Home builders show off what's new in luxury and affordable home styles at Las Vegas event
The National Association of Home Builders 2019 International Builders’ Show recently drew 67,000 home building professionals from around the world, including Brevard, to the Las Vegas Convention Center, where they could ogle the latest and greatest products in the industry.
The massive event was actually only part of the home-lust-inducing activities. Design and Construction Week, which combines the Builders’ Show with the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show for the annual Design & Construction Week, attracted 100,000 attendees.
The stars of the event are the New American Home and the New American Remodel. This year’s New American Home, though designed to glitter high up on the McCullough Mountain Range with magnificent views of the Las Vegas Strip, offers plenty of ideas that translate well along the Space Coast.
Built by Sun West Custom Homes, which started in Tampa, the house features a mixture of circular and square design patterns that blend seamlessly indoor and outdoor spaces. At the heart of the airy residence is a brilliant tongue-and-groove ceiling by Synergy Wood Products accented by the open-cage design of a flock of light fixtures from Progress Lighting.
Expansive pocket doors from Western Window Systems disappear into the walls to create panoramic views of the outdoor living space. Sliding glass panels are also used in the professional kitchen, enabling entertainment space to be extended outdoors. In fact, every room in the home opens to the outdoor entertainment space, which features a vanishing pool and romantic fire pit.
In an established neighborhood within sight of the Stratosphere, The New American Remodel, created by Luxus Design Build, sports a C-shaped floor that enhances energy efficiency through a protective barrier from the sun and wind. An indoor garden provides fresh herbs and veggies for any reception, which could easily be spill from the courtyard into a state-of-the-art RV garage big enough to host such events.
The garage neighbors the home’s orchard and veggie garden. Though very visually pleasing, the space probably won’t get much use for receptions, since the house also boasts a second-story outdoor kitchen and dining area that overlooks the pool.
Several walls once separating the interior from the exterior were replaced with motorized screens from Phantom Screens. These not only enhance energy efficiency but also blur the lines between outdoor and indoor spaces.
The Elveron Home Elevator from Garaventa Lift aids access to both levels of the house.
At the Builders’ Show itself, more than 2,000 exhibitors offered the latest and greatest. Here is just a sampling of must-haves for the home:
CAFÉ anyone?
GE’s CAFÉ line introduced its Customizable Professional Collection, which gives buyers the option to change handles and knobs in different metal colors. Copper, a classic kitchen staple in both décor and high-end cookware, is the signature CAFÉ metal. Each handle in the Professional Collection will carry a copper cuff and soft brushed copper hardware will also be offered as one of the custom hardware options available for order.
In September of this year, CAFÉ will roll out a second collection that features a unique glass finish, the first glass appliance line available in the U.S. The Modern Glass Collection should prove popular with homeowners interested in the clean lines of urban chic design.
Pipe dreams
Owning a home can seem like a pipe dream for many, but Rinker Materials has stepped up to the plate with a concrete tiny home that makes housing affordable at a cost of about $15,000.
The home is the first concrete pipe tiny home in the United States. The homes can be stacked to create a “pipe condo” or set independently in a community of tiny homes.
Home in a box
Boxabl, which begins production in 2020, will offer consumers fully upgradeable, customizable and configurable room units shipped to site. At a cost of $38 a square foot, Boxabl brims with possibilities, from “granny flats” to a 1,500-square-foot demonstration house that the company “unfolded” from a truck onto the show floor.
The Boxabl vision is to solve the home affordability crisis by mass producing and inventorying "build anything" building blocks. Boxabl plans to manufacture three sizes of room modules that can be stacked, combined and arranged to create multiple set-ups.
Clip it
Stone looks great, but it’s usually tedious and difficult for the DIYer. ClipStone, an innovative, easy-to-install stone veneer, can turn any wall, indoors or out, into a sleek stone wall. ClipStone goes up one at a time, just like traditional stone, but you don’t need a mason and there is no mortar or mess. Instead, mounting clips are embedded within each piece of ClipStone to securely install on the wall without the need to hit a stud. They’re available at places such as Lowe’s and the Home Depot.
Get organized
German company Kesseböhmer, which specializes in clever kitchen storage solutions, showcased Teutonic ingenuity at the Builders’ Show with products such as the Le Mans Intelligent Corner Unit. Named for its shape, which resembles the fabled race track, the Le Mans can rapidly swing two trays with up to 55 pounds capacity out from a blind corner cabinet.
Kesseböhmer’s iMove, short for Intelligent Movement, transforms out-of-reach wall cabinets into easily accessible storage by moving downward and forward with the pull of a handle.
Their storage collection could get even dedicated pack rats organized.
Going up? Going down?
Miami-based Pneumatic Vacuum Elevators are air-driven home elevators that do not require any pre-construction shaft, pit or machine room to operate. These plug-and-play play, self-supporting home elevators simply rest on the existing ground floor giving them the flexibility to be installed virtually anywhere inside the home without being structurally bound to the house.
The great outdoors
Outdoor kitchens are wonderful to have, but usually expensive to buy. At the Builders’ Show, Thor Kitchen introduced its new eight-piece Modular Outdoor Kitchen Suite that offers homeowners the flexibility to place the appliances in any configuration without the built-in costs. The suite is half the price of many other outdoor kitchen suites on the market, but still provides the quality and performance.
Gold standard
Check granite cleaning products at the store and you will find products that promise to clean and seal, clean and polish, or polish and seal. Realistically, most do a little of this but not enough of that. Granite Gold, chosen as a “Handy Pick” of 201 by Better Homes & Gardens’ Do It Yourself magazine, provides a daily cleaner, polish and sealer in wipes and sprays. Publix carries these locally.
Granitegold.com
Mimicking Mama Nature
For centuries, natural slate and cedar have been used to cover some of the most extraordinary houses. While the beauty of these materials is undeniable, they're not the most dependable, and over time, exposure to the weather can make wooden shingles split and natural slate can chip or crack. Ply Gem Roofing mimics the natural beauty of slate and cedar without the maintenance hassles.
Sonnenberg is a Melbourne-based freelance writer.