10-580 and include a return address when ordering. A catalog featuring more than 550 home plans is available for $15. For more information, call 800-634-0123, or visit our website at www.AssociatedDesigns.com.

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Page10 • DREAM HOMES • Albert Lea Tribune •Thursday, January 12, 2012

Albert Lea Tribune • Thursday, January 12, 2012 • DREAM HOMES • Page 3

Home features panoramic views Because panoramic views are a major plus in the Sandpoint, families will want to choose their lot with care. Canyon walls, streams, seascapes, lakesides, rolling hills and/or soaring mountain peaks can be fully appreciated from inside this home. The most expansive are views from the vaulted hexagonal great room and the wide deck that spans the entire rear and segues into a large screened porch. But the visual fields are also splendid from the office/ bedroom, the kitchen, and both bathtubs. Built-in benches rim part of the entry deck. To enter this shingle-style lodge, you walk between slender twinned posts set on tapered stone veneer bases. The vaulted porch opens into an even loftier vaulted entry inside double doors. The entry is part and parcel of the hexagonal great room, where six ceiling segments soar to a central apex high above. At floor level, the entry is separated from the great room by an eight-foothigh section of wall or shelves. On the other side, a freestanding wood stove backs up to that wall, which could be bricked, tiled or whatever suits. Bookshelves and a home

entertainment center line the wall to the right of the entry. Two rooms are down the hallway on that side. A generously sized vaulted kitchen is to the entry’s left. Skylights spill more light into the Sandpoint’s already bright kitchen. Counters wrap around three sides, and an abundance of cabinets line two of them. Laundry appliances and a deluxe owners’ suite are just a few steps down the hall. Owners’ suite amenities include a vaulted ceiling and walk-in closet. The spacious bathroom boasts a dual vanity, roll-in shower, and a deep tub with what could be a wonderfully relaxing view. Visit AssociatedDesigns.com for more information or to search our home plans. A review plan of the Sandpoint 10-565, including floor plans, elevations, section, and artist’s conception, can be purchased for $25. A home plan catalog, featuring more than 550 home plans, costs $15. Both are available online, by mail or phone. Add $5 s/h. Associated Designs, 1100 Jacobs Dr., Eugene, OR 97402, 800634-0123.

Brick veneer and classic keystone arches lend a European ambiance to the Landry. This home offers more than 3,300 square feet of indoor living space, plus three outdoor patios, and a three-car garage. A recreation room over the garage is the only living space on the second level, so the rest of this plan could easily be adapted for wheelchair accessibility. Ceilings are lofty, starting with the 12-foot-high covered porch, foyer, and dining room, to the foyer’s right. Both the foyer and the dining room flow into the even loftier vaulted living room. Light washes down into this large open space through skylights, and more spills in through a stack of wide windows. A long conversation bar rims the kitchen, which is otherwise open to the living room. Working at the kitchen sink, you can talk with people seated at that bar or in the living room, while keeping an eye on the nook, patios and backyard as well. Other kitchen amenities include: lazy Susan shelving, a work island with built-in cook top, and two pantries.

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In the nook, a desk and shelves hide behind folding doors. Nearby are another deep storage room, a large utility room, a full bathroom and a guest suite with a walk-in closet. A door into the three-car garage is through the utility room at the end of the hall. On the opposite side of the Landry, the owners’ suite fills the rear, and secondary bedrooms are up front. In addition to a luxurious bathroom with a spa tub and oversized shower, the suite boasts two large walk-in closets, one nearly twice the size of the other. A French door leads out onto a covered patio that could be private. Visit AssociatedDesigns.com for more information or to search our home plans. A review plan of the Landry 30-665, including floor plans, elevations, section, and artist’s conception,

can be purchased for $25. A home plan catalog, featuring more than 550 home plans, costs $15. Both are available online, by mail or phone. Add $5 s/h. Associated Designs, 1100 Jacobs Dr., Eugene, OR 97402, 800-634-0123.

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Page 4 • DREAM HOMES • Albert Lea Tribune •Thursday, January 12, 2012

The three-bedroom Cortez is a contemporary stucco home designed with a zero lot line concept in mind. It is only 38 feet wide and has no windows along the right side. This design concept is brought into play when additional privacy is desired along one of the lot lines, or when a builder wants to construct two mirror-image units in a duplex configuration. This allows each of the units to have one wide side yard instead of two narrow ones.

Albert Lea Tribune • Thursday, January 12, 2012 • DREAM HOMES • Page 9

Home is visually stimulating

Home is contemporary stucco If these concerns aren’t relevant, windows could be added, but the home is already richly glassed. The rear of the Cortez has more windows than walls, facing out across a covered terrace that can be screened. Sliding glass doors provide access from the kitchen/nook area and owners’ suite. And from the dining room, you gaze into an enclosed courtyard through wide windows, crowned by an arched transom. Inside, a columned archway echoes the graceful curves of the

windows and defines the boundary between the dining room and the airy, vaulted living room. Counter and storage spaces are plentiful in the kitchen. A powder room is centrally located, close to the front door and a pass-through utility room that opens into the garage. Amenities in the Cortez’s generous owners’ suite include a walk-in closet, linen storage, oversized shower, twin basins and an enclosed water closet. A small arched window brightens the stairwell leading upstairs to two more

bedrooms that share a compartmentalized bathroom. Visit AssociatedDesigns.com for more information or to search our home plans. A review plan of the Cortez 11-011, including floor plans, elevations, section, and artist’s conception, can be purchased for $25. A home plan catalog, featuring more than 550 home plans, costs $15. Both are available online, by mail or phone. Add $5 s/h. Associated Designs, 1100 Jacobs Dr., Eugene, OR 97402, (800) 634-0123.

Freemont: Front bedroom has vaulted ceiling and large closet Continued from Page 2 enclosed water closet and a raised, oversize spa tub. A window over the spa bathes the area in natural light. Upstairs, the bedrooms share a twocompartment bathroom with vanities in both sections. The front bedroom has a vaulted ceiling, a half-round window and a larger closet. For a review plan, including scaled

floor plans, elevations, section and artist’s conception, send $25 to Associated Designs, 1100 Jacobs Dr., Eugene, OR 97402. Please specify the Freemont 10-006 and include a return address when ordering. A catalog featuring over 550 home plans is available for $15. For more information call 800634-0123, or visit our website at www. AssociatedDesigns.com.

Visually exploring the Europeanstyle Littlefield is downright enjoyable. Rectangular stacked stone veneer covers much of the front facade and flanks the garage door. Soldier courses of raised brick contribute outlining and textural contrast, as does the wavy wrought iron railing that rims the porch. Classic keystones accent the arches that highlight two front windows, the widest of which boasts a particularly graceful Gothic transom. Natural light washes into the foyer through slender sidelights. French doors on the right swing open to access a room that could be a dining room, parlor, or perhaps a home office. Straight ahead is a richly windowed gathering space that comprises the great room, kitchen and nook. The fireplace offers warmth and color on dark days and chilly nights. Standing at the kitchen sink, you can chat with folks at the conversation bar, enjoy the fireplace flames, serve informal meals on the raised eating bar, and keep tabs on activities inside and out. Via the transverse hallway right past the dining room, you can reach any room in the house. Three bedrooms, including the owners’ suite, are to the left, along with a twosection, general use bathroom. The owners’ suite, of course, has its own private bathroom, complete with a dual vanity, deep soaking tub, towel hutch and large shower. The suite also boasts a roomy walk-in closet. Heading down the hallway to the right brings you to the Littlefield’s kitchen and a pass-through utility room that links with the two-car garage. At the rear of the garage is an exceptionally deep storage/workshop area. A recreation room, bathroom, and walk-in storage closet are upstairs, over the garage. Visit AssociatedDesigns.com for

more information or to search our home plans. A review plan of the Littlefield 30-717, including floor plans, elevations, section, and artist’s conception, can be purchased for $25. A home plan catalog, featuring more than 550 home plans, costs $15. Both are available online, by mail or phone. Add $5 s/h. Associated Designs, 1100 Jacobs Dr., Eugene, OR 97402, 800634-0123.

Page 8 • DREAM HOMES • Albert Lea Tribune •Thursday, January 12, 2012

Albert Lea Tribune • Thursday, January 12, 2012 • DREAM HOMES • Page 5

2-unit home is a charming cottage

4 bedroom home is quaintly compact Home was designed with efficiency in mind

The Aldridge is surprisingly compact for a four bedroom home. Its footprint, measuring a mere 38 feet wide and 40 feet deep, allows it to fit on a small city lot. Another plus factor, if built in close proximity to other homes, is that the plan has no side windows. This feature maximizes privacy. At the same time, numerous windows on the front and rear provide an abundance of natural light throughout. Family living spaces and the owners’ suite fill the lower level. Three more bedrooms and another bathroom are upstairs. Entering, you have two choices: climb the stairs, or go into the living room, which flows on into the dining room and kitchen. A coat closet nestles under the stairs. Designed for efficiency, the C-shaped kitchen makes cooking and clean-up easy. The sink, stove and refrigerator are set in a tight triangle so nothing is more than a few steps away. At the same time, cupboard and counter spaces are quite ample, wrapping around three sides

patio access. The Aldridge’s owners’ suite has a step-in closet and direct access to a bathroom with combination tub and shower. Laundry appliances and a walk-in storage closet line the passthrough space that connects the house to its two-car garage. This arrangement comes in very handy for entering safely at night, or unloading groceries in stormy weather. Visit AssociatedDesigns. com for more information or to search our home plans. A review plan of the Aldridge 30-321 including floor plans, elevations, section, and artist’s conception, can be purchased for $25. The home plan catalog, featuring more than 550 home plans, costs $15. Both are available online, by mail or phone. Add $5 s/h. Associated Designs, 1100 Jacobs Dr., Eugene, OR 97402, 800-634-0123.

Each of the Rothbury’s two units looks like a single, charming Craftsman-style cottage. And in fact, each is. This is a duplex where only the garages share a common wall. Each two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit is a mirror image of its opposite, so only one will be described. Two gables face the street. The lower one highlights the entry porch, which is supported by handsome wooden columns. The posts, in turn, are supported by larger, squared bases covered with lap siding. This porch is large enough for hanging an old-fashioned wooden swing, great for enjoying a warm, breezy afternoon. The upper gable has a steeper slope, but nicely echoes the gable below while accentuating the multipaned windows on the second floor. A coat closet is just inside the door. Family gathering spaces are all on the ground floor. The living room up front flows seamlessly into the dining area, which is open to the kitchen. A raised eating bar marks the juncture. Appliances are built into the galley kitchen. The dishwasher is right next

to a kitchen sink with a window in front of it, and the refrigerator is only a step or two away. Range and oven are on the opposite side of the room, as is a pantry. Laundry appliances are nearby, where they share space with the powder room. A covered patio is also at the rear, where it’s ideally located for enjoying meals outside when the weather is inviting. Each patio is well isolated from the other unit’s patio, so even outdoor meals can be private. Upstairs, wide rectangular window bays in the Rothbury’s bedrooms provide plenty of light and a feeling of expansiveness. For a review plan, including scaled floor plans, elevations, section and artist’s conception, send $25 to Associated Designs, 1100 Jacobs Dr., Eugene, OR 97402. Please specify the Rothbury 60-016 and include a return address when ordering. A catalog featuring more than 550 home plans is available for $15. For more information call 800-634-0123, or visit our website at www.AssociatedDesigns. com.

of the room. Standing at the kitchen sink, you can gaze out the rear window to appreciate the passing seasons, or keep an eye on youngsters at play. The kitchen is also entirely open to the dining room, where sliding glass doors provide

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Page 6 • DREAM HOMES • Albert Lea Tribune •Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Torrington would fit nicely in a beach setting, and has some upscale features not usually found in a duplex. Its owners might enjoy keeping one unit as a vacation retreat for themselves, and renting the other out. The cantilevered set back is visually interesting, and the recessed porches are widely separated to enhance the sense of privacy. Double walls, also known as party walls, provide extra sound buffering between the two units, and an exterior wall separates the covered patios. Bedrooms line up along the outer edges, thus assuring totally private sleeping environments as well. A description of one will serve for both, since the units have identical but reversed floor plans. Standing in the entry, the living/dining area is on one side, a coat closet and passageway to the bedrooms are in front, and direct access to the garage is on the opposite side. Few duplexes boast a lofty, vaulted living and dining area such as this. The high ceiling creates an expansive sense of openness, with natural illumination during most daylight hours. Plenty of natural light washes in through a wide set of windows up front, plus a smaller dormer window higher up.

Albert Lea Tribune • Thursday, January 12, 2012 • DREAM HOMES • Page 7

Home has upscale features More storage is found in the hallway to the Torrington’s bedrooms and a two-section bathroom. The rear bedroom is slightly larger. Visit AssociatedDesigns.com for more information or to search our home plans. A review plan of the Torrington 60-010, including floor plans, elevations, section, and artist’s conception, can be purchased for $25. A home plan catalog, featuring more than 550 home plans, costs $15. Both are available online, by mail or phone. Add $5 s/h. Associated Designs, 1100 Jacobs Dr., Eugene, OR 97402, 800634-0123.

In the kitchen the ceiling is flat and lower. An overhead plant shelf and raised eating bar also mark this boundary. Stove, sink and refrigerator cluster in a tight, step-efficient triangle

here, convenient for meal preparation and clean up. Cupboards and work surfaces are in good supply. Counters wrap around three sides, while a floor-to-ceiling pantry boosts available shelf space.

Home is spacious and designed for land that slopes The Northshire is a spacious prairie-style home designed for construction on land that slopes up at the rear. The home is actually cut into a hillside. Its driveway climbs to the garage, near the entrance on the upper level. Family members can enter through the garage. Two-story stone veneer columns highlight the covered front porch and deck that span most of the front facade. Guests step onto the porch from the left side, and then turn left to enter the foyer. Light spills into the foyer through sidelights, a transom, and glass in the upper half of the door. An opening on the foyer’s left leads to a small bathroom, a large utility room, and the three-car garage. Gathering spaces are to the right, just past the descending stairs. A fireplace angles across one front corner of the great room, next to a home entertainment center that fills an entire wall. Glass doors there open onto the front deck. The great room is completely open to an even larger room that comprises the dining room and kitchen. A generously sized work island expands the galley kitchen on the left. Standing at the kitchen sink, you face into the dining area across a flush, gen-

tly curved eating bar. Natural light washes in through sliding glass doors at the rear, plus windows in the cozy octagonal nook.

An extra-roomy walk-in closet anchors the right wing, where the owners’ suite and a den/office link up via a spacious bathroom. The den/office

features a convenient computer nook with a built-in desk. Two bedrooms share a two-section bathroom on the Northshire’s lower level. A large recreation room with a wet bar is also below, along with a second utility room and plenty of storage space. Visit AssociatedDesigns.com for more information or to search our home plans. A review plan of the Northshire 30-808, including floor plans, elevations, section, and artist’s conception, can be purchased for $25. A home plan catalog, featuring more than 550 home plans, costs $15. Both are available online, by mail or phone. Add $5 s/h. Associated Designs, 1100 Jacobs Dr., Eugene, OR 97402, 800634-0123.