Dahlia Park Starts Construction and Sales at Issaquah Highlands
Issaquah, Washington — July 6, 2005 — Construction commenced in December at Issaquah Highlands' Dahlia Park, a new neighborhood developed and built by leading northwest home builder Bennett Homes and one of Japan's largest home builders Sumitomo Forestry. With architecture by Seattle's Architecture, Planning and Interior Design firm Weber + Thompson, Dahlia Park is reminiscent of many of Seattle's organically developed neighborhoods with an array of traditional architecture styles and materials in seven different housing types. Since the pre-sale period opened in Spring customer response has been strong with nearly twenty sales recorded well before a model home will open this July.
Dahlia Park is a unique enclave within the 2.2 acre master planned community Issaquah Highlands. The neighborhood is surrounded by green belts. Trails from the green belts continue through Dahlia Park and link to Village Green, a mixed-use convenience neighborhood just a short walk away, and to the High Street regional shopping neighborhood. At the perimeter of the site houses have backyards that adjoin the surrounding protected greenbelt. Homes in the interior of the neighborhood have alley-loaded garages so traditional home fronts with porches and entries face a quiet residential street. A large neighborhood park designed by Bennett Homes and The Berger Partnership is the focus of the community and provides open space for residents to gather and children to play.
Distinctive architecture marks the neighborhood. "We wanted to evoke the density and wide variety of styles seen in many older northwest neighborhoods that evolved over time," states project architect Jeff Reibman, AIA. Traditional streetfronts using architectural styles from Tudor to Craftsman and materials such as shingles, stucco and brick enclose distinctively modern floor plans with unique configurations. A featured element throughout the neighborhood is a garden room, or Tsubo Niwa as it is known in Japan. This is a central courtyard – that stretches the traditional floor plan to bring a garden room with all its light and openness into the central living spaces of the home. The garden room expands views as well as augments the flow of entertaining from kitchen to the outdoors. Generous front porches are offered on nearly every home to encourage neighborly interaction, changing the focus of the neighborhood from cars to pedestrians.
The interior architecture was designed to allow for the highest possible light penetration. Different plans include architectural details that admit natural light. Some plans have generous lofts overlooking the first floor opening up the interior of the house. Several houses have flexible spaces that can be used as hobby rooms, exercise rooms or whatever else the resident desires, and most have generous storage spaces with big closets and accessible attics. Some of the attic rooms with windows are reminiscent of a grandma's attic in an older Craftsman home and can serve as an extra room or light-filled storage.
Unusual for the northwest, every home in Dahlia Park is a 'master down' home, meaning the master bedroom is on the ground floor. Many plans offer the flexibility of a dual master configuration with suites on both the first and the second floors. These designs create flexible bedroom options that can be used depending on the lifestyle of the resident, including a private guest suite, shared living or a suite for a parent.
The plans range from 1600 square feet to 3275 square feet each with generous garages from 433 square feet to 503 square feet. Prices range from the mid-$400,000s to the upper $600,000s. For more information visit www.dahliapark.com.
Project Team
Architecture, Weber + Thompson; Developer, Bennett Homes and Sumitomo Forestry; General Contractor, Bennett Homes; Park Landscaping: The Berger Partnership; Structural Engineer, Swenson Say Faget.
About Weber + Thompson
Seattle-based Weber + Thompson is a full-service, West Coast design firm specializing in architecture, interior design and planning. Led by Principals Blaine Weber AIA, Scott Thompson AIA, and Kristen Scott AIA, this award-winning company has an experienced staff of 58 design and construction professionals. Since 1987 Weber + Thompson has developed a diverse practice with projects that include master planned communities, high rises, high-density urban infill, residential, hospitality, senior housing, and commercial office projects. Weber + Thompson seeks effective results through a thoughtful and collaborative design process.
For more information please visit www.weberthompson.com,
or contact Weber + Thompson at (206) 344-5700
or info@weberthompson.com
About Bennett Homes
Bennett Homes and the affiliated Bennett companies has a twenty year history of quality homebuilding throughout King and Snohomish counties. Bennett Homes is a leader in the Built Green movement and currently builds all new homes to 3-star and 4-star Built Green levels. Bennett Homes has long history of industry recognition, including over 100 MAME Awards for Building Excellence, numerous "Best Home Design" awards, being named Builder of the Year by the Master Builder Association of King and Snohomish Counties, and in 2004 the Bennett Homes created Puget Sound Energy Built Green Idea Home named Gold Nugget Winner as Best Sustainable Residential Project.
To create Dahlia Park, Bennett Homes formed a collaboration with Sumitomo Forestry founded in 1691 and now one of the leading homebuilders in Japan, building more than 10,000 homes a year. This combination of talents started with a vision of creating "homes for life" where the flexibility, energy and practicality was designed in, so a home could "flex" as the owner's life changes.