Homebuilder makes easy living easier

Don’t confuse this home as a duplex, though it would be an easy mistake to make.

The home shares a common wall; the garages are attached to each other. But that’s where the similarities end. This is a single-family attached home.

Active West is known for its 55+-gated communities, each featuring contemporary designed homes, modern colors and low-maintenance landscaping. This home, in its Hayden community, follows the universal design, which includes widened doorways and hallways and a slab-on-grade foundation that eliminates the need for steps. These features, along with others, are designed to allow the homeowner to stay in the home well into retirement years and beyond.

The home opens up to a cozy family room that is made even cozier with a tiled fireplace.

This home grows with the homeowner. For example, showers have grab-bar blocking in the walls, allowing the homeowner to easily and securely install bars when the need arises for this safety feature. That level of forward thinking helps to eliminate the need for later renovation, says Dalton Cunningham of Active West.

Active West routinely looks for innovative ways its homes can adapt to the needs of their homeowners, Cunningham says. Now, the homebuilder is taking that thinking to a new level.

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Most Active West homes come standard with radiant heat throughout. This home is unique. Instead of installing radiant heat, the builder opted to use solar panels on the roof, expecting electricity costs to be less than $30 a month. The builder hopes to continue to help homeowners lower their utility costs while implementing state-of-the-art heating and cooling designs by using ductless pump systems and innovative water heating technology.

At 1,570 square feet, this home is modest in size. But its 11-foot ceilings make the space feel much larger. Also giving the illusion of space is the use of a fl ex area. A 3-foot dividing wall separates the kitchen and living room from this space, helping to keep that spacious feel. The area could be used as an office or reading nook, helping to create a separate space without walls.