A high-end custom home without the high-end price.

5/9/2014
BY DAVID WALTON
  • Wayne-Homes-1

  • The plan was coming together nicely.Kim and Jim Springer had a beautiful lakeside property next to a private beach. They had a clear mental image of the home they wanted to build there. They had recommendations from their friends for architects and custom builders. Little did they know that their well-laid plan was about to take a turn—which would save them tens of thousands of dollars.

    “One night, for whatever reason, I went online to Wayne Homes and discovered their Winchester floorplan,” Kim explains. “And it was like 90 percent of what we wanted.” She thought that if Wayne Homes would be willing to extensively modify that floorplan, they could skip the $15,000 architect. It turned out to be the right idea, but it didn’t save them $15,000. By choosing Wayne Homes, the Springers estimate they saved about $100,000.


    And, yes, they got exactly the home they wanted. Ten-foot ceilings throughout the main level. A huge kitchen with double islands and custom, Amish-crafted cabinets. Even the mudroom had its own custom design. In the end, Kim had created a list of changes and upgrades that was 13 pages long: “I don’t think Wayne Homes said ‘no’ during the entire process,” she says.

    “The thing that really drew us over to Wayne instead of going with a local custom builder was the fact that all our costs would be right in the contract,” Kim says. “Our friends who used custom builders didn’t experience that. They got into the process and then there were all these hidden costs. It was so great working with Wayne because I had a bottom line number and I could manage the whole process to hit that number.”

    John and Judy Allison experienced a similar chain of events. They dropped into a Wayne Homes Model Center and surprised themselves by falling for the Alexandria floorplan. “We loved the openness,” John says.


    John, a teacher with summers off, wanted to do much of the work himself. So not only did Wayne let him tap his own source for Brazilian walnut flooring, they let him install the floors himself. He also created the wainscoting in the library and a mantle for the living room fi replace. All of which left more money for a kitchen redesign that moved the refrigerator into the pantry, created a large mudroom/laundry room, and included custom glazed alder cabinets. Oh yes, and the Allisons also modifi ed the home to give them panoramic views of the lake that’s just out back.

    Then there’s the story of Gary and Laura Buck. The Bucks bought land in a neighborhood of million-dollar homes. They took Wayne Homes’ Montgomery floorplan and customized it almost beyond recognition, creating clean, modern lines, adding floor-to-ceiling windows and working directly with Wayne Homes’ master carpenter to give the kitchen a super-refined look with three-foot-deep granite countertops. “Our Wayne home looks like it belongs here,” says Laura. “In fact, it looks like it’s been here since the beginning.

    ”Even so, Laura says she saved at least $80,000 working with Wayne Homes. And she said the company was great to work with: “They didn’t try to sell me what they had—they gave me what I wanted. At the price I wanted.”“It’s simple,” explains Maurie Jones, Wayne Homes vice president of marketing. “We have a process that makes building a home easier and more affordable—whether it’s your first home or your dream home.”