2008 Nationals: A Production Home Customized to the Nth Degree

The oversized Seacrest home sites average 18,600 square feet. The homes themselves measure approximately 5,517 to 7,678 square feet. Buyers are given a choice of elevations from three different architects, making them highly custom.

"Seacrest really is a half step down from the custom program and two steps up from the production programs," says Pete Carmichael, director of sales and marketing at Laing Luxury. "The level of finish among all the fixtures and different amenities within the house is top quality. It's the kind of thing that I don't think you'd see in another production program anywhere across the country."

Carmichael says advertising Seacrest posed a real challenge.

"Should you be advertising at all when you've got a program that you're selling for $7 million?" says Carmichael.

The successful ad, which also won gold for Best Color Ad, plays off the idea that each home can be customized; it's the buyer's own personal work of art. In the background, you can see the back logia of the home with arched pillar supports. One of the elevations, The White Residence, also won gold for Best Single Family Detached Floor Plan Over $2 million and will be featured in the April issue of Custom Builder.

Seacrest is sold out but not closed out; they are working on the last escrows. If this all goes according to plan, Carmichael expects close out by the first quarter of 2008.

Project: Seacrest, Newport Coast, Calif.
Builder: Laing Luxury, Newport Beach, Calif.
Architect: Ade Collie at EBTA Architects, Irvine, Calif.; Bob White at Ritner Architectural Group, Newport Beach; and Robert Hidey or Robert Hidey Architects, Irvine, Calif.
Interior Designer: Meridian Interiors, Irvine, Calif.
Ad Agency: The Roxburgh Agency, Costa Mesa, Calif.
Number of units: 29
Price range per unit: Around $7 million
Square footage of units: Approx. 5,517 to 7,678
Photography: Eric Figge Photography, Irvine, Calif.