When married couple Dan and Shefali Rouen talk of love at first sight, they’re not referring to what you might think. “We fell in love with the Larsen II,” says Dan, referring to the Rodrock Homes’ 2-story with the open floor plan and sweeping master suite that first captured the couple’s imagination.
With over 20 finely tuned home plans to choose from, Rodrock Homes’ clients of all ages and life stages are finding homes they love to live in. Traditional 2-stories, open 1 ½ and reverse 1 ½ plans, and luxuriously updated ranch homes are inspiring buyers with new visions for their lifestyles.
“While you still see a lot of 2-story homes, more people of all ages are wanting their bedroom on the main level,” says Rodrock Homes’ Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Reglin. “We’ve responded by adding more 1 ½, reverse 1 ½, and ranch plans to our offerings. Our St. Maarten 1 ½, Dillon reverse 1 ½ , and Heartland ranch plans are new additions that are resonating with buyers.”
What’s more, many of Rodrock Home’s more traditional 2-story plans feature a first-floor flex room. Adjacent to a bath and shower, the space converts easily to an extra bedroom, cozy den, convenient office, or toy room and draws praise from newlyweds, empty nesters, and those caring for young children and parents alike.
Going a step further, buyers say Rodrock Home’s unique willingness to create custom floor plans to match customers’ lifestyles is what sets the company apart. “I recently had a client who was looking for a specific plan,” explains Keller Williams’ Michelle Campbell. “Rodrock Homes pulled out an all-new plan and reworked it several times to accommodate my buyers,” says Campbell.
Rodrock Homes’ CEO Brian Rodrock isn’t one to advocate a one-size-fits-all approach to homebuilding. “We’re not too proud to move a fireplace, window, or even a wall if it makes sense for our client,” says Rodrock.
When Bristol Ridge homeowner Dan Byers asked for nearly all three of those modifications, Rodrock Homes agreed. “Knowing Rodrock and seeing what they had done in the past, it didn’t surprise me that they wanted to help us every step of the way,” says Byers, who chose to combine the best of two Rodrock Homes’ plans—the Goodland and Goodland II—to create his customized reverse 1 ½ story home.
“We literally took the fireplace out of the house and moved it outside to a covered, screened-in deck that’s visible from the living room,” says Byers. “We also added a television cabinet above the fireplace and a door to give us access to the deck from the primary bedroom.”
And since the homeowner wanted room for all his “toys,”—three cars, a motorcycle, and a golf cart, says Byers—Rodrock Homes’ Chief Operating Officer Jeff Gifford suggested expanding the 3-car garage. “They enlarged the garage by setting it on an angle, and in doing so expanded it to 3 ½ spaces,” explains Byers, who says Rodrock Homes’ flexibility made building his 5th new house a better-than-ever experience.
Because Wyngate homebuyer Sally Kuntz had also built new homes before, she expected to pay more for the changes she requested to her 2-story, 5-bedroom Sterling III home. “I was very pleased and surprised that I didn’t get charged a lot more,” says Kuntz.
While she chose the Sterling for its elegant, “almost circular” entry staircase, upstairs laundry, entertainment-friendly butler’s pantry, and his-and-hers television space in the master suite, she longed for a first-floor workspace she could share with her husband.
The solution? “We converted our main-level bedroom and shower into an expanded den and office space just off of our living room,” explains Kuntz. She finds the new custom floor plan—which features an arched opening, cabinets, an extra computer workstation, and cozy faux wood beams–to be perfect for working alongside her husband.
“We both have our own space,” she says, “and I can pay bills, work on the computer, or even watch television while he does his work too.”
Like he did for the Kuntz’s, Rodrock’s Jeff Gifford doesn’t hesitate to sit down with homebuyers to redraw custom floor plans. “Some of our best custom floor plans have resulted from changes we’ve made to accommodate clients’ lifestyles,” he explains. “We’ve evolved lots of our most popular plans, like our Larsen, Lancaster, and Sterling over time—they just get better and better,” says Gifford.
Which brings us back to Dan and Shefali Rouen, lovers of the latest Larsen plan. While the Bluestem homebuyers are enamored with the 2-story home’s open feel, efficient use of space, and “amazing” master suite, Dan Rouen says he’s really excited about recent changes to his kitchen floor plan. “We just enlarged the kitchen to include an expanded 4 by 8 foot island,” says the homebuyer.
Because his home backs up to a lake, Rouen also agreed to elongate the windows in his great room into floor-to-ceiling models.
“That was Brian Rodrock and Jeff Gifford’s idea,” explains Rouen, who says the Rodrock brothers’-in-law passion for building have made his experience “ten times better” than his last new-home build. “These guys help you as if they were working on their own homes,” he adds.
