2010 Best in American Living Award Winners!

The Best in American Living Awards (BALA) has been a competition recognizing design excellence in the building industry for over 25 years. At the BALA awards ceremony this year (during the NAHB International Builders' Show), 59 winners were honored for their innovation and creativity in 28 different categories, ranging from best custom and spec homes to best remodel and community designs. Visbeen Associates received six BALAs, including the prestigious Best in the Midwest Region, which we have been awarded four out of the last five years of this competition!

Best in Midwest Region: East 8th Street

Builder: Bouwkamp Builders • Interiors: Cyndy Schurman

1st Place - Remodel Specialty Project: East 8th Street

Builder: Bouwkamp Builders • Interiors: Cyndy Schurman

1st Place - Single-family Detached Home (2,001-3,000 sq ft): Clareville

Builder: Jeff Segard • Interiors: Julie Holmes

1st Place - Single-family Detached Home (over 4,001 sq ft): Avonlea

Builder: Jeff Segard • Interiors: Julie Holmes

3rd Place - One-of-a-kind Spec Home (up to 4,000 sq ft): Sunsweet Hill

Builder: Distinctive Homes • Interiors: Kim Waltman

3rd Place - One-of-a-kind Spec Home (4,001-6,500 sq ft): Kearney Hill

Builder: Insignia Homes • Interiors: Julie Holmes

For more photos of these award winning homes, please visit our website.

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Avonlea Residence

Our in-house photographer, Megan, had a chance to shoot the Avonlea residence before the project was completely finished, but I think the photos are good enough to share here! We hope to return after the client moves in (and the grass has grown!) Jeff Segard built this beautiful home in Lansing, MI.

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Tutorial Thursday: What is a quoin?

Welcome to Tutorial Thursday! Today we're learning about quoins (pronounced "coins.") Below are some of Visbeen Associates homes which feature quoins. (Please excuse the construction mess. Falcon Custom Homes is doing a fantastic job!)

"Stone [or brick] quoins dress and frame the corners of buildings." Cole, Emily. The Grammar of Architecture. East Sussex, UK: The Ivy Press Limited, 2002.

"Quoins are rusticated blocks of stone [or brick] alternating in size, which run in strips up the corners of a building..." Cole, Emily. The Grammar of Architecture. East Sussex, UK: The Ivy Press Limited, 2002.

And, here are some homes with quoins designed in:

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