Connor Homes Monthly Newsletter  |  May 2016 
 

 
Memorial Day is the kick-off that propels us into summer; it's is hard to believe that June is already here. As your calendars are filling up fast with family vacations, BBQ's and summer activities, we hope, you'll be joining us at a Connor Homes Open House!
 
We are delighted to share with you the photos from our most recent Open House, held in South Burlington, Vermont. This beautiful custom, Federal-style home and guest cottage, highlighted a diversity of interior architectural details and combined the homeowners' exquisite taste with our expertise millwork capabilities. The end result was breathtaking. We connected with familiar faces and met many new Connor Homes fans. Thank you again to all who attended.
 
Our Open House schedule features one event a month until November. While you still have plenty to time to register for a visit, spaces fill fast, so please register as soon as possible. We have three more confirmed events scheduled. To view the South Burlington Open House and/or to register for one, click here.

Thank you for your well wishes and congratulations regarding our involvement with  This Old House. We are sad to say the last episode aired over the Memorial Day Weekend although we still continue to see an incredible amount of activity from the show. If you missed any episodes, you can find them all here.
 
We continue to engage with clients new and old to iron out design details and to deliver homes near and far. We are tremendously grateful to our loyal group of followers and are inspired by the number of new folks we are talking with that share our dedication to building distinctly beautiful homes. 
 
We have prepared another great newsletter that is full of eye pleasing photos, informative articles and a summary of what is happening here at Connor Homes. 
 
Enjoy!
 
The Connor Homes Team



This is the second article in a series featuring the talented craftsmen of Connor Homes. All biographies will be kept on our blog for your future enjoyment.

Avery Hamilton, Connor Homes Designer

Avery Hamilton grew up in Maine in a Victorian house that his parents restored to its' original details, this process gave way for the inspiration for Avery to pursue his creative life path in architecture.  
 
A graduate of Norwich University with a BA in Architecture, Avery began his career in coastal Connecticut working for a commercial architectural firm. While working only on commercial projects for his first three years, it was the unique assignment of a beach house design which validated Avery's passion for residential architecture. Additionally, he found enjoyment the hands on one-to one approach working with residential clients versus commercial projects.
 
With this realization, Avery moved on to a residential Design-Build firm in Connecticut. The firm also had their own millshop, offering an opportunity to learn about millwork and cabinetry design and construction. Business was booming, until the firm was forced to downsize substantially as a result of 9/11 considering that many of their clients were from the financial industry. Moving on to take a position employed for a master stair builder, Avery worked as a designer, builder and salesman, embracing this unique opportunity to expand his skills and knowledge of stair building and design. He says, "Often times architects struggle with getting stairs right, so they work and are buildable". Using this position as a "step up" to secure a design position at the well-established Wadia Associates firm, in New Caanan, Connecticut.
 
 
After four years of commuting four hours each day on the train, Avery could hear Vermont beckoning him home, louder and louder each day. He had fallen in love with Vermont while at Norwich and promised himself he would return and settle here. After see the posting for a designer position at Connor Homes, Avery accepted a position and relocated to Vermont in early 2008.
 
For Avery, the Design-Build experience verified the shortcomings of traditional architectural services. These services often times incorporate the architect's own interpretation and style into the design as well as not having the cost implications considered. Too often working with a traditional architect yields cost that are over budget, initiating "design-by-subtraction." Now the client works backwards, making cuts and sacrifices, to design a house that fits their budget. The ideal situation for homeowners is a design-build, like Connor Homes, where costs are tracked from inception.

Throughout his time at Connor Homes, Avery has designed hundreds of homes. "I greatly enjoy the pace here. At other firms, I could spend up a year on one home, here I work on roughly one a week or so. I try to find a way to incorporate an 'unexpected moment' into the design of each home."
 
"As a classically trained architect, I sometimes enjoy designing shingle-style homes. I have fun not having to conform to the traditional rules and create designs that are more organic. I also love Italianate homes, and one I worked on is nearing completion in Virginia with an open house scheduled for July 2016.
 
With new markets opening up for Connor Homes in Nantucket and the Hamptons, Avery is excited about diversity of potential projects they may land on his drawing board.
 
Avery resides in Bristol, Vermont with his fiancé, children, a dog and two cats. In his free-time he enjoys hiking, gardening, restoring his 1800's home and spending time with his family.


    
Volume 1 Issue 4

HOW ROUND ARE 
YOUR SQUARE FEET?

by Michael C. Connor, President & Founder

The professionals in the residential building world love to toss around formulae relating to every aspect of the construction process, from building costs to financing, and the most common denominator in these calculations is unmistakably the square foot.  It's the one piece of building language that builders and customers use fluently and frequently when they talk to each other in what otherwise is a verbal universe devoid of meaning for the uninitiated.
 
"How many sq ft of house are you thinking of building?"
 
"We think we need about 2800 sq ft., depending on the cost per sq ft."
 
"Well, I charge about $100 per sq ft. for my houses."
 
"Great! $280,000 is right in our budget!

The couple leave the meeting and begin to make plans for their 2800 sq ft house with the cute front entry porch, and think of summer meals served out on the back screened porch, while their teenage son envisions the slam dunks he'll be making at the basketball hoop affixed to the attached two car garage.
 
Several weeks later, the written quote arrives from the builder. $350,000!!! A hasty and frantic call to the builder reveals the construction language barrier that caused this giant misunderstanding.
 
"When I talk price per square foot., I'm talking about the living area of the house." He explained. "Porches and garages are extra".
 
The crestfallen couple soon think back to an earlier builder who had quoted them a price of $125 per sq ft, but his total calculations included porches and garages as common amenities to a 2800 sq ft house, for a total quoted price of ...$350,000!!!
 
If this is already confusing, that's exactly the point. Most building professionals and customers make the assumption that they're talking the same language because they're using the same words. But a 30% difference in the final computed number means somebody needs to spend time at the building language lab before speaking with the natives.
 
Is there deceit going on here by the building professional? I suppose in a few cases, yes, but in most cases it's a simple failure to understand the nuances of an admittedly complicated language. So put on your headsets and let's spend a little time in the language lab!
 
Believe it or not, there does exist a loose convention for the meaning of square feet in the housing industry. It is the actual finished living area of the home. "So what constitutes finished living area?" you repeat ten times into the lab microphone. Finished living area is also called conditioned living area, or that floor area that will be heated or cooled, and therefore insulated.


"So then square feet calculation is really the insulated square feet of the house" you shout jubilantly, ripping off your headset in the euphoria of suddenly speaking fluently in a foreign tongue. Well, almost.
 
Remember, I said the convention was loose, and the nuances numerous. For example, most builders won't include an insulated garage in the square feet calculation, because it is not living area. But some will. Some porches are three season and insulated but not conditioned. Some porches don't have roofs. (In the advanced language sessions we will learn to call these decks). What's a language novice who has now thrown away his/her headset to do?
 
Here's what to do; understand that pricing houses by the square foot is a terribly imprecise exercise, so much so that even the builder who uses "square foot" with a frequency and ease that implies graduate school comprehension would never actually price a house by the square foot. Instead, he carefully counts up all the parts and pieces of the house, adds the labor to assemble them all and presents that calculation to the homebuyer as his quote.
 
So why bother understanding this silly language if nobody uses it when they want to convey real costs? Because square footage calculation of costs is the entry level estimate of a cost number that is likely to land in a range wide enough to absorb all the changes, nuances and contingencies that are likely to be applied to the final product... on average... for the most part... on a given day... in heaven. Or in hell if you didn't study the language of building. Here's the key word to remember when your feet are square: ROUND. Everything calculated in a square foot calculation of cost is rounded off to accommodate the big rounded number that results from the exercise.
 
Just to punctuate the above, consider this; if someone tells you the price of a house is $150 per square foot, it could be $600 in the bathroom, $30 in the center of the closet. You could add or subtract 100 square feet in one direction on the house that will cost twice as much as the same 100 square feet in another direction. And if your house has vaulted ceilings, that area's square foot calculations have even less bearing on actual costs.
 
So why even talk square footage costs if there are so many variables? Interestingly, while the variables cause unpredictability, the number of variables tends to cancel out many of the highs and lows so that a somewhat meaningful number is derived. (I think there is a mathematical name for this phenomenon, but remember, this is a language lab, not a statistics class.) The derived number, though, only tells you whether the house you are considering is worth further pursuit through a complete quotation, an operation so accurate but so tedious that many builders will charge you to take that step. Therefore, you need to understand what is included in your square foot calculation before taking the next step to a full-blown quote.
 
Understanding the language of square foot calculations will at least give you a preliminary understanding of the costs of your house, and not leave you speechless when the quote you receive bears no resemblance to the square foot estimate. Or worse yet, cause you to speak like a builder who has just hit his thumb with his hammer, a whole different language taught in the adult language learning center only.

 
At Connor Homes we often use price-per-square foot calculations to give preliminary pricing to our customers. We want these estimates to reflect as accurately as possible what the actual building costs will be. Of course, we have the advantage of doing many homes with constant feedback from our customers, so that our preliminary square foot numbers carry the weight of experience and sheer volume. However, we still encourage our customers to take the step of final quote if the preliminary estimate appears to make the project come within budget because it likely will, but the final step of an actual quote is essential.
 
We also can give a no-charge quote on any home package in our catalog with contract-ready accuracy. With our package price in hand, an owner need only obtain the general contractor's pricing to assemble and complete the house, to have slipped the squirrelly  bonds of square foot estimating and enter the real world of actual home construction costing with a professionally calculated quote of all labor and materials.
 
Pricing by the square foot has its place early in the costing process. But it needs to be abandoned as soon as possible in favor of an actual quote.
 

IN THIS ISSUE
2016 Open House Tour Schedule

Our company is grateful to these generous homeowners who allow other potential Connor Homes clients an opportunity to visit and view their Connor Home. 

Reservations are required and space is limited. Click the event of interest below to RSVP.





The last five episodes of the North Shore Project have aired. In case you have missed the excitement, click on the title or image below to catch up.









Quick Links
Featured Connor Homes

Click on an image below to view the each home in various stages of construction.












by Jill Connors,
This Old House Magazine



Bill and April Harb used to escape their cramped condo in the city by going for hikes or walks along the beach on Boston's North Shore. It was on one of those forays three years ago that they fell for a four-acre wooded property for sale just outside the center of Essex, Massachusetts. "We loved the mature trees, the privacy, everything-so we jumped at the chance," recalls Bill.



Connor Team Speaks to Google Team
 
Around mid-April Heidi Lacey, Vice President of Sales for Connor Homes, was invited to speak to at a retreat held at Shelburne Farms to a group of Google North American advertising sales executives.

After a short intro about Connor Homes, there was a 
Q & A session from the Google team about our sales process, how we have worked to integrate technology and craftsmanship, and how we persevered through the recession. Google was appreciative of our presentation and we in turn found the experience of this exercise beneficial to our team; we found similarities in our processes and challenges.

We think we may have sold a few Connor Homes as well!


The Traditional Building Conference Series delivers focused educati onal seminars for architects, contractors, craftspeople, designers, building owners and facilities managers in a time efficient format at beautiful and historic venues. 



Mike Connor will be presenting at the upcoming New Haven, CT Traditional Building Conference Series on July 19th & 20th. 

The theme is Materials & Methods. Educational Sessions are planned on traditional academic architecture, adaptive reuse, masonry, residential construction techniques, and tours of buildings on and around the Yale campus.
The venue is the celebrated New Haven Lawn Club (1931), an elegant colonial revival style, brick building designed by New Haven architect Douglas W. Orr (1892-1966). The building features art deco and moderne accents that complement the traditional setting including a Lalique crystal chandelier in the foyer.



Read our sister company
J.S. Benson's inaugural newsletter here