Lake Travis View Highlights Jenkins Custom Homes In Recent Article

Jenkins Custom Homes is named ‘Custom Home Builder of the Year’

Jenkins Custom Homes proudly announced projected earnings in 2009 to exceed those of 2008. Another testament to the homebuilder’s steadfast success, even in the midst of a recession, was made at the Texas Association of Builders Star Awards, where Jenkins Custom Homes was named the 2009 Custom Home Builder of the Year for Texas.

The competition at the Star Awards this year was stiff, with many accomplished homebuilders vying for a chance at the prestigious award. “Our unique Lifestyle Analysis(c) program, an excellent website, and an amazing team were key to our success this year,” said Shan Jenkins, owner of Jenkins Custom Homes.

In addition to winning Custom Builder of the Year, Jenkins took home seven other Star awards, including Best Custom Home and Best Architectural Design. The homebuilder was also named Builder of the Year in 2006, placing it among an elite handful of custom builders in the state of Texas to win the award more than once.

The award goes to the Texas homebuilder who best displays excellence in areas such as design, construction, industry leadership, and community altruism. Jenkins demonstrates all the qualities the Texas Association of Builders seeks in industry and community involvement. Locally, Shan Jenkins serves as President of the Lakeway chapter of the Home Builders Association of Austin. Nationally, Jenkins serves as host to the Custom Builder’s Symposium tour, and is an active member of various homebuilder associations.

Bethany Jenkins, vice president of Jenkins Custom Homes, attributes Jenkins’ victory to community involvement. “We feel that the more you give to your community, the more you receive. The fact that we’ve had such a successful year is partly because we make getting involved a priority.”

Jenkins Custom Homes has been building luxury custom homes in Austin and surrounding areas for more than 15 years. Jenkins’ unique Lifestyle Analysis(c) program sets the homebuilder apart from its competition, and guarantees any project to be within 5% of the original design cost. With over 100 homes constructed, totaling more than $50 million, Jenkins has a solid track record that is now uniquely recognized through the award of Custom Builder of the Year.

Source: http://laketravisview.com/2009/12/11/jenkins-custom-homes-is-named-%E2%80%98custom-home-builder-of-the-year%E2%80%99/

The Skinny On Energy Efficiency

Google's PowerMeter

When faced with building a new home, you may be surprised at the number of options available for lowering your energy consumption, and thus, your utility bills. However, some ideas are better than others, and a good rule of thumb, according to Bethany Jenkins, Vice-President of Jenkins Custom Homes, is to evaluate the product and choose those with a 2-4 year payback. One of the benefits of building a new home – as opposed to purchasing an existing – is the flexibility you have in design. Here are some of our favorite ways to control energy costs:

1. Start with a great design. Your home’s orientation on the lot, as well as the location of windows and doors, can take into consideration cross-ventilation and the direction of the sun in both winter and summer months.
   
2. Have a carefully planned “thermal envelope”. The thermal envelope is a technical term for the insulation in your home. Think of it like a thermos – the quality of the insulation is what determines how hot or cold your liquid inside remains. The same is true of your home. Putting your money into a high-density foam insulation and highly efficient windows will keep your home warmer or cooler, therefore reducing the number of times the A/C or heater has to cycle on and off.
   
3. Require high-performance mechanical systems (heating and cooling systems, hot water heaters), as well as appliances.
   
4. Employee technology when cost-effective (occupancy sensors for lights, A/C & heater, for instance).
5. Carefully placed trees can shade your house from cold winds or the summer heat, and drought resistant landscaping will lower your water usage.  A good landscape architect can design your green space with eye toward lowering your energy costs.
   

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.

James Bond Wishes He Had One

Okay, so maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement, but can’t you just see this in a James Bond movie?

When the designers of the Parade Home looked at the plans, they knew something special needed to be done with the space that was created behind the wall of the small study.  The shape of the space meant that it could not be used for a traditional room, but it was just the right size for a safe room.

The term “safe room” may have been popularized by Jody Foster but it is actually just a room where a homeowner can place safe(s) that is/are hidden from someone attempting to burglarize the home.  In this particular house, the space is big enough for someone to hide in, but the door does not actually lock shut.

Of course, does it matter if the burglar can’t find the door or even any evidence of a room?!!

The “door” to this room is, in fact, a motorized cabinet that turns 360 degrees when a secret button hidden behind a book on the shelf, is pressed.  What’s really neat about this cabinet is that it serves many purposes -- wet bar, multimedia cabinet, door -- pretty much as much as you can expect from a cabinet!

Is this practical for every home?  Of course not.  But what’s really great about this specialty cabinet is that it makes the most of the space while enhancing the lifestyle of the homeowner.  And isn’t that what everyone is after?  To find out more about the Custom Builder who built this, read about it here.

Great Architecture

This post was written on Fri September 19, 2008 by Shan Jenkins of Jenkins Custom Homes.

A few years ago when Texas A&M was playing Notre Dame, my father-in-law graciously offered to fly us in his Cessna 210 to South Bend Indiana.  What I thought was going to be a long airplane ride to a football game turned into an education on great design, architecture, engineering, and construction.  On our return from South Bend (fyi, time ran out on the aggies – but that’s another story), we stopped in St. Louis for the evening and toured the famous “Gateway Arch” the next morning.

I have often admired the arch from far away in textbooks while a student, etc., but to actually take the ‘elevator’ to the apex and touch the monumental structure with my own hands had a profound impact on me.

The visionary architect of the Gateway Arch was Eero Saarinen.  Interestingly, Eero Saarinen was often criticized for creating a new design ‘style’ with each and every project.  He consistently broke all of the ‘rules’ with his unique and creative solutions to the needs of his clients.  Eero Saarinen was also unique in that he considered his clients to be co-creators of his architecture and attributed much of his success to them.

Likewise, while my design prowess is light years behind that of Eero Saarinen, I believe that I share his same philosophy.  That philosophy being that I am more about solving problems than being a slave to the classic textbook rules of design.  I want to answer the needs of my clients with unique and special ideas.  I also believe that my clients are my co-creators.  Between their Lifestyle, their lot, and their vision, the greatest shapes can emerge, and most importantly, they are the shapes that the ‘creators’ best relate to and thrive in.  Not what someone told them had to be.