November 18th, 2020

Hendersonville home builders lean into buyers’ desire for larger lots

Original article by Bill Lewis for the Tennessean> Home interiors are changing to fit the ways we live today, with open floor plans that bring families together and quiet office and study spaces where parents and kids can concentrate. Now those changes are extending beyond the door into the yard. Lennar Homes is introducing homes on larger lots in Hendersonville’s Durham Farms neighborhood. David Weekley Homes and Drees Homes also have larger lots. All three builders are offering homes with 70-foot yards. They are bucking a trend that has seen lots nationally continue to shrink, according to a blog post in October by the National Association of Home Builders. “Adding to its current offerings at Durham Farms, Lennar has created a variety of floorplans for the homes on 70-foot home sites that are designed to fit the different lifestyles of today’s families,” said Lacey Edwards, marketing manager for Freehold Communities, the developer of Durham Farms. “For a family who may be looking for more space, these homes will feature up to four bedrooms and are available with three-car garages with prices starting in the $400,000s. They are beautifully designed and will enhance the variety of new homes we have available within the community,” she said. David Weekley Homes offers its Cottonwood series of homes on 70-foot lawns. They feature four or five bedrooms, three to four and a half baths and have 2,800 to 3,451 square feet of living space. Prices start in the low $500,000s. Drees Homes offers large-lot homes with four bedrooms and four and a half baths. The homes have 3,500 to 3,954 square feet of space. Prices start in the low $600,000s. Lennar’s new large-yard homes are near the Farmhouse, the amenity center at the heart of Durham Farms that features a state-of-the-art fitness facility, resort-style swimming pool with a splash pad, outdoor deck and lounge area, free Wi-Fi work café, community conference room and a game and activities area. The homes range from 2,308 to 2,872 square feet with three to four bedrooms, three to three and a half baths and two- or three-car garages. Lennar’s homes are Wi-Fi certified to ensure connectivity throughout the house. Many home buyers aren’t interested in houses with oversized interior spaces. Instead, their focus is on outdoor living areas, said Gretchen M. Fitzsimmons, a Realtor with The Ashton Real Estate Group of RE/MAX Advantage. “They don’t want all the square footage they aren’t going to use in the house. They want the outdoor space. They make it part of the living area,” she said. “You have all this with COVID, being home so much. We don’t know how long we’ll be working from home, spending so much time in our house,” so people are focusing on outdoor spaces, said Fitzsimmons. In addition to their 70-foot lots, Lennar Homes and David Weekley Homes offer houses on 50- and 60-foot-wide lots. Lennar has homes on 50-foot-wide alley lots, as well. Durham Farms will have more than 1,000 homes on 472 acres when complete. Builders active in the neighborhood include Celebration Homes, Ryan Homes, Grandview Homes, Lennar Homes, Drees Homes and David Weekley Homes. Goodall Homes builds townhomes, which recently sold out.