The completed home will be a surprise for most tour-goers, but here’s a picture of this year’s “green” show home (above) under construction recently in the Sunset Hills neighborhood near the Country Club Plaza. Tickets will go on sale Wednesday for this Kansas City Homes & Gardens Boulevard of Dreams Green Living Show Home Tour. The “all-green” home is an Old World-style residence built by Keith Eymann (below), co-owner of Ambassador Homes. He has specialized in building energy-efficient homes since 1972, garnering several local and national awards along the way. Tour dates will be Oct. 8-10 and 15-17. Joe Carter, World Series Home Run King for the 1993 World Series, and his wife, Diana, are developer and designer on the project with his HOMErun Development LLC, along with Wolfgang Trost architects.
Kansas City Building Supply installed the windows (see some below) in the Green Living Show Home. These Jeld-Wen windows are coated with a virtually invisible oxide layer that reduces infrared radiation, controlling heat transfer and reducing energy loss. The company’s goal is to be the industry leader in environmentally responsible practices and products.
Interior Designer Diana Carter (below) chose the flooring, countertops, paint, tile and much more for this green house. She wanted it to be elegant and warm, like the surrounding neighborhood, and chose natural colors such as blues, greens and yellows as well as earthy colors like browns and grays. To learn all about the house and how it was constructed and designed, go to www.GreenLivingShowHome.com.
NAR president responds to TIME Magazine article
Vicki Cox Golder, president of the National Association of Realtors, this week went on the record in response to TIME Magazine’s recent article that questioned whether homeownership is still a good thing for the American people.
In her letter to TIME Magazine, Golder said: “Recent attacks on the value of home-ownership are knee-jerk reactions to current economic conditions, and Barbara Kiviat’s article, ‘The Case Against Homeownership,’ is no exception. There’s a reason owning a home has long-standing government support in this country — because housing helps drive the economy and sustains families and communities, through good times and bad.
Homeownership didn’t create the foreclosure crisis — Wall Street greed and irresponsible lending practices did. In fact, some of the suppositions Kiviat makes are absurd — far from ‘hollowing out cities’ and keeping ‘renters out of the best neighborhoods,’ homeowners helped revitalize urban centers, bringing amenities and public services for the benefit of all.
The positive impact of homeownership on society has been well documented; extensive research from government agencies, industry, and academia has shown that homeownership contributes to stable communities, helps reduce crime and improves academic achievement.
All of this debate ignores the real issue facing the nation’s economy right now — that many Americans can’t find meaningful work to support their families. Housing cannot recover until jobs return to the economy. A focus on job recovery is what’s needed right now, not misguided attempts to dismantle support for something that has helped sustain this country and its communities through the Great Depression and beyond …”
Agents show off condos for sale in historic building
The Ponce De Leon at 4555 Main is a historic building built in 1910 with large one -and two -bedroom homes, most of which have been updated in the last four years. Many of the condos feature original hardwoods, granite counters, stainless appliances and tiled baths. Three Reece & Nichols agents (Andrew Kneisler, Dee Dee Cooper and Tricia Napper) and Stephanie Kulp with Keller Williams showed off their listings this week with a luncheon tour sponsored by Ryan Plattner of Plaza mortgage, who brought in chopped salad and desserts from the Sunset Grill. The units ranged from $375,000 to $185,000. Below, a view from a deck.
The updated kitchens (below) are a selling point at Ponce de Leon, agents said.
