Homearama 2009 is down to 'judgment' day

By Nora Firestone
Correspondent  

Six intense months from groundbreaking to finials, and yet the real pressure mounted on judgment day.

Sure, Homearama 2009's builders had been challenged all along on their wild ride: by a shortened deadline after the showcase moved not once, but twice, before landing at Culpepper Landing in Chesapeake; by Mother Nature; and, of course, by Murphy's Law.

But it's worth it, they say, and earning an award or two makes the journey even sweeter.

Eight-hundred people visited the show site in Deep Creek on Oct. 2 for the Tidewater Builders Association's annual Homearama awards ceremony.

Builders, landscapers and designers of this year's 12 featured houses anticipated announcements that they had impressed judges enough to earn the sought-after gold, silver and bronze takeaways in myriad categories.

"There certainly is healthy competition," Brenda K. Reid, New Homes Division director with William E. Wood and Associates and chairwoman of this year's contest, said the week before. "These builders work long and hard to create a beautiful home. This is the one chance they get to show the world what they can do and what's new and innovative in the industry."

Two days before the ceremony, pressure surrounded 31 judges, a group made up largely of landscape architects, builders, interior designers and other industry professionals from outside our market, Reid said.

Unaware of who built which home, they used a point system to evaluate such things as craftsmanship, design flow, use of space, integration of special features and overall impression within 19 Critics' Choice categories.

Several other categories, judged by local professionals, included the TBA's Past Presidents' Favorite Home, Associates' Choice for Best Special Product Feature and The Virginian-Pilot's Excellence in Building Award.

Toni Korby, owner of Antonia Korby Design Inc., and Carol Babione of Fauxtastic Finishes judged Most Creative, Best Interior Design, Best Outdoor Living Area, Best Family Room and other fields. The women, both from Centerville, squeezed patio furniture cushions, touched counter tops and fireplace surrounds and took note of color and detail in everything from trim and space use to windows and treatments.

"I'm picky about fabric," Korby said while caressing the drapes in one home's living room. "I don't want my silk to look like antique satin."

She stepped back and scanned the room.

"Seems like an opportunity for more color there," she noted.

But "look how cool," Korby later said about one kitchen's etched-glass pantry doors. "Except that my (pantry's) not so tidy. I don't know that I'd want anybody looking in there."

In general, Korby said, "we like to see color flow and personality flow. Does (the house) carry out an overall theme?"

They prefer shower tiles to inserts and enjoy hand-painted murals and faux finishes, Babione added.

"We're looking for that 'wow' factor," Korby said, having seen four homes already. "We find it in little things, but we haven't (yet) been 'wowed' by an entire house."

Jim Robinson and Ernie Chenault, both managers at The Virginian-Pilot, judged kitchens, master suites, landscapes, curb appeal, overall impression and more. Chenault liked The Sydney Lambert's master suite, with its "nice windows" and placement of master bathroom and adjoining sitting room.

Robinson favored an "open feel," durable materials and high counter tops.

"This would (rank) high on my innovations list," he said, pulling out shelves and drawers in The Whitaker's kitchen cabinets and noting great use of such space in a few other homes, too.

Robinson awarded one house 10 points for its exterior but thought that inside "it didn't flow well," he said.

"Some guys would want to buy a house based on the backyards, but our wives wouldn't let us," he joked. "I think you're going to find something for everyone in these houses."

Karen Gaskins of the Hampton Roads Realtors Association judged for its Most Livable Home.

"I'm looking for what I call 'family function,' " she said. "How family-friendly is this house" in terms of intimate spaces, work spaces, room for folks to congregate and privacy, she asks herself. "And then I have a few quirks of my own - what I like and don't like." Added Gaskins, "Trying to compare houses of different sizes isn't always easy. Some larger homes don't make the best use of space," while "some small houses maximize every foot."

WATAB Construction Corp.'s The Elderberry, a Christmas-themed house, took the sole award in that category.

Builder William Brice had maintained "that if we could win the Most Livable house - given by the people who actually sell the homes - that would be one of the best compliments we could get," he said.

Builders Sam Cohen and Chip Iuliano of Next Level Group LLC took gold for Best in Show for one of their two entries, Morningside Manor, a Craftsman-style home.

"Sam and I have kind of embattled each other year after year, one taking silver, the other taking gold, " Iuliano said after the announcement.

This year the men teamed up, figuring they could capitalize as a team on the individual strengths of each. Though "we didn't build the houses to win awards - we built them to sell them, in this economy, in the market that's out there right now" - the teamwork paid off, Iuliano said.

Debra Puckette of JCPenney Custom Decorating in Chesapeake Square Mall and Gayle Johnson of Inspired Spaces earned gold in Best Interior Design for The Whitaker by SGB Homes. The house was the show's sole modular home.

Puckette, who started sewing doll clothes by hand at age 7, called her first Homearama event "exciting and fulfilling. I've been on Cloud Nine ever since (the award)," she said.

After 24 years as a decorator, "to say that this is the highlight of my career would be pretty accurate."

Nora Firestone, nfirestone@verizon.net