There are many reasons contractors participate in Fort Worth, Texas Dream Homes. One is that the projects are fun. Another is long-standing friendships with the magazine and its people and with those in other trades. But the one that is common to all is the chance to give back to a community that has contributed to the companies" success.
"I enjoy doing these things," says Bryan Page of Vintage Floors. He says he has the world's greatest job. When he gets up, he checks the temperature. Above 70, and he puts on shorts. Below 70, and he puts on jeans. "And I go hang out with my friends all day long." He says the only thing better would be to be the quarterback of an NFL team or a major league pitcher. "But that's gone past me now," he said.
The 2015 Dream Home sits on a corner lot on the waterfront of a lake built in the estate section in the Southlake planned development of Carillon. The builder on the project is Jon Atwood of Atwood Custom Homes, a high-end builder who grew up in Colleyville.
Proceeds from tour ticket sales benefit a Wish with Wings, a locally based non-profit that makes wishes come true for children with life-threatening illnesses. It is the third consecutive year for the charity.
"What we do for others defines us as people," Page said. "It defines our character. What we do for ourselves means absolutely nothing in the long run."
New to the Dream Home this year is Ideal Partners, a commercial and residential services group that includes landscape design, pest control, security and fire protections divisions. The landscaping won't go in until near the end of the project, but already Cassie King, Landscape Installation and Design Manager for the firm, has developed the plan.
Usually, she would meet with the homeowner to develop the landscape concept, but the final owner of this house is unknown. "I look at the house and try and emulate the character of the house into the landscaping," she says. "Any good designer uses whatever's in their tool box," she says. But the design has to be practical for Texas. "I'm not going to go use a plant that doesn't work here just to use it. It's important to have sustainability in these designs," she said.
Ideal Partners has an existing relationship with a Wish with Wings, she said. "It is a remarkable organization, and we are honored to help support them in any way possible," King said.
Scott Perth of Durango Doors is another old hand in the Dream Home process. He's a pioneer in the area of steel doors with big glass - his Millennium line - and he's supplying the entry door for the 2015 house. Everything he does is custom, and that allows modification to precisely match the door to the style of the home.
"It's going to be in the Millennium style, but it's going to be a true divided light." He said, "Instead of making it look very contemporary, we're making it look very transitional. We bring elements of the Old World with modern, big open glass, minimum stiles and rails." He has a second location in Houston and says business is good. "I'm just glad we're in Texas. If I had my business in another location, I don't think it would have been as prosperous."
This is the fifth year that Grant Hall of J&S Air Inc. has been involved in a Dream Home. "On new homes, we actually get the entire set of blueprints and run them through our engineering software," he said. "We specifically engineer every room of the house for how much air it needs based on the glass, which way it faces, the ceiling height - everything that has to do with that room."
He said the magazine picks great charities to benefit from the Dream Homes, and that is attractive to him. "If we are being blessed, it is our responsibility to give back to help others. This is just one avenue that we enjoy being involved in," he said. And he feels blessed. The company has expanded from North Texas to Austin, San Antonio and Houston.