2012 Home of the Year Silver Award Winners

Best Model Home under $300,000
Architect: R.J. Kietzman, Architect
Builder: Kietzman Urban Homes

Good design can be had in this price range. This ultra-cool contemporary home was built on a narrow infill lot with three bedrooms and 2.5 baths. The entry, garage, laundry and two bedrooms are on the street level, while the kitchen, dining room, living room and master bedroom are on the upper level. Two decks also were incorporated into the design. Nine-foot ceilings, transom windows and multiple partial-height walls with custom glass tiles create an expansive, open feel.

Resources:
Foundation: Bill Long Construction • Roofing: Century Roofing • Light Fixtures: eBay, IKEA, Menards • Countertops: Ever Brite Stone • Trim Work: Five Star Custom Trim • Cabinets: IKEA • Framing: KC Framing • Hardwood Flooring: Lumber Liquidators • Heating & Cooling: Mission Heating & Air • Appliances: Nebraska Furniture Mart • Hardscaping: Overland Concrete Construction • Lumber/Windows: Owen Lumber • Sheetrock: Paul Lewis Drywall • Electrician/Home Security: Teague Electric • Tile: Tile Wall & Floor Design • Paint: Tru Brite Painting • Glass & Mirrors: Westport Glass • Realtor: Prudential Kansas City

Best Model Home $300,000-$500,000
Home Designer: Pinnacle Home Design
Builder: Rodrock Homes
Interior Designer: Twigs Interiors

Five bedrooms and 5.5 baths fit into this 3,397-square-foot home. Designed for those who love to entertain, there are five distinct areas for gathering on the main level: great room, hearth room, formal dining room, breakfast area/kitchen island and covered back deck. The future homeowner also will appreciate the soft, arching lines; oval ceiling treatment in the dining room; stone hearth; light color palette; and updated, contemporary interior design selections.

Resources:
Framing: Arocha Framing • Roofing: Century Roofing • Countertops: Creative Granite & Stone • Electrician: Double S Electric • Landscaping/Sprinkler System: Epic Landscape Productions • Appliances: Factory Direct Appliance • Painter: Gecko • Home Theater/Security: Harder Low Volts Systems • Excavation: Huff Excavation • Hardwood Flooring: Integrity Interiors • Cabinets: KC Custom Cabinets • Heating & Cooling: Mike Bryant Heating and Cooling • Plumbing: Nachbar Plumbing • Plumbing Fixtures: Neenan Co. • Glass & Mirrors: Olathe Glass • Windows: Pella Products of KC • Foundation: Premier Foundation • Cleaning: Recycle America • Garage System: Renner Garage Door Co. • Paint: Sherwin-Williams • Fireplace: Star Fireplaces • Sheetrock: Star Drywall • Lumber: Sun Lumber • Trim Work: Thompon Woodworking • Furnishings: Twigs Interiors • Tile/Carpeting: Weber Design Center • Light Fixtures/Hardware: Wilson Lighting • Realtor: Reece & Nichols • Subdivision: Wyngate

Best Model Home over $500,000
Architect: CL Architecture + Design
Builder: Koehler Wharton Homes
Interior Designer: Groover Interiors

This traditional 1.5-story home features six bedrooms, 5.5 baths and a large kitchen/hearth room that opens to a lanai for three-season outdoor entertaining. A stamped-concrete patio overlooks the Falcon Valley Golf Course. Special details to point out include arched doorways, an extra high ceiling in the hearth room, rustic alder cabinets with distressed glazing, iron spindles, cherry hardwood floors and an angled garage.

Resources:
Painter: A&A Painting • Roofing: Century Roofing • Electrician: CRH Electric • Home Theater/Security: Elevated Electronics • Landscaping: Epic Landscape Productions • Appliances: Factory Direct Appliance • Plumbing Fixtures: Ferguson Enterprises • Glass & Mirrors: Fountain Glass • Countertops: Granite Tops • Specialty Painting: Groover Designs • Trim Work: Huber & Drury Trim • Foundation: Johnson County Basements • Hardwood Flooring: KLH Hardwood Floors • Framing: Koehler Wharton Homes • Lumber: McCray Lumber • Windows: McCray Millwork • Fireplace: Midwest Fireplace • Heating & Cooling: Midwest Heating Cooling & Plumbing • Plumbing: Miller Plumbing • Sprinkler System: Missouri Turf Irrigation • Excavation: Jim Schlagle Excavating • Cabinets: Shamrock Cabinetry • Sheetrock: Wallboard Specialties • Light Fixtures/Hardware: Wilson Lighting • Realtor: Reece & Nichols • Subdivision: Falcon Valle

Best Custom Home $500,000-$1 Million
Architect: Wendlandt & Stallbaumer
Builder: Russell Custom Homes

Although the floor plan is compact, the spaces are dynamic, with attention paid to sight lines and the interplay between interior and exterior spaces. Details and drama are common here. The first floor features a variety of sculpted, vaulted ceilings; a circular stair that acts as a light well; stone wainscoting with candle insets; and generous, oversized millwork. The combination of stone, brick, and shingle and lap siding make this home comfortably elegant and welcoming.

Resources:
Excavation/Foundation: ABI Foundation • Trim Work: AC Trim • Home Security: ADT • Sheetrock: Brian Gibson • Framing: C&P Construction • Countertops: CSI Stone & Tile • Paint: DAD Painting • Appliances: General Electric • Lumber: McCray Lumber • Windows: McCray Lumber/Andersen Windows • Fireplace: Midwest Fireplace • Tile: Paul Rudicel • Landscaping: Perfection Lawn & Landscape • Roofing: Pyramid Roofing • Electrician: Teague Electric • Heating & Cooling: United Heating Cooling & Plumbing

Best Custom Home $1 Million-$1.5 Million
Home Designer: Pinnacle Home Design
Builder/Interior Designer: Madi Mali Homes

At 6,440 square feet, this plantation home doesn’t just look big, it lives big. From the four-car motor court and circle drive through the entry with double staircases into the open floor plan, there is a definite sense that this is a well-lived-in and loved home. Large ideas like 23-foot ceilings and tower cupola above a catwalk mix with small details such as bedroom suites with doorbells (the kids’ idea). Special spaces that get used often include the office, drop zone, two laundry rooms, giant pantry, music room and second-floor workout room.

Resources:
Home Security: ADT • Trim Work: Custom Trimworks • Countertops: Cutting Edge Granite & Tile • Landscaping/Sprinkler System: Earth Designs • Roofing: Elite Roofing • Framing: Erik Puhr Construction • Appliances: Factory Direct Appliance • Plumbing/Fixtures: Fred Pflumm Plumbing • Tile: HP Tile • Home Theater: Hometech • Excavation: Jim Schlagle Excavating • Foundation: Johnson County Basements  • Sheetrock: KC Drywall • Hardwood Flooring/Carpeting: Kenny's Tile & Flooring • Cabinets: King Wood Products • Painter: Kreimendahl Painting • Lumber: McCray Lumber • Hardware: McCray Millwork • Fireplace: Midwest Fireplace • Heating & Cooling: Midwest Heating Cooling and A/C • Hardscaping: Newhouse Construction • Paint: Sherwin-Williams • Plumbing Fixtures: Signature Hardware • Windows: Simonton Windows/Crown Millwork • Cleaning: SW Cleaning • Electrician: Teague Electric • Glass & Mirrors: The Hayes Co. • Light Fixtures: Wilson Lighting • Subdivision: Heritage Hill West

Photos by Paul Bonnichsen

Best Custom Home over $1.5 Million
Architect: Bickford + Co.
Builder: Forner-LaVoy Builders
Interior Designer: Janet Alholm Interiors

Nestled into a secluded 2.5-acre setting on a golf course, this five-bedroom, seven-bath French Country home is actually designed for a modern, active family. Old World texture, color and finishes give it warmth, but underneath it functions superbly with a versatile kitchen, his-and-her offices and in-laws quarters, plus a lanai and pool that extend the home outdoors. Advanced technology —  automation, audio/video, controlled lighting, security and an elevator — seamlessly integrate into the design.

Resources:
Cast Stone: ADI Designs • Heating & Cooling: Apex Heating and Air Conditioning • Countertops: Braco Stone • Specialty Painting: Groover Designs • Cabinets: Built to Fit • Trim Work: Cameron Construction • Hardscaping/Stone (material): Cripple Creek • Swimming Pool: Cripple Creek • Tile (material): CST • Garage Doors: DH Pace Overhead Door of KC • Tile (labor): Eddie Cummings Tile • Electrician: Elite Electric • Appliances: Factory Direct Appliance • Plumbing and Light Fixtures: Ferguson Enterprises • Plumbing: Grabill Plumbing • Sheetrock: Greener Drywall • Excavation: Hammons Construction • Home Theater: Home Connections of KC • Insulation: Insulation & Drywall Contractors • Roofing: Jaberian Roofing • Windows: Kansas City Building Supply • Trim/Millwork (material): Kansas City Building Supply • Stone (labor): LSH Masonry • Hardwood Flooring: Lumber Liquidators • Carpeting: Madden-McFarland Interiors • Fireplace: Midwest Fireplace • Concrete Stairs/Concrete Countertops: M-Pact Counter Top Solutions • Landscaping/Sprinkler System: Next To Nature Landscape • Glass & Mirrors: Olathe Glass Co. • Stucco: Reynolds Construction • Tankless Hot Water: Rinnai • Gutters: Royal Seamless Gutter • Cleaning: SW Cleaning • Furnishings: Seville Home • Foundation: William Curth • Hardware: Wilson Lighting • Realtor: Cedar Creek Realty • Subdivision: Cedar Creek

Best Empty Nest 
Builder/Interior Designer: C&M Builders

Perfectly designed for a couple who entertains, this plan boasts plenty of open living space, with a first-floor master suite. Designed for the future, the office can easily be converted to a bedroom; doorways and hallways are enlarged; and low-maintenance composite decking, stucco, vinyl windows and a sprinkler system are included. A walkout lower level contains a wet bar, two bedrooms for visitors and ample storage for keepsakes.

Resources:
Interior Designer: Designs by Melissa • Heating & Cooling: A&D Heating & Cooling • Framing/Lumber: Advantage Component Systems • Window Blinds: Americas Blind Crafters • Electrician: Arrow Circle Electric • Foundation: BW Foundation • Specialty Painting: Designs by Melissa • Trim Work: Eulinger Construction • Appliances: Factory Direct Appliance • Flooring: First Pace • Hardware: Home Hardware of KC • Glass & Mirrors: Hutton Glass • Countertops/Tile: Kenny’s Tile & Flooring •  Roofing: Metro Roofing • Windows: Mid-States Millwork • Painter: Midwest Coatings • Fireplace: Midwest Fireplace • Sod: Mike O'Conner • Plumbing Fixtures: Moen  • Central Vac: Plugged In • Light Fixtures: Rensen House of Lights • Landscaping/Hardscaping and Sprinkler System: Rosehill Gardens • Home Theater/Security: Select Living Systems • Cabinets: Shamrock Cabinetry • Paint: Sherwin-Williams • Sheetrock: Star Drywall • Plumbing: Tri-County Plumbing • Excavation: Walt Borer

Photos by Mark Baltzley Photography

Best Green Home
Architect: Webster Architects
Builder/Interior Designer: Summit Custom Homes

Energy Star-certified as well as certified NAHB Silver Level Green Home, this home fulfills homebuyers’ typical desires, from granite counters to a finished walkout basement, but goes an extra step with sustainable features. The home utilizes low-VOC paints and caulks, formaldehyde-free insulation, insulated rim joists, low-E windows with argon gas,  a centralized duct system and taped seams. Its HERS rating is 73, with estimated annual energy costs of $2,421.

Resources:
Excavation/Foundation: ABI Corporation • Framing and Lumber: Advantage Framing Systems • Windows: Pro-Build • Sheetrock: Wallboard Specialties • Roofing: Century Roofing • Trim Work: Voyles Construction • Paint: Sherwin-Williams • Painter: B.P. Cole Painting • Cabinets: Shamrock Cabinetry • Bath Countertops: MMI-Master Marble Inc. • Kitchen Countertops: Weber Flooring • Appliances: Factory Direct Appliance • Hardware and Light Fixtures: Premier Lighting and Hardware • Hardwood Flooring/Tile/Carpeting: Weber Flooring • Glass & Mirrors: Hutton Glass Products • Heating & Cooling: United Heating Cooling & Plumbing • Plumbing: Century Plumbing • Plumbing Fixtures: Moen • Electrician: C.D. McClain Electric • Fireplace: 31-W Insulation and Fireplace Co. • Garage System: Overhead Door of Kansas City • Home Security: Select Living Systems • Landscaping: Colonial Nursery, Hermes Landscaping • Hardscaping: Keith Scott & Co. • Sprinkler System: Clean Cut Lawn • Cleaning: Recycle America, Builders Choice • Realtor: The Rob Ellerman Team • Green Certification: Hathmore Technologies

Click here to view the 2012 Home of the Year gold awards
Click here to view the judges