The Custom Home Blog

Construction Proceeds on Applehead Island

Construction is moving along well on the home currently being built by Custom Home Builder, Jenkins Custom Homes, on Applehead Island in Horseshoe Bay.  The home is framed and in the beginning stages of interior plumbing and electrical work.  This home is being built for out-of-town clients who enjoy the beautiful lake setting as well as the many activities Lake LBJ has to offer. Working with the Jenkins team from out of town has been drama-free, as the clients have taken advantage of the Jenkins web-based “Guide to Picture Perfect Projects” Personal Home page to view progress, project documents, and process change orders.  With these conveniences, the clients have only had to travel into town for a few critical-stage meetings.

Construction on this custom home began in the Fall of 2009 with the bulk head and boat house.  Those are continuing, as construction on the home continues as well.

A Really Cool Golf Experience

Golf Simulator

One of the really cool items we saw at the International Builder’s Show was this digital golf simulator by Full Swing Golf.  As you can imagine, their booth was widely attended by all.  “What is it?”, you say. It is a golf simulator that allows you to play Pebble Beach or any of over 50 of the world’s best courses right in your own home theater room.

The screen works beautifully for all your home theater movies as well as most gaming systems; so, you don’t have to have a separate screen for viewing movies.  When you take your shot, the ball hits the screen and takes off into the scene.  The company claims that accuracy was their primary concern when designing it and that the experience is just like being on the course.  Our team gave it a try and said that it does have the same look and feel as being there.  Most everyone who tried it said that it was a lot of fun.

It is also customizable, in case you don’t find a course you like; and you can even play online tournaments with other system owners.  Although a little pricey, this new technology is sure to be sought after by every avid golfer on the planet.

Top 5 Home Technology Trends

We recently attended the International Builder’s Show in Las Vegas, where we attended lots of seminars.  One of the big topics this year, as in years past, is home technology; however, the twist on this year’s seminars was “affordable technology”.  So many of today’s technologies are affordable and finding them in the plethora of choices is sometimes daunting.  Here are my “Top 5″.

  Convenience. These are the basics, like, when I get up at 3 am to go to the bathroom, the bathroom light comes on so I don’t trip on my shoes.  Convenience may or may not be expensive but can really change your life.

Accessibility. The smart phone has really changed everything in relation to accessibility.  Now, there’s an app for just about everything you can imagine on your home.  Want to watch streaming video of your kids getting home?  There’s an app for that.  Want to turn off the sprinklers because it’s supposed to freeze tonight?  There’s an app for that…  You get the picture.

  Green Technology.  This can mean a lot of things but the most popular ones usually involves some cost savings to the consumer or an ecologically-friendly impact on the environment.  These areas have really evolved recently to include things like tankless hot water heaters, geothermal heating, and solar panels.  These technologies for our homes are very site-specific; some of them are cost-prohibitive in certain areas while other alternatives have a 2- or 3-year cost benefit payout (which is fantastic!).  So, make sure you ask for a comprehensive cost analysis before you begin.

  Anticipation. Much of our new technology is created in anticipation of things to come.  Lately, we have installed a number of whole-house backup generators for our high end clients, for example.  They are anticipating power shortages at some point in the future.  Another example is the 3D technology that is coming, thanks in part to the movie “Avatar”.  At the International Builder’s Show, the speakers informed us that the new 3D technology that we saw on the big screen will some day be in our televisions in our homes.

Convergence.  Convergence in the technology realm refers to multiple technologies coming together to form a single, better solution.  In the home technology world, a great example of this is our ability to tie in the heating and cooling system into the home’s smart panel to allow for sensors in a room that control the room’s temperature when someone walks in the room.  You can imagine the many benefits for this type of feature, especially when you have two people living in a 6,000 square foot home or a couple who only comes to their lake home on the weekend.

There are so many more great new technologies which can be incorporated into a home.  The key is to really analyze how you live in your home and then talk to the experts about what’s out there.  If you are building a new home, do your research and be sure to discuss with your Builder the convenience, accessibility, green technology, anticipation, and convergence technologies which best fit your lifestyle.

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About the Author:  Bethany Jenkins is Vice President of Jenkins Custom Homes in Austin, Texas.  To read more about Bethany check out her bio here.

Jenkins Custom Homes completes Home in Spanish Oaks

Recently-completed in Spanish Oaks is a beautiful custom home for a very happy family!  This home features the signature Jenkins rock arch, a Jenkins Waterscape pool and landscape, and a spectacular indoor/outdoor entertaining area.  One of our favorite features, though, is the doggie shower and doggie “living space” which leads to the private outdoor living for the dogs.  The owners of this home came to Jenkins with a “concept” of what they wanted and no lot.  The Jenkins team assisted the family with just the right lot in Spanish Oaks to accommodate their needs.  The Jenkins team then analyzed the family’s lifestyle, created the design, and built the home.  The home is situated a little above grade and has fantastic Hill Country views off the side of the home.  Since the front door faces the cul-de-sac, the Jenkins team opted for a C-shaped design with the pool and outdoor living (complete with fireplace and grill) facing the great view.

“It’s a fabulous view, and they really get to enjoy it all the time,” says Shan Jenkins of Jenkins Custom Homes.  The Austin Custom Home Builder says he really enjoyed working with these particular homeowners because they were so complementary of our team.  “At every step, they seemed so joyful about the process.  That kind of excitement and enthusiasm is infectious, and I think we all felt it,” says Jenkins.  “In addition,” Jenkins states, “rarely do we see these kinds of great views with this amount of privacy in a subdivision.  It is much to the credit of the developer in Spanish Oaks.”  Spanish Oaks is between Austin and Bee Cave, conveniently located off of Highway 71.

If you like this post and think someone else might enjoy it, please do share it with our “Share / Save” link below.

About the Author:  Bethany Jenkins is Vice President of Jenkins Custom Homes in Austin, Texas.  To read more about Bethany check out her bio here.

International Builder’s Show

This year at the International Builder’s Show, we took our entire team.  It was so fun to attend seminars, walk the booths, and see the sights of Las Vegas together!  We truly enjoy being together and have such admiration and respect for each other.  I know we all feel enthusiastic about what we learned and are excited to bring it back and apply it.

One of the more interesting booths this year was the Kohler booth, not because of the plumbing fixtures, although they were great as always.  However, the real attraction for me this year was “Ed”, the guy from Extreme Home Makeovers…well, not him personally…rather, what he was showing.  It was a backup whole-home generator.  The best part about this generator is that they have partnered up with the company that manufactures the electrical panel to create a generator-ready electrical panel for very little additional cost.  What this means for you and me is that we can build our custom home with this panel and then decide later (if and when electrical shortages occur) to add the generator.  Adding a generator used to be an extremely costly proposition.  This makes it possible to prepare for it but not invest in it until it’s really needed or desired.

Stay tuned for more posts to come on the International Builder’s Show.  We learned so much this year that I will have to break it down into smaller posts.

About the Author:  Bethany Jenkins is Vice President of Jenkins Custom Homes and married to the owner, Shan Jenkins.  To read more about Bethany, check out her bio page here.

This Week’s Twitter Posts

• I get asked this once a day, so here's the latest housing forecast (good news) for Austin, local experts say – http://shar.es/aRc9p #