Group items tagged

the avanti group WASHINGTON - Julie Friedman, 40, and her fiance, Jonathan Spector, 48, were on a mission last fall to find a home that would comfortably fit the two of them plus their combined five kids. They were well aware that any house might need some tweaking to fit the bunch, so they brought along Howard Kandel, who is a design builder - a contractor who both designs and remodels homes. Thanks to new technology, little needs to be left to the imagination when it comes to home building, renovations and purchases these days. Remodeling companies use 3-D home-design software to present computer images of what a renovated home could end up looking like. "At the end of the day, very few people have the imagination to be able to look at a set of plans and have any idea of what that's actually going to look like," Kandel says. "We can throw in furniture and wall coverings, paint colors and different materials and literally build it probably to 90 to 95 percent of what it's really gonna look like." Friedman, who is a landscape designer, had always wanted a rambler with a U-shaped patio. "I wanted to feel like you would walk out of the back of your house and be surrounded by the garden, surrounded by the house," she says. "And somehow we just found it." Her dream home was on the market in Rockville, Md. But there was one problem: It was short two much-needed bedrooms. Cue Mr. Kandel. Using a 3-D home-design software package called Chief Architect, Kandel showed Friedman and Spector a lifelike rendering of what that house would become if they converted an unwanted formal family room into two extra rooms for the kids. "It really felt like what your home was going to look like," Friedman says. "Some of the girls' rooms were going to be these bright fun colors instead of just a plain white room, so he was able to change the color of the walls and change the color of the furniture." Companies such as Kandel Construction and Bowa in the Washington area work wi

Beth Kamm and her husband, Dr. William Kamm, appreciated the distinctive midcentury modern home at first sight and became its second owners in 1964. Architect Charles E. King had designed the sleek home in 1957; he had married Audrey Marsh and practiced in her hometown of Belleville. While the Kamms raised three children in the house, King gained fame over the decades. In 1991, Architectural Digest named him one of the "Top 100 Architects in America." He finished his career in St. Louis and died here in 1993. Nearly a half-century later, the Kamms still enjoy the brick ranch but are surprised that their home is drawing new attention. Recently, the Belleville Historical Society mounted a retrospective tribute to King's work and held a tour of seven of his estimated 100 area homes. The Kamm house, built for Raymond Lippert, was featured, along with King's original blueprints, passed from the Lipperts to the new owners. Beth was pleased when 150 people toured. Visitors included King's son, James, who came from Colorado for the event. "He had never seen it, and he really liked it. Everyone was very appreciative of the house. We're really honored; nobody has ever paid much attention." According to the historical group, King practiced in Belleville from 1947 until 1961, when he and Marsh divorced. Then in 1967, he married St. Louisan Constance Goldman-Baer and they lived in Pennsylvania and Florida, moving to St. Louis in 1990. King died at the age of 73 in 1993 at his Central West End home. The Landmarks Association of St. Louis features King in its spring newsletter. Andrew Weil, executive director, said the group would like to host the King retrospective at its downtown gallery, possibly in late winter or early spring 2014. Although the Kamms kept most of the original features, they made some important changes to accommodate their family of five. They enlarged the house from 2,300 to 3,800 square feet, with five bedrooms and three and a half baths. They

SAG HARBOR - From what will be the rooftop terrace of a penthouse at the transformed Bulova Watchcase factory here, the sweeping views of church steeples, Main Street shops, Peconic Bay and the port of this historic maritime village resemble a William Merritt Chase landscape painting. The vistas are the crowning glory of the long-awaited $40 million restoration and retrofit of the 1881 factory into a 64-unit luxury condominium complex. The project, built by Cape Advisors, a developer based in Manhattan, was designed by the architectural firm Beyer Blinder Belle. With its high-beamed ceilings and exposed brick walls, it is something of an anomaly in this Hamptons community dominated by single-family homes. The factory sat vacant as an eyesore near the heart of Sag Harbor for years. Construction on the condos, which will include lofts, town houses and bungalows, began in the fall 2011 and is expected to be completed next winter. The first model apartment, a $3.39 million two-bedroom penthouse, opens this weekend. James Lansill, a senior managing director of the Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, said that 880 potential buyers already fill a five-year-old waiting list. "It is unprecedented," Mr. Lansill said, referring to the historic retrofit and the advent of a deluxe condominium with a doorman, on-site superintendent and resort-style amenities. "There is barely such a thing as a condo in the Hamptons." Among those on the waiting list are owners of multimillion-dollar Hamptons mansions, including empty-nesters looking for something easier to take care of, without the need for a staff, pool guys and gardeners. Longtime seasonal renters who didn't previously buy because of maintenance responsibilities, particularly in the off-season, have also signed up. The distinctive units will carry hefty price tags. Factory lofts will range from $1.05 million to $3.22 million, and penthouses from $2.59 million to $10.2 million. In addition, 17 bungalows and town houses