For those of you who did not recently get to view the Skagit-Island Counties Builders Association (SICBA) 2005 Tour of Homes, you missed a wonderful showcase of our local homebuilder’s talents. For those of you who did join the tour, especially those of you who are contemplating a remodel of your existing home or planning to build a new home, you were treated with a great array of ideas for contemporary living.

The SICBA tour included homes in the Coupeville, North Whidbey, Anacortes and the Burlington/Mount Vernon area. My wife and I visited the homes here on Whidbey and in Anacortes. Wayne Crider, the executive officer for SICBA, reports that 165 persons viewed the Whidbey located homes. This was the first year of this home tour, but SICBA hopes to make it an annual event.

The first stop on our tour was the Austin home that is located in the Captains Choice tract of Coupeville. This home was the only remodel on the tour, with the project being completed by Piazza Construction Inc. The builder started with what was a fairly large (2,560 SF) daylight basement home and made it even larger, with the completed home having 3,470 SF in living area. The remodel, which was a 14-month effort, completely gutted the home and changed many of the interior walls. One of the more interesting features of this home is that the owners and builders incorporated old and new features to create a contemporary, fine living environment. Both my wife, Karen, and I were very impressed with this how the builder took an old (1970s) and dark home and created such a bright, airy contemporary home.

Best of Show

The home of Jon and Sherry Roberts was the next stop on our tour. This home was built by Cascade Custom Homes and Design, which is owned by Jon Roberts. This two-story home, at 5,634 SF of living area, was the largest home that we viewed. The home is set in a semi-rural area of Coupeville on a 10-acre parcel. This new home, with all of the newest appliances and conveniences, was nicely packaged into a style known as Arts and Crafts. One of the more interesting features of this home is its wet fire suppression system that was installed throughout the ceilings of the home. The sensors have two stages of sensitivity to fire; each sensor (sprinkler head) is individually monitored so that water is sprayed only in those areas where the fire exists. According to Mr. Roberts, he was able to save 28 percent on his annual homeowners insurance premium and expects to pay for the cost of installation of this fire suppression system in about 30 months. Another benefit is the greater sense of security and the peace of mind that goes along with such a safety system. The beautiful home has an air of elegant simplicity. It was easy to see why the SICBA panel of judges named the Roberts home “Best of Show.”

In Oak Harbor

Oak Harbor was the next stop, with a visit to the Whidbey Green subdivision. Whidbey Green is somewhat unique to our area as it is being marketed as an active adult (age 55 or older) community. These homes are located in a planned development of 90 detached homes that are oriented to Whidbey Golf and Country Club. According to Ms. Carrie Case, Marketing Director for the builder, Landed Gentry, over 70 of these homes are already sold or have pending contracts. These Craftsman style homes are single level design, with no steps, and have a very spacious interior layout with an open kitchen floorplan and a large master bedroom suite. One of the more interesting features of the Whidbey Green project is that it has been designed for “easy living” wherein all of the home’s landscaping and the project’s common areas are maintained by the homeowners association. These are smaller homes that have been designed for the “empty nester” buyer, with “maintenance-free living” in mind. The homeowner’s association also maintains the exterior surfaces of each home. These homes, which are all 2 bedrooms – 2 baths, range in size from 1,197 SF to 2,039 SF of living area, and have asking prices from $280,000 to $340,000.

On the beach

Our last stop on Whidbey was the Youngsma home at Surfcrest Beach. The Surfcrest plat is situated north of Ault Field and encompasses one mile of wonderful sandy beach along Whidbey’s west side. Surfcrest adjoins Deception Pass State Park to the south. This is another very large home, having 5,004 SF of living area that contains six bedrooms and six baths. This home was custom built for Jim and Ruth Youngsma by Yonkman Construction Inc. This home features a large open kitchen, a banquet-size dining room, living room with vaulted wood ceilings, and a cozy sunroom that opens onto the rear deck. As one might expect, being situated in Surfcrest Beach this property has magnificent westerly marine and territorial views. There were two very interesting features specific to this home. The home is heated with an Enerjoy solid state radiant heating system. The ceiling installed heaters use infrared technology that reflects off surfaces to warm and store heat in objects as opposed to warming the air. Reportedly, this system is very energy efficient with no moving parts, which makes it quiet and maintenance free. Also, it is very clean, which makes it an excellent choice for people with allergies. Another unique feature of this home was the “secret room.” This daylight basement level room had a cleverly hidden entry and was designed for use as the grandkid’s bedroom. This nautical-themed bedroom features built-in bunk beds and a brass hatch window.

There were several features that were common to all these homes, such as:

* Large, spacious rooms with 9 foot or higher ceilings, especially in the main living areas.

* Energy efficient and clean burning gas log fireplaces in place of wood burning units.

* Non-laminate countertops, especially in the kitchen, with surfaces such as granite, Corian or other manmade products.

* Hardwood floors throughout the first floor, especially in the high traffic areas of the kitchen and living room or Great Room.

* Large master bedroom suites that pamper the owners with walk-in showers, deep jetted soaking tubs, double sinks, walk-in closets, of course, and private patios.

I would suggest that you mark your calendar now or make a mental note so that you don’t miss next year’s SICBA Tour of Homes.