We love the Houzz website which is geared for people looking to build a new construction home, remodel an existing home, or for decorating inspiration for their current home. We introduce all of our clients to Houzz so they can begin building an “ideabook” for their project. “Ideabooks” help us as we work in design and throughout the project to get a feel of the clients’ tastes and preferences.
Living Stone has been awarded “Best in Houzz for design AND service for the last 3 years.
Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs), sometimes referred to as GeoExchange, earth-coupled, ground-source, or water-source heat pumps, have been in use since the late 1940s. They use the constant temperature of the earth as the exchange medium instead of the outside air temperature. This allows the system to reach fairly high efficiencies (300% to 600%) on the coldest winter nights, compared to 175% to 250% for air-source heat pumps on cool days.
Although many parts of the country experience seasonal temperature extremes — from scorching heat in the summer to sub-zero cold in the winter—a few feet below the earth’s surface the ground remains at a relatively constant temperature. Depending on latitude, ground temperatures range from 45°F (7°C) to 75°F (21°C). Like a cave, this ground temperature is warmer than the air above it during the winter and cooler than the air in the summer. The GHP takes advantage of this by exchanging heat with the earth through a ground heat exchanger.
The rapid growth of green building means that new home owners can take advantage of the lower operating and maintenance costs that come with these energy- and resource-efficient homes.
But for the 120 million existing homes in the United States, remodeling is the only way for home owners to incorporate green practices. NAHB Remodelers offers the following suggestions to home owners who want to increase their home’s efficiency, decrease costs and take advantage of the other benefits that green offers.
North Carolina Home Builder magazine WINTER 2014
Empowerment. That’s what incoming-NCHBA President Sean Sullivan says is going to be a hallmark of his term in 2015. He wants to empower members, local associations and executive officers with the tools they need to continue to keep North Carolina the #1 state in our federation.
North Carolina makes up about 10 percent of the National Association of Home Builders membership, so our state plays a critical and powerful role there. However, Sullivan says he thinks our NCHBA membership is somewhat lethargic, and he wants to reinvigorate the membership in 2015.
The NC Home Builders Association held their 4th Quarter meetings at the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina. A new slate of officers and regional vice presidents were elected, including the new NCHBA President and were installed in a ceremony that was held the evening of December 2nd. Sean Sullivan, President of Living Stone Construction, based in Black Mountain, NC, was installed as the 2015 NCHBA President.
Sullivan has been building homes in the Western North Carolina area for almost 20 years. While earning his Unlimited Building License and Accredited Master Builder designation, he became the President of the Asheville Home Builders Association in 2008. During his term as president, he oversaw 30% growth of the association. Through the years he has served in many different leadership roles within the local association and then the state association. In 2013, he served as NCHBA Region 10 Vice President before being installed as President-Elect for 2014.
During the weekends of October 10-11 and October 17-18, the Asheville Home Builders Association (AHBA) held its Annual Parade of Homes (POH). Every year builders all across the Asheville area show off recently constructed homes in a variety of developments and other communities for the general public to tour and enjoy. Both weekends were a great success and approximately 1000 people toured the home. Living Stone’s parade home was The Strittmatter’s home, which is based on their Skylar Grande semi-custom model.
In between the aforementioned weekends, the AHBA holds an awards ceremony to recognize and present builders awards in a variety of different categories. Living Stone Construction capped off a fantastic evening by winning the coveted Viewers Choice Award, the Green Certification award (NC Green Built Gold) and the silver craftsmanship award for it’s category. Living Stone also won a PACE award for Best Public Relations Event for the Ricky Harwood Fundraiser. ID.ology Interior Design, Living Stone’s design partner, won a PACE award for Best Interior Merchandising for Dana and Cherrie Roberts’ Timberpeg home Living Stone built.
President Sean Sullivan said, “I believe the relationship and partnership Living Stone Construction has with our trade partners was key to this years successful POH.”
Inviting, accommodating and a feast for the eyes—wet rooms are showing up in more and more homes and wowing visitors at new-home showcases.
Wet rooms—essentially open-concept or barrier-free bathrooms—are tiled continuously from floor to ceiling and across the floor surface, giving a sleek, unified appearance.
The shower is open to the room or enclosed in clear glass, and has no raised threshold to step over. Sinks, countertops and vanities mounted to the walls hover above the unbroken plane of the floor.
The North Carolina Home Builders Association presented 50 prestigious STARS awards at the annual STARS Awards Gala on September 10,2014 at the Omni Charlotte Hotel. The STARS Awards program honors the achievements of home building industry professionals from North Carolina and surrounding states.
Living Stone Construction and ID.ology Interior Design attended the 2014 STARS Awards Gala in Charlotte, NC for the seventh straight year and hoped to have yet another successful evening. Both Living Stone and ID.ology went into the ceremony with high expectations and did not leave disappointed.
Living Stone won Best Outdoor Living Area for the Japalachian Project (the Jones’ home) as well as Best Single-Family Detached Home in it’s price category for the Bonesteel project. ID.olgy won for Best Interior Merchandising over $1 million for the Japalachian project.
Living Stone has had a strong presence at the NCHBA STARS awards over the past few years and it can all be attributed to the hard work Sean Sullivan (President) has put in. When asked of this years results Sullivan responded, “Our team is dedicated to do whatever it takes to give our clients the home of their dreams. We don’t believe in taking shortcuts; we’d rather go the extra mile to give the clients the quality product they deserve. Living Stone is very blessed to attend and once again be recognized at the STARS Awards Gala”.
Designed by architect Maury Hurt to occupy the footprint of an existing A-frame, this serene lakeside home maximizes its location and boasts many vernacular exterior finishes including stone, cedar shake and pebble dash stucco. Green built and Energy Star efficient, the home earned regional and national awards for the builder, Living Stone Construction, and a state-level award for the interior designers, Allard & Roberts.
Photography by David Dietrich
Adiscreet sign at the front entrance reads “Sanctuary.” Fair enough. You’ve navigated some narrow country roads and come down a steep driveway to get here. The cedar shake and stone house is tucked into a wooded lot, perched on the hillside beside Lake Lure. A mountain retreat — a lake house…it makes sense. But then you walk through the stone portal and enter the great room. Before you, a massive arched wall of windows captures a stunning view: the vast sky, the distant, craggy face of a mountain and the sparkling waters of the lake.
Continuing education and earning designations is very important to the team at Living Stone Construction. Sean is one of a very few Accredited Master Builders in WNC. He is also a Certified Green Professional, a Certified Aging in Place Specialist as well as a Certified Lead Renovator. Quality workmanship, knowledge and experience matter, especially when you will be investing a significant amount of money with a home builder or remodeler as you build a new home or update your current one to fit your lifestyle.
It’s not unusual for Bonnie and Gary Holstein to strike up a conversation with another couple. And it’s not unusual for them to become friends with new acquaintances, something that the Holsteins love about Asheville and Southcliff, the community south of town where they live their Living Stone Construction-built home.
“Just the other day, we struck up a conversation with another couple at the Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar, and they invited us to a concert at their home,” Bonnie said. She spoke as she and Gary were driving home from the Biltmore Estate, where they had exchanged numbers with another couple while taking photos of tulips.
Published July 14th in NorthCarolinaHome
Living Stone is a Green builder of fine custom, and semi-custom, homes. We offer turn-key services to bring complete value to the client and make the building process enjoyable. Much like sustainability in building, our “Living Stone Difference” process is sustainable. When you work with us, we can help you find land, design your home, build your home (or renovation), prescribe finishes, provide financing, and deliver a home warranty.
All of our homes are certified Energy Star vs 3. We hire a 3rd party, independent energy rater to help us at the very beginning of design to ensure we are building our clients a healthy, energy star, green home. Our Energy Rater continues to work with us throughout the building process. She is at this job today for a blower door test, along with the building inspector and the heating and cooling contractor. For more information about our standard of building green and the why please click here.
Being part of a great team can yield wonderful results. No one knows this better than Sean Sullivan, owner of Living Stone Construction, and Laura Sullivan, owner of ID.ology Interior Design, both located in the Asheville area. Not only do Sean and Laura sometimes work together on the same projects – they’re a team off the job site, as well. This happily married couple has managed to strike a great balance that has led to exceptional accomplishments. One such accomplishment is The Rockcliff home – an award-winning Asheville project on which Living Stone Construction served as the builder and ID.ology served as the interior design firm. North Carolina Design talked to Sean and Laura to find out more about this spectacular home, and how their solid teamwork helped them achieve award-winning results.
From “learning” thermostats to energy saving smartphone apps, it has never been easier to monitor and control your home’s energy use. While we all love doing our part to help the environment, the real draw here is how these simple green solutions will help you save money by keeping those monthly energy bills low. Here are just some of many easy home energy-monitoring tools that can help your home run as efficiently as possible.
Smart Thermostats
With the dog days of summer fast approaching, many homeowners worry they won’t be able to keep their homes comfortable without their energy bills going through the roof. Luckily, innovations in smart thermostat technology can help you keep your house cool and refreshing without breaking the bank.
Nest Labs offers the Nest Learning Thermostat. This sleek, minimally designed wall thermostat can be adjusted manually in your home or wirelessly from any location through your computer or smartphone. Each time you adjust the thermostat, Nest learns about your temperature preferences and daily life. It then uses this information to help you keep your home at a consistently comfortable temperature while simultaneously saving money on energy costs. For example, it learns to automatically adjust the temperature when you’re away at work, asleep at night or when the weather unexpectedly changes.
Other similar programmable thermostats include the Ecobee Smart Thermostat, the Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat, and the Venstar ColorTouch Thermostat.
Few people know more about trends than model home merchandisers.
The point of that job – my job – is to create memorable interiors that reflect a target market’s lifestyle desires and expectations. We must understand what drives them to make decisions about the features and amenities that are most important to them.
We know that today’s 50+ buyer has a clear preference for open floor plans, and that leads them to focus on kitchen design more than ever. Even smaller homes with fewer rooms are being designed with large kitchens. Because 50+ buyers tend to be very social, they entertain frequently at home and consider the kitchen as entertainment space.
