Life After Patriot Homes

I just got back from installing a new model home, model apartment and clubhouse in Upstate NY and thought I’d share how it turned out. This client is a wonderful innovative, market-driven builder and developer and is always looking for something in his communities to create a memory point and set his homes apart. These homes were a great example of how we work together.

Riedman Development is very involved in the community – especially the Seneca Park Zoo which is one of the best run small zoos in the country. To play up the zoo we created a child’s room that focused on the zoo and animal conservation complete with graphics that played up the zoo’s animals and logo. The kids bath was a “penguin palace” which featured one of the favorite exhibits at the zoo. We also geared the buyer profile so that the wife was a volunteer at  the zoo and we have marketing materials from the zoo in her home office. The builder plans on having some fundraisers for the zoo at the home. As is the case with most of us these days, budgets were a huge concern so this model was done “recycling” furniture and accessories from the builders previous models to keep costs down.

Timber Banks which was the community with the clubhouse and apartment model was designed to introduce visitors to the builder who was new to this market and let them know about the amazing features this community and location have to offer. The community sits on the Banks of the Seneca River and has it’s own enclosed harbor. Within a 1 to 3 hour drive, you can experience the Adirondack Mountains, the Thousand Islands, and Finger Lakes wine country. Lakes Ontario, Onondaga and Oneida as well as the Erie Canal provide true sailing and boating opportunities on a grand scale. To play this up we focused in on the antique boats that you can see cruising down the river, and the Antique Boat Museum which is nearby. Furnishings and decor were geared to show the lifestyle and quality that people coming to the community would experience.

Making a project memorable and helping to stimulate sales is what we do best. Incorporating the lifestyle of the buyers is what being a Lifestylist is all about, and the Lifestylist Design difference.

Needless to say, being x thousands of miles away from my home on the
Texas coast while stationed here in Baghdad, I spent a sleepless night a
couple of Fridays ago when Hurricane Ike was about to roll thru the
Houston-Galveston area. My brother was able to make it out to my place
on Saturday evening after the storm had rolled thru. Amazingly, not a
SINGLE scratch on my 2006 Patriot home…not even a missing shingle! On
top of that, all my animals/livestock were well & accounted for. I just
wanted to thank you & Patriot Homes for building a good, solid product.
After seeing all the photos depicting damage from the storm, it was
almost unbelievable that my place survived unscathed. I guess “God takes
care of Soldiers & fools.” Thanks again…

Sadly, when many people think of manufactured housing they think about mobile homes that were built in the 70′s with no design or interest in the floorplans.

A Patriot Home is anything but a mobile home – they are well built, beautifully designed and in many cases come complete with designer options that you have to pay an additional change fee to get in a site built home.

Patriot Homes of Texas announced this month that they were upgrading the design and finish of many of their faucet, lighting, and cabinet hardware selections. Lifestylist Suzanne Felber helped them identify the trend that finishes are going to a more distressed patina and the pewter and antique nickel finishes are what consumers are looking for. Many companies have gone to an oil rubbed bronze look, but this style seems to be running it’s course with the antique nickel taking over the consumers choice position.

Happy Memorial Day! This was a wonderful family filled one for me – I drove up to Oklahoma City to spend the day with my parents, sisters, and their families.

This month I’ve been very busy doing model homes across the country for Patriot, and also working on my new Lifestylist Design products that will be launching in January. It’s been really exciting to see the Lifestylist program come full circle, and to see how people have embraced the concept and made it their own.

My sister is the perfect example of what Lifestylist Design is all about. It should be about you – your life, your loves, your discoveries, not some designer or other persons interpretation of how they think you should live. I was finally able to get up here to see the new home that she and her family have been working on, and it’s spectacular! And the best thing about it is that when I walk in the home, or even when I drive up to the home there is no question that this is an active outgoing family who loves life and are individuals. From the start my sister refused to get “typecast” into a specific style or theme. Instead she incorporated things that they saw on various trips, items that were gifts on very special occasions, and was wise enough to encourage her subcontractors to be partners with her on this journey. The result is a marriage of craftsmanship and character that will never be replicated the same way again, just as my sister is a one of a kind.

“Rules” are meant to be broken, especially in the design world. The next time someone tells you what you can or can’t do with your home tell them that you practice the Lifestylist Design philosophy where what you love is never put in question.

It seems like FEMA trailer is a term that won’t be missing from our vocabularies for quite awhile, but what truly is a FEMA trailer?

When the media discusses FEMA trailers it seems to be trying to lead the public into believing that that the manufactured homes built to house survivors of Katrina and Rita are the issue, but the facts are showing that the issues coming to light are with the RV’s that most survivors were housed in, not the manufactured homes.

This Lifestylist® has visited the affected areas and has seen how many RVs are housing people vs manufactured homes, it’s hard to believe that people are still being housed in recreational vehicles that were never meant (or tested) to be used as long term housing.

One of the great things about Manufactured Housing is that besides the homes being built in climate controlled,under roof facilities, they are also built to very strict national codes dictated by HUD.

Patriot Homes is a great example of a home builder doing the right thing, and offers great design, quality and value quickly and efficiently. Check them out and be prepared to change yoru opinion of manufactured housing!