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You Dream It --
You Can Live In It |
Sugarwood Homes, a licensed North Carolina General Contracting firm, is owned by Bill and Cyndi Daves of Murphy, North Carolina. As Tampa, Florida natives, we have lived in Murphy for a little more than 8 years, and enjoy the mountain lifestyle.
With an extensive background in residential real estate and development, we have a good handle on what our clients are looking for when it comes to the construction of a mountain home. Tongue and groove ceilings, wood accent walls, oak, hickory, or pine floors, fireplaces, wood cabinetry, tiled shower rooms, hand-hewn cedar hand rails with hardwood staircases, and an abundance of windows are just a few of the details we feel are important to consider while building a mountain home.
In today's real estate market and new construction environment, many changes are evident. Primarily, nearly all of the costs associated with new construction are down significantly. The cost of new materials are way down, and subcontractors ranging from excavators, to block masons, framers and carpenters, plumbers and painters, and on and on, are now willing to negotiate their fees. And as a general contracting firm, we too are negotiating fees, and are offering incentives to clients looking to move forward on construction projects. It is definitely a "win-win" situation for owners. If you're looking to save a substantial amount of money, now is the time
"I OWN A GREAT LOT IN NORTH CAROLINA AND WOULD LIKE TO BUILD A HOME ON IT, BUT I LIVE A THOUSAND MILES AWAY!"
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Most of our clients have never experienced what it is like to build a home, while some have built one or two homes during the course of their lives. Secondly, nearly all of our clients live 500 or more miles away from their property. To make it even more interesting, nearly everyone has heard "horror stories" about building a home, so to attempt to build a home and not have the luxury of visiting the project everyday or so sounds like a nightmare, doesn't it? Well, the reality is that it does not have to be a nightmare. In fact, it should be one of the most pleasurable and rewarding experiences you could have.
What does it take? Here are the simple ingredients necessary in order to insure that you actually enjoy the building process-
- Begin planning 60 to 120 days minimally, in advance of the date you want to actually start construction.
- Physically visit the builder's projects to determine the quality of workmanship.
- Inquire as to the types of materials that the builder will use, then insure that the contracts specify the same materials described onsite.
- Insure that you are able to develop a rapport with the builder. If you have philosophical differences from the very first meeting, it is unlikely that the relationship will continue to flourish.
- Ask for references.
- Ask whether or not the builder will require you, the owner, to pull the building permit. If you are required to either pull the permit or put the permit in your name, you should start listening for the "bells and whistles" to start going off.
- Ask about the financial stability of the builder. Enough said about this one.
- Rely on your builder to provide guidance, not to tell you what you don't want. Your builder should advise you of certain conditions and ramifications regarding matters such as such as slope, grade, erosion concerns, etc., but not to tell you whether you want 6 inch tile in lieu of 12 inch tile. Again, it is guidance that you seek.
- Ask how often you will be required to send money. If the builder can not financially support the project for 20 to 30 days between draws, ask why. Most subcontractors in this area expect immediate payment upon completion of the rough-in and trim-out stages.
- Ask the Chief Building Inspector about the builder. They don't provide references, but they are a reliable source of information.
Our business model and philosophy is one that's simple to grasp-
We are highly successful at
exceeding the expectations of our clients.
This is a statement that's much, much easier said than done.
We do not advertise;
Our clients do it for us.
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WHAT MODELS ARE OFFERED BY SUGARWOOD HOMES?
The Dogwood
From our early days and continuing through today, the Dogwood has been and still is fantastically popular. The Dogwood measures 40 feet long and 24 feet wide incorporating 960 square feet of living space; is a ranch style, 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom home featuring 16 foot cathedral spruce tongue and groove ceilings in the kitchen, great room, master bedroom, and master bathroom. Both gable ends of the Dogwood are fitted with large sections of fixed glass to allow an abundance of natural light. The standard front covered porch measures 40 feet long and 8 wide, but can be increased in both length and width. The open deck on the kitchen measures 32 feet long and 8 feet wide, but, again, can be increased in both length and width. In the great room, access to the front porch is by two out-swinging French patio doors, and access from the master bedroom is via the same door style. The fully vented wood burning fireplace and chimney system is Underwriter Laboratories approved for easy conversion to propane gas. Interior floors are Hardwood Oak in the main living areas, with carpet in the bedrooms. The exterior is finished with D-log siding which offers the impression of a log home, but does not require the extensive maintenance tasks required by full log homes. Central heat and air is standard. This particular model is best situated on a crawlspace, but if the 24 foot by 40 foot footprint is increased to 44 feet in length, a basement can be easily adopted to fit the Dogwood.
Dogwood and the Cedar models, both of which are ranch style homes, and the Willow, an 1800 square foot mountain chalet with a very flexible floor plan. The Dogwood has become exceptionally popular for many people.
The Cedar
With the one exception, the Cedar model evolved to satisfy the desire of owners that were looking for more than 960 square feet of living space, but that did not want to lose the rustic styling of the Dogwood. Hence, the dimension of the Cedar is 24 feet long and 50 feet long, incorporating 1200 square feet of living space. The great room, kitchen, and master bedroom all feature a substantial increase in living space. With the exception of the outside dimensions, the Cedar and Dogwood nearly the same floor, deck, and porch plans. The Dogwood and Cedar models have been copied by other builders more than any other home in Cherokee County. Unfortunately, their attempts to cut their costs have had substantial impacts on these knock-offs.
The Willow
The mountain chalet style has been popular for over a decade, but has always been short on several interior features that today's buyer just will not live without. To that end, we have incorporated large closets, a separate mud room entry, a spacious washer-dryer room, an extra half bath on the main level, and 10 foot ceilings in the loft bedroom. Given the durability and beauty of Hardwood Oak, we use it through the main living area on the main floor, with carpet in the bedrooms. We just can't seem to accept drywall ceilings, so, like nearly every model we build, the ceilings in both the great room and the loft bedroom are Spruce tongue and groove. The kitchen is quite spacious, and includes a truly functional island. The gable end of the home is fitted with over-sized fixed glass panes in order to capture long range views from both the great room and the loft areas. All interior doors are solid 6 panel pine. Looking for upgrades? Ask to see the Hickory staircase and flooring, the White Cedar hand rails and pickets, and the black walnut framed maple cabinets.
The Holly
This particular model is derived from one of our owner-clients that came to us after a lengthy but unsuccessful search for a home that would serve as a comfortable full time residence. Not to be defeated, they sat down and drew their own house plans, and with great success we must add. The result is a flowing 3 bedroom home with 19 foot ceilings, excellent dimensional aesthetic attributes on the interior, and comfortable 2 car attached garage for the ????????. Wrap around decks and porches are accessed by out swinging French patio doors from the master and guest bedrooms, Hardwood Oak flooring in all the living areas, and porcelain tile floors are all coming together nicely. The great room features an oversized floor to ceiling fireplace which is flanked by custom built-in Hickory book shelves. Ask to see this model if it intrigues you.
What If I Don't Like Any Of The Plans Offered By Sugarwood Homes?
That's perfectly alright. Our suggestion is for you to consider a couple of options. The first is to allow us to recommend a local architect that is familiar with the North Carolina Building codes. A local architect will be familiar with the engineering required in the event your lot is steep and quite sloping. Architects licensed in Florida rarely have to address backfilling heights of 7, 8, and 9 foot or greater, and the engineering requirements necessary to construct below grade structures must be done correctly the first time. We also have architects that will address only the basement aspect of the project if necessary.
We are happy to provide limited assistance in the development of floor plans, with the understanding that this task can be extremely time consuming. We invite you to contact us for further discussion regarding the most productive manner in which to reach your goal.
We hope that we haven't overloaded you, and are more hopeful that you have gained some insight into the process of building a home in the mountains. We encourage you to spend some time viewing the images linked from this page, thereby furthering your own home building knowledge.
We look forward to hearing from you!
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Sugarwood Homes, LLC
A Licensed North Carolina General Contracting Firm (NCGC #54071)
Bill & Cyndi Daves
75 Tennessee Street,
Murphy, North Carolina 28906
phone 828-361-9419
E-mail c21teamdaves@aol.com
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