Interior design team named for DIllard-Jones Builders 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home

The interior design team for the 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home by Dillard-Jones Builders features some of the finest interior designers in the Upstate area of South Carolina including The Galleries of Brian Brigham, SH Designs, Bogari, and ID Studio Interiors. The house is now under construction in The River Reserve Phase Four and will open to the public for four weekends this coming May.

A Dillard-Jones custom design, the 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home is a basement plan featuring 5,000 heated square feet and more than 1,200 square feet of outdoor living space that takes advantage of a nearly one-acre lot on Tugaloo Court along the Saluda River. House features include a wine cellar with tasting room, indoor/outdoor bar with seating, Master suite with coffee bar, sleeping porch, grilling deck, and outdoor living area with fireplace.

Interior designers and their selected areas of the 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home are: The Galleries of Brian Brigham – entire downstairs including recreation/family room, indoor/outdoor bar, wine cellar, secondary bedrooms, and downstairs powder room; SH Designs – foyer, kitchen, dining room and family room; Bogari – sleeping porch, Sunday morning room; ID Studio Interiors – Master suite and main level powder room.

Presented by River Reserve Holdings LLC and Builders First Source, the 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home will incorporate the products and services of more than 40 local building suppliers, along with those of Southern Living Custom Builder Program National Sponsors including Jeld-Wen Windows, Lennox, Belgard Hardscapes, Sherwin-Williams and Sunbrella.

The 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home will be the fourth Southern Living tour home presented by Dillard-Jones Builders. Our 2008 Showcase Home in Tuscany Falls and the 2010 Showcase Home in Claremont won the Upstate homebuilder 2009 and 2011 Southern Living Builder of the Year honors. The 2009 award marked the first time a South Carolina builder had won the prestigious national award, and in 2011 Dillard-Jones became the first two-time winner in the 18-year history of the Southern Living Custom Builder Program. The company has a full-page Builder of the Year feature in the Dec. 2011 issue of Southern Living magazine, which now is on newsstands.

Consumers can follow the progress of the 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home by Dillard-Jones Builders at www.dillardjones.com.

 

Foundation work underway at 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home

Sealing Agents installs a Delta®Drain foundation system at the 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home.

Foundation work is well underway at the 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home by Dillard-Jones Builders. This week, Sealing Agents is installing a Delta®Drain system, a product effective in controlling the flow of water and preventing damage from soil moisture through cracks and gaps in below grade structures.

Delta®Drain is a two-layer geocomposite product. The first layer is the high-density polyethylene drainage core that drains incoming water freely to the footing perimeter drain, preventing the build-up of hydrostatic pressure against the waterproofing layer. It also acts as a protection layer for the waterproofing material during backfill operations.

The second layer is a heat-bonded polypropylene geotextile. Securely bonded to the dimple crowns by a thermal process for lasting durability and performance, this geosynthetic material provides superb filtering performance. This rot-proof geotextile is highly water permeable, and prevents clogging of the flow passages in the drainage core. The result: continuous drainage of incoming water to the footing perimeter drain, thus protecting the foundation against water damage for many decades to come.

You can follow the construction progress of the 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home here. The 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home is under construction in The River Reserve Phase Four. Presented by River Reserve Holdings LLC and Builders First Source, the 2012 Showcase Home will open to the public next May for four weekends.

The 2012 Showcase Home will be the fourth Southern Living tour home presented by Dillard-Jones Builders. The company’s 2008 Showcase Home in Tuscany Falls and the 2010 Showcase Home in Claremont won the Upstate homebuilder 2009 and 2011 Southern Living Builder of the Year honors. The 2009 award marked the first time a South Carolina builder had won the prestigious national award, and in 2011 Dillard-Jones became the first two-time winner in the 18-year history of the Southern Living Custom Builder Program. The company has a full-page Builder of the Year feature in the Dec. 2011 issue of Southern Living magazine, which is now on newsstands.

Easy holiday mantel ideas from Southern Living

The mantel is one of the easiest places in your home to add some holiday cheer. Click here for easy ideas from Southern Living on dressing up your mantel for the holidays. For information on custom mantels in your new custom home, contact Dillard-Jones Builders, the 2011 Southern Living Custom Builder of the Year.

Dillard-Jones Renovations a natural extention of Dillard-Jones Builders

Smith residence before

It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. In our case, Greer SC resident Sallie Smith was necessity and Dillard-Jones Renovations the invention.

A longtime fan of all things Southern Living, Sallie visited our first Southern Living Showcase Home in Griffith Farmand fell in love with the floor plan. The spacious kitchen/breakfast area/keeping room combination was just what Sallie

Smith residence after

wanted in her 30-year-old residence to better accommodate large family gatherings and entertaining.

We tried to convince Sallie that a new custom home was the way to go, but she wouldn’t budge. As it turned out, Sallie was right all along. A custom home renovations company was a natural extension of our custom home building business. The same skills, expertise and passion for the work apply.

Founded in 2008, Dillard-Jones Renovations uses the same design/build process as Dillard-Jones Builders. As the renovations contractor, we drafts the design, estimate costs, set the production schedule, and supervise construction to guarantee that the project is on time and on budget. And standing behind the project is an experienced custom homebuilder who understands each phase of construction from permitting and land use to design and engineering.

In the recent housing downturn, remodeling is holding its own with U.S. home remodeling expenditures expected to rise 20 percent in 2011 compared with 2010, according to the National Association of Home Builders. In the South, where the housing downturn is weathering the storm better than in other regions, homeowners are generally opting for projects like updating kitchens, replacing roofs, adding porches and smaller rooms.

At Dillard-Jones Renovations, our projects range from outdoor living additions to whole home renovations. A number of our clients, like Sallie, are happy with the location of their existing home but not the floor plan. In addition to new custom home construction, our in-house design team has a great deal of experience modifying an existing floor plan and adding custom features that turn it into a custom fit.

At the Smith residence in Greer, a 1500-square-foot expansion doubled the size of the kitchen and added an adjacent family room, hallway, bathroom and mudroom leading to the garage. A two-car garage was enlarged to accommodate three cars and a side porch was built off the kitchen. The design also included wider hallways and bathroom features such as higher countertops and walk-in shower as Aging In Place features.

“Dillard-Jones allowed us to add on to our home to make it the dream home that we really wanted without having to tear down and start over,” Smith said. “We were able to keep the things that we really liked about our home and add on things to make it exactly the dream home we wanted.

For more information, contact Dillard-Jones Renovations at (864) 527-0463 or view our before-and-after photo galleries.

2012 Southern Living® Showcase Home Groundbreaking

Photo: Mrs. Emily Doll, Maddox Doll, Tom Dillard, and Susan Vernon.

November 23, 2011 – Ground was broken for the start of the 2012 Southern Living® Showcase Home in The River Reserve Phase IV. Be sure to follow the progress here.

Dillard-Jones Builders Announces 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home

We will break ground this week on our 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home in The River Reserve Phase IV. Presented by River Reserve Holdings LLC and Builders First Source, the 2012 Showcase Home will open to the public next May for four weekends.

The 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home will be the fourth Southern Living tour home that we have had the pleasure to present to Upstate South Carolina residents and visitors. Our 2008 Showcase Home in Tuscany Falls and the 2010 Showcase Home in Claremont won the Upstate homebuilder 2009 and 2011 Southern Living Builder of the Year honors. The 2009 award marked the first time a South Carolina builder had won the prestigious national award, and in 2011 Dillard-Jones became the first two-time winner in the 18-year history of the Southern Living Custom Builder Program. The company has a full-page Builder of the Year feature in the Dec. 2011 issue of Southern Living magazine, which is now on newsstands.

A Dillard-Jones custom design, the 2012 Southern Living Showcase Home by Dillard-Jones Builders is a basement plan featuring approximately 5,000 heated square feet and more than 1,200 square feet of outdoor living space that takes advantage of the river front lot. House features include a wine cellar with tasting room, media room, indoor/outdoor bar with seating, master suite with coffee bar, sleeping porch, grilling deck, and outdoor living area with fireplace. Consumers can follow the progress of the 2012 Showcase Home at www.dillardjones.com.

Dillard-Jones Builders LLC specializes in custom residential construction ranging from the $500,000’s to more than $2 million. A member of the Southern Living Custom Builder Program since 2007, Dillard-Jones represents Southern Living magazine in Greenville SC and Asheville NC and has offices at Regency Commons in Greer, SC and at Town Square in Asheville, NC.

For more information, call (864) 527-0463 or visit www.dillardjones.com.

Outdoor living additions, improving energy efficiency top reasons to renovate

Studies show that 87 percent of Americans list ‘spending more time outside’ as the most important reason for renovating their existing homes. Well-designed outdoor living spaces can be the most utilized areas of a home, especially when these spaces are built along paths used for entering and exiting the home.

At Dillard-Jones Renovations, outdoor living space design and installation represent a large part of our company’s annual projects as more and more homeowners are using outdoor spaces as a natural extension of their home’s interior.

A sister company of Dillard-Jones Builders, the Dillard-Jones Renovations team uses its experience in new home construction to tackle issues such as proper drainage, water control and protecting the natural habitat surrounding a home, which is especially important when installing courtyards, water features, outdoor fireplaces, or outdoor kitchens. Our goal is to create an outdoor living area that complements and enhances the existing residence and reflects the lifestyle and needs of those who live there. We handle as aspects of the project from space planning and budgeting to materials selection and installation.

There are five reasons homeowners give for wanting to renovate their homes: add or reallocate space; modernize their the home; improve energy efficiency; make the home more functional; and increase the resale value of the home. With most of the nation’s 125 million homes built prior to today’s high efficiency materials, appliances and construction techniques, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) predicts a 20% increase in U.S. home remodeling expenditures in 2011 with replacements and systems upgrades that will improve energy efficiency high on the list of projects.

At Dillard-Jones, we have long incorporated sustainable products and green building considerations into our new home construction and renovations projects. A Certified Green Professional, we use our training and experience to recommend products and building techniques that promote healthy living, lower energy costs, and help protect the environment without driving up the cost of construction. Our experience includes ENERGY STAR®, EarthCraft House™ and LEED For Homes projects that incorporate materials such as Low-E windows, high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, engineered structure systems, and recycled sub-flooring.

For us, renovating green means the use of materials that are more sustainable and construction practices that exceed building code requirements. These ingredients enhance the look and performance of a home, and reduce energy and maintenance costs. Some examples of long-lasting materials used by Dillard-Jones Renovations are durable natural tile floors, natural roofing materials, and decking and patios made from recycled materials, natural stone, or renewable wood species.

For more information, contact Dillard-Jones Renovations at (864) 527-0463 or visit www.dillardjonesrenovations.com.

A modified house plan can be the perfect match

Finding the right house plan to meet your family’s needs may seem time consuming or overwhelming, but oftentimes the right match is an existing design that can be modified to match individual lifestyles and budgets.

At Dillard-Jones Builders, we employ an in-house designer and work with a team of local designers and architects to create custom plans and to modify existing ones. While some clients still opt for a completely customized plan, from our perspective, there appears to be a trend toward plan modification. Homeowners would rather put their money into the home rather than paper, so we’re doing quite a few plan modifications.

To help consumers along, Dillard-Jones has released The Dillard-Jones Premiere Collection – a series of 10 flexible floor plans that are fully customizable. The series includes the Tuscany Falls and The Evergreen, our award-winning Southern Living Showcase Homes from 2008 and 2010, respectively.

The 2010 Southern Living Showcase Home, while a custom plan by Greenville-based Johnston Design Group, was designed as a flexible floor plan that can be altered to accommodate an extra bedroom, or downsized by eliminating the extra garage with media room overhead. Our 2008 Southern Living Showcase Home is a modified version of Walker’s Bluff, a Southern Living plan by residential designer Rick Gary. The original plan was changed to include a wine cellar and a butler’s pantry on the main level. The upper level was reconfigured to accommodate a media room.

The Dillard-Jones Premiere Collection features open floor plans that promote good traffic flow patterns while creating a sense of separate spaces. Most of the plans include the popular kitchen/breakfast room/keeping room combination and plenty of outdoor living space such as sleeping porches, outdoor fireplaces and outdoor cooking areas. The popularity of outdoor living space has increased considerably in the past several years. Well-designed outdoor living spaces can be the most utilized areas of a home, especially when these spaces are built along paths used for entering and exiting the home.”

For more information, call Dillard-Jones Builders at (864) 527-0463 or email thomas@dillardjones.com.

Value is the watchword at Dillard-Jones Builders

At Dillard-Jones Builders, our watchword is value. Not just the value of a Dillard-Jones custom home once construction is completed, but the value of the custom building experience. If homeowners don’t enjoy the process of custom homebuilding, they’re likely to be less than thrilled with the finished product.

We combine proven products, quality craftsmanship, and a heavy dose of customer communication to create both a valuable experience and a custom home of value. For example, low maintenance exteriors, sustainable roofs, and engineered basements are just a few of the company’s standard features that allow homeowners to spend time enjoying their homes rather than servicing them.

A Better Design

We employ an in-house designer and work with a team of local designers and architects to create customized floor plans and to modify existing plans. The focus always is to enhance the natural beauty of the property, and position the house for optimum views and solar orientation for better energy efficiency.

A Better Building Experience

Believing that the process should be as enjoyable as the finished product, Dillard-Jones employs a full-time selections specialist and customer advocate. A professionally trained interior designer, Susan Peace-Vernon hails from a homebuilding family, which gives her a working knowledge of the critical relationship between construction engineering, space planning and interior design.

A Quieter Home

Silent floor systems, acoustic insulation, and quiet plumbing systems are just a few of the standard products that we use to make our homes more sound, comfortable, and efficient.

A Stronger Home

All Dillard-Jones homes feature high-performance I-joists that are stronger pound for pound, straighter, and more reliable than traditional lumber. These superior I-joists also have reduced moisture content for floors with fewer pops and squeaks.

A Safer Home

All of our homes are pre-wired for security systems, offering a variety of wired and wireless technologies for safety, comfort, and home entertainment. Tailored packages include home theaters, whole house audio, paging/front door intercom from any phone, irrigation control, and thermostat/lighting control.

A Low-Maintenance Home

We use exteriors such natural stone, PastelCote®, integrated color stucco and James Hardie products for a virtually maintenance-free exterior. It also uses high-performance materials for underlayment and roofing that last 30 to 40 years.

A High-Performing Home

A Certified Green Professional by the National Association of Home Builders, Dillard-Jones Builders offers design and construction services that promote healthy living, protect the environment and lower energy costs. The company’s experience includes Energy Star® and EarthCraft House™certified homes, geothermal heating and cooling systems, and new homes built to standards of the American Lung Association’s Healthy Home program.

For more information, call us (864) 527-0463 or visit www.dillardjones.com.

Lower Energy Costs, Healthier Homes Prompt Dillard-Jones Clients To Go Green

A considerable rise in energy costs has prompted consumers to become more educated about ways to conserve. At Dillard-Jones Builders, our clients are more aware of the benefits of products such as ENERGY STAR®-rated appliances, Low-E windows and foam insulation.

“We’ve never had many green features in any of the homes we’ve owned, but we felt that having a green home was important for the future,” said Curt FitzGerald, whose Dillard-Jones custom home is under construction at Gary Player Estates at The Cliffs at Mountain Park. “The EarthCraft House™ certification which includes things like positioning the house to take advantage of sun direction to minimize cooling loads made a lot of sense to us.”

At Dillard-Jones Builders, we define a green home as a high performance home that is designed and built to promote healthy living, protect the environment, and lower energy costs. We have long incorporated “smart” green building products such as Low-E windows, high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, engineered structure systems, and recycled sub-flooring into all new construction. Today, those products are combined with low-impact site development and preparation practices that protect mature trees and help preserve the natural aesthetics of the landscape.

Our experience includes building to Energy Star®, Earthcraft House™ and LEED for Homes standards. The FitzGeralds’ home in Gary Player Estates has been designed and built to achieve Energy Star® and EarthCraft House™ certification while the 2010 Southern Living Showcase Home in Greenville was built to standards of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes program.

Green products and practices are incorporated into Dillard-Jones custom homes based on client requests. Some of the benefits of green products and practices are:

Healthier living

Green building practices encourage well-sealed duct systems, sealed combustion gas appliances, bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans, and balanced pressure ventilation systems. With tighter construction of the exterior envelope, adequate ventilation is especially important in green building because it reduces the potential for mold growth and buildup of allergens and other particulates. Additionally, air quality can be greatly improved through the use of low VOC chemicals and formaldehyde free products.

Comfortable living

Proper orientation of a home can take advantage of the sun’s radiant energy to provide free natural heat in the cooler months, while avoiding too much sun in the warmer ones. Better insulation and energy efficient windows, appliances, and lighting contribute to a comfortable environment while using less energy.

Financial savings

Green building practices and products make homes more energy efficient through proper insulation and air sealing, and lower water heating costs.

Less maintenance, higher durability

Green building dictates the use of premium materials that are more durable and construction practices that exceed building code requirements. Together, these qualities enhance a home’s performance, beauty, and reduce maintenance costs. Examples of long-lasting materials and their applications include: decking (recycled materials, natural stone, or renewable wood species), durable natural tile floors, natural roofing materials, fiber-cement siding, and low VOC paints.

For more information, contact Dillard-Jones Builders at (864) 527-0463 or visit www.dillardjones.com.