Gold Standard

Covering the National Sales and Marketing Awards gives us an opportunity to provide some much needed good news. High-end home buyers are still buying, and some are giving builders an opportunity to be relatively extravagant — provided they come up with captivating design that meets their specific

Among the winners featured here are two one-of-a-kind custom homes that tied in that category this year — one built for a client, the other on spec. And Laing Luxury Homes has two entries on the high-end, semi-custom side that caught the eye and the imagination of both prospects and judges.

The homes on the next few pages — gold winners from the 2008 Nationals — demonstrate that a down market is no reason to toss good, targeted design out the window. Dare to be different, creative and in tune with what your unique buyer wants. Build it, and the results may surprise you.