There are some things I know I will only get to do once in my life and others I may only get to do a relatively few times. This item falls under the category of something I will only get to do a few times. Specifically, building a three homes at the same time, in the same neighborhood all of a showcase quality, all with some or many new twists and turns and innovations, ALL will be in the big Parade Of Homes event coming this Summer to Richfield’s Reflection’s Village.

     I have written about Reflection’s before, but Reflections Village is somewhat of a “great experiment” and one that is exciting indeed to think may be possible. A small village unto itself, complete with fishing pond, club house and pool, a central park with band shell, nostalgic-styled homes, playground, extensive lush landscaping, more walking paths and sidewalks than I ever thought possible in one community, and a shopping district, which is starting with a fancifully designed bank building. Perhaps this shopping village area will one day have restaurants, a barber shop, bakery, gift shops, who knows, but ALL in a quaint town square style.

     A few years ago, I had a strangely similar vision to do something like this a few miles away in Germantown. I envisioned a circular town square where a waterway would join the parking lot to the village via a river pathway. Small tour boats would take visitors to the center of this town via these boats. Horse carriages and old 1920’s streetcars would also transport guests “back” into a world which was seemingly cut-off from today’s world by means of high landscaping and berms.

    My dream DID get off the ground. We had done millions of dollars of work on this development having cut in the waterways and a huge pond(almost a lake), and put in most of the infrastructure for this town square of 12 homes and a big main office building. We got the foundation for the 15,000 square foot building installed. We had the land preparred for my personal residence.  The designs were all done and paid for. We got all the septic systems installed. All the major grading was done. We blasted enough stone (and brought in huge stone crushing machines to pulverize the rock into smaller usable stones for the building’s construction) to make the entire 80 acres look more like a stone quarry than the future town square it might become.

    I had envisioned a place where the community could come to see live theatre on our office’s seminar stage. A place to have community fireworks on special events.  A place where we would have a unique mini-golf course, a tethered hot air balloon ride for getting a birds-eye view of the countryside, but mostly, a place to see the very latest home ideas  of all sorts. We would start with two concept homes and one central “castle“(actually a colonial building but at night it’s shape would remind you of a castle)  which would be the client center for selections of home products. There would be music, fun, and adventure with annual art fairs on the grounds and maybe even a restaurant. A horse stable to allow folks to ride the trails in a wooded area around  the pond. Our special guests(those who had bought one of our homes) would have an anytime pass to a video arcade, sand beach, and party villa which could be reserved for functions. The interior of the main building would have historically recreated rooms from famous buildings to serve as conference rooms. It would be a place which would attract home shoppers and fun lovers alike from across the state and beyond.   Much of this had been approved, some of this needed to be approved.

     All of this came very, very close to happening.  Then came 2006 and it’s great and sudden decline in home sales.  At first, it seemed like maybe we could continue this project on a less aggressive , slower path. As the months continued to pass, and sales continued to slow even more, it became apparent that this was not the right time to continue this dream. We pulled the plug, sent the excavators home, having just finished a $100,000 deep water well, we stopped proceeding to install the pumps. We removed the driveway culverts and put everything on ice, awaiting the time to improve and allow us to continue the dream.       Not a week passes that I don’t think about the dream and the hibernation of that dream and wonder how, when, and if we will ever be able to awaken this sleeping giant. With banking circumstances as tight as they have gotten, with the housing market having changed so radically, I just don’t know the answer.

    I do know that God always has a plan and that plan is far greater and more creative than any idea I could ever imagine. This brings us full circle to Reflection’s Village. Strangely , our Miracle Village would have not been exactly like this development but the similarities are definitely clear. At the heart of our involvement with Reflections, will be our most creative innovative ideas in new homes. Better yet, unlike Miracle Village, in Reflection’s, anyone can live in one of our(or other’s) creative homes.

     In my previous post, I gave you a report on our first home of the 3 we are building.  Stay tuned for news on our second home design we are building. It is a stressful time in getting these 3 homes completed, but it is a great time , a fun time as well.

    To let you know how the market is doing, we have signed 4 new home sales in the last 10 days.  I expect we will sign another 2 this week. I keep thinking the home market is back, but I still don’t see the real action in the higher priced homes above $300,000.  Since Reflections is likely in the $300 ,000 to $500,000 arena, I hope with the best interest rates…EVER(?), with banks just starting to loosen their grip….a little, Reflections, as I said, is the “great experiment“. If it works, who knows what dreams may be awoken.

      I hope you all will take a drive out to see the excitement , (I swear I can actually feel the excitement) happening in Richfield. The development will probably hit the airwaves with our radio and newspaper ads in a few weeks. If you do go out there, make sure you pick up one of our full color flyer’s in a brochure box under our big “bill board” signs, identifying our homes.

     Thanks for taking the time to read the blog. I appreciate comments, but make sure I can tell them from the many  spam comments I get daily by mentioning a  specific detail of a blog entry. I erase sooo many questionable spam comments.

     Until we dream again,

     Blessings,

     Tom Hignite

     Creative juices are flowing heavy around our offices as we are currently in the midst of doing something we have not done in many years.  We are building 3 model homes , all at the same time!  that means 3 sets of carpenter crews are all working at the same time. That means we have new questions and issues of products ,and measurements,  and colorsthat are needing our constant attention as the builders in the field run into un-clear numbers and engineering situations as each new piece of the puzzle comes together.

     You might think that following a blueprint would be good enough but when we are building new designs or modifications of old designs, new questions are bound to arise. Is an overhang supposed to be 12 or 14 inches? Does the concrete porch with the storage area below it have the most recent stell engineering plan, or is it the one from last week that has been changed? How thick do we really think those window grids should be? What choice of red bricks do I think will work best for which area, and can we find a close enough match for the near-by walk-way pavers?   When you are building one new home at a time, you have a lot of these questions When you build 3 at the same time, the effort seems more than 3 times as much!

     Last year for the Parade, we built a 1600 square foot ranch we called our “Little-Big House”. THis year, we have modified and improved the design and we now call it our “Little-Big House 2.0″. I was going to call it the “Son Of Little-Big House”, or “Little_Big House, The Sequel”, but saying “2.0″ seemed more Generation “Y” which is what Miracle is trying to aim our design sights on to.

     The biggest alteration in this new modified version is that the home is about 2 feet narrower and about 2.5 feet deeper. The exterior is absolutely going to charm everyone.  It will remind you of an older Victorian influenced home of the 1930’s to 1940’s era.  Last years version was craftsman in influence. This year, Virtually every home in the Parade (In Richfield’s Reflection’s Village site), is a craftsman design. When I saw the designs , I thought they were all lovely homes but I was SO happy I had taken a different path as it appeals to me to have something that is not fitting into the “group” and stands a bit apart.

     Victorian styled homes did not have too much in the way of masonry. They did have a lot of smooth painted woodwork. I have to admit, I am a little afraid of doing the woodwork in a smooth look since those rough-sawn siding and knotty boards commonly used in today’s homes provide a lot of hiding space for less than perfect exterior detailing. Since older homes had this smooth , no  knots, no grain, more furniture detailed look, I am going to try to go that route.

     This means, we will have to carefully attend to puttying the wood’s knots and imperfections before we can just start staining and painting. This home is going to be a cute combination of cream-yellow and white.   I have found some ornate looking flower boxes and most windows will have them built-into the bottom of each major window.  We are putting the roofs over each main window hanging over the window and being held-up by ornate carved wood brackets.  The corners all have the look of a fancy square wood pillar with crown moldings on the tops. The garage is somewhat “hidden” as a side entry garage.  The basement is being designed as a sort of separate apartment level complete with a kitchen(bar) with stove, theatre area, big bedroom with attached bathroom and its own laundry room. There is even a space for an extra bedroom or study or exercise room if you desire. Of course, this being a basement, we need to have a pool table area.

      The main floor has a Master bedroom separated away from the other two bedrooms and a big central great room with seating enough for 22. The dining area had seats for 8 to 10 with an additional 6 to 7 stools at the breakfast bar/kitchen. There are so many unique details in the decorating of this home but one of my favorites is the master suite which does not have a door on the main section of the master bath. This is much like a luxury hotel where the sink area is not in the same area as the toilet and shower.

     I also really like the alcove we have made for tucking the bed’s headboard into. We have a second alcove for a tall dresser and a huge 13 foot long master closet with a clothes chute going from this closet into the first-floor laundry room.

    The garage is a larger 2 space size but we added an extra 4 feet of storage area along the entire rear of the garage so you can use this for storage or for a longer vehicle or boat.

     Colors are such a big part of this home as I hope to have this home looking like an older grandma’s cottage complete with white painted cabinets that have a accent was of pewter on the detailing of the cabinets. The doors too will be similar and the hardware a dainty dull-gold. Not your typical black or brushed nickle colors at all.

     If you are in the Reflection’s Village area (Richfield off 175, you can see it from the main hwy 45 just north of Germantown) why not stop by and see how things are looking. We have just erected 2 (of our 3) 8 foot by 12 foot mini-billboards ,(one by each of our 3 homes) at Reflections. They are hard to miss!

     Next, I will give you a heads-up preview on our second home we are building for this year’s Parade. Thanks for blogging with me. I am always glad to read your comments, just emember to mention something specific from the blog so I don’t erase your comments as potential spam.

     Blessings,

     Tom Hignite

I was thinking of how important first impressions really are , not just in homes, but in everything in life. Like it or not, we are born pretty judgmental in nature. We may SAY we should not judge others but what we are really saying is we should not TELL others of our judgements very quickly or easily.

       When I meet someone, I am automatically making a quick opinion from the second I meet someone.  When we see a heavy set person (I verge on that group myself) or a skinny person, we start judging them as either eating too much or eating too little. When we see someone who is not dressed very well or is dressed as a fashion model, we immediatly form an opinion but, well tempered individuals tend to keep their words to themselves.   It is just how we are built and , speaking for myself, I try to gather more information before I ”confirm” what I am already thinking. 

      The other day, I was driving down the street near my Richfield home and saw a modest sedan car of a decade or older age stranded on the side of the road.  It was near a round-about, you know, those new traffic moving , somewhat confusing wonders.  I slowed down to see why this car was on the side of the road. Here is how my mind worked.

     I saw who looked to be an African-American heritage middle aged man pacing quicly next to his car with a cell phone up to his ear. He was dressed in a nice suit with a hanky in his pocket.  I immediately knew there was a gas station about one block away but needed to know why this man looked stranded. I passed him and considered that while I am always busy, my immediate schedule had about a half hour I could spare for my fellow human being, if I “had” too.  I turned my vehicle around and circled back to see if I could help.

     I would not have done this if this man and his car had not passed my initial “smell” test. I had indeed formed a quick first impression which needed to be confirmed with further investigation.  I pulled my car in behind his and rolled down my window as he approached my car. My quick question went out of “hey, do you need some help?” He explained he was going to a funeral and had run out of gas and his wallet was left at his Sister’s house in Racine. He had an Illinois license plate. He said he was on his way to Racine to see his Sister again and get his wallet. He also said someone had already stopped to assist him and had gone home to get some gas and was supposedly now on the way back to help him. He also went on to say he was wondering what was taking this would-be helper so long?  I offered to get him some gas and come right back. He seemed very grateful.

    He said he could not leave the car and he did not have money or a gas can. If  I wanted to, he offered to have me talk to his Sister and confirm that he was legit and that his Sister was busy at work but he assured me he would re-pay anything I would do to help him. I went to get some gas.  The clerk let me borrow the stations gas can and moments later, he had enough to get to the station. I already knew I would pay to buy this man some gas. Did I mention, he had a Bible on his back window sill which I saw when I drove back to talk to him with the gas can? I followed him to the station and he requested I let him fill the tank up with $50 or so. Suddenly, the hair on my neck began to raise with doubts.

     I told him I would give him $30 to get him to Racine and that was more than enough to make the trip. As he filled the tank, he was so thankful and I told him he did not have to repay me since I think one good turn in life should be passed on to others. I told him to do a favor for someone else, some other time. As he was coming to the end of his $30 fill, he then asked if he could have at least another $20 cash so he could get some food for his trip back. At this point, I knew I had been “suckered” and just said NO and I moved on as nicely as possible.

     My lesson was that first impressions are not always correct. Was I sorry I helped this man? Actually, I would be dishonest if I told you I did not feel like I was taken advantage of and I was sorry I had  stopped to help him. When I thought more, I think all things happen for a reason and this may be for me to sharpen my judgement skills more in the future. It could be that this man will see my generosity and something in him may change due to it. It could be I just don’t know what good will come from this for many years or ever, or it could be this incident allows me to have a blog subject tie-in.

    So,…how does this possibly relate in any way  to homes?  I will get to it.

A second story. I have gone to Disneyland many times. I once paid for a backstage tour as part of a Disney Institute learning program. I was learning how to “create magical feelings” in business or such. My small class/group entered Disneyland before it opened to the public for the day. We saw main street before the old fashioned music was playing. Before the old fashioned dressed people were driving those old fashioned vehicles down the street. Before the barbershop quartets were strolling or cotton candy vendors were pushing their carts. We saw modern service vehicles on the street. We saw workers polishing their  many brass railings and pressure washers washing down the roads and porches. We saw painters touching up building details, and boxes of merchandise being wheeled into the stores. Some building lights were turned on and some were off. I did not feel the “magic” I usually associated with this familiar place. If this would have been my first impression of Disneyland, I probably would NEVER be able to feel the same way I now feel about this place. I had a strong first impression which continues to stay with me.

     We have all heard the old saying,”you never get a second chance to create a good first impression“. I take this statement seriously. I go out of my way to make sure that others in my organization feel the same way I do.  I , sadly, do not always succeed in making others see my vision.

     When I built my office, I wanted to have happy music playing cheerfully as you entered the grounds. I wanted to have a clean front yard, well manicured grass, bright colorful flowers and not a weed in sight. Folks need to feel as though they are stepping into a fantasy when they enter our grounds. A picture-perfect setting, right out of a story-book. I have not succeeded..fully.   I am trying.   I want my receptionist to always offer a nice greeting and a beverage of choice. I get upset when phones are not answered immediatly on the first or second ring. This is not always possible but I refuse to allow a machine to do this important greeting. I never believed “Your call is very important to us, please stay on the line .”  I want the guest’s name to be written on our lobby board of welcome. I want our messy store-room door ,which is visible from a part of our lobby , to always be closed so no one sees this imperfect area and ruins the illusion of perfection.   I want everyone in the office to be cheerful and the bathrooms clean and the carpets vacuumed.  I want no debris or parcel post cardboard packages in the lobby. I want the coat closet cleaned and uniform clothes  hangers when folks hang their coats.  I want a ridiculously organized and clean lobby and office.  I want a dynamite, pristine  backyard area for guests to wonder into while they await an appointment. I want to make the impression that if someone builds with us, maybe this too could all be theirs.

     I don’t always suceed at creating this first impression at our office or at our model homes.   I don’t want model home visitors to be allowed to simply come right into the home because they have been waiting for a salesperson who was running a few minutes late.   Imagine if Disneyland decided to just open the gates because they wanted to not let anyone wait to enter. Imagine everyone entering the park as I did and there was no happy music, no lights were on, some bulbs were even burnt out!  No candles were lighted, no fireplace was turned on.   Imagine that the carpet had a muddy mark from a previous visitor or there were open toilet lids , or a soiled or maybe even a clogged smelly toilet.   Imagine seeing a candy dish with only 5 pieces of candy left and 3 discarded wrappers in the bowl.   Imagine seeing a garbage can in the kitchen that was overfilled and a basket of torn or dirty booties in the foyer. Why can’t we all see what we are or are not doing to create first impressions.

     Now imagine, this group of visitors who this late salesperson just felt so compelled to allow to enter and any one or three of the above items was to see some of these shortcomings. Once the first impression has been cast  there is simply no possible way to say to them” Now that I have the home properly turned-on and cleaned and quality-checked, and the music and lights are now turned-on, can you please just  go outside and come in again?”  The better way to treat those awaiting guests is to say to them,”Sorry for being a little late. I will go in the garage entry , unlock the hoouse, , turn on a few lights and be right with you. I will make your wait worth it!”.  We only get one chance to create a good first impression. I am sorry to say, I  still see infractions of this from some of my my most seasoned staffers. Sometimes, we just forget to sweat the details like we know we should.  We are however, much better than most in this business, but still not as great as we could and should be.

     If anyone out there ever enters one of my homes (or office)and has a bad or less than great first impression, I hope you will blog/comment  me and let me know.  If you are selling a home or having guests to your home, remember, you must create that great first impression.It does not just happen all by itself.   It is the way everything looks, everything works, feels, and even smells that everything combines  to make the “magic“. That includes  not only the home, but the way the salesperson or home owner presents him/herself as well.

     Blessings,

     Tom Hignite

     I am not a computer literate person and this week, when my computer crashed, I did not really do too much to get it up and running until today. Unfortunately, I am just packing for a short delayed weekend in Door County with the family. I tell you all of this because I am feeling the pressure and the guilt of not having been keeping updates on my blog this week. I thought an explanation of sorts was in order for all of you.

     I have been very busy overseeing the progress at our 3 Parade model homes we are building for Reflection’s Village in Richfield.  I just came back from having a progress inspection of our 2 spec homes we are building in West Bend. They are both coming along briskly as we are drywalling today at our ranch and just doing mechanicals on our 2 story.

     SO MANY CREATIVE THINGS are happening every day and perhaps when I get back in town in a few days, I can give you some real updates.

     Blessings,

     Tom Hignite