"Mission Hills Development builds finer homes that
are based on the Arts and Crafts movement from the early 1900’s.
Featured architects are Henry and Charles Greene of Pasadena, CA.,
circa 1900 to 1920."
These are indeed "finer" homes – finer, by far, than most of the new development I see, and at first glace at least look to be far better designed and constructed than even the chicest McMansion.
Sebastopol, CA – "the World in upheaval" is the site of Mission Hills
Development’s current project. Situated on 5 acres in a valley between
rolling hills, this 6200 square foot house is part Gamble House and
part Blacker House. Build with the same detail as these two famous
Greene & Greene homes in Southern California, it encompasses five
different hardwoods for its central hallways and grand rooms.
The picture you show appears to be from a remodeling project of an existing structure, but it probably represents the detail of the new homes. Too bad they don’t show any interior photos. At 6500 sq ft plus a huge detached garage with a office, the price range would be in mansion territory. It would be great to see a developer buck the trend for more and more giant houses on smaller and smaller lots (maximizing square footage, not quality). I think many buyers would trade square footage for the extra detailing shown in these houses. Some of the building cost of these details would be offset by the smaller size.
Seeing and experiencing quality might break the mentality that houses are merely an investment that must be flipped every few years for profit.
The project is the owner’s of Mission Hills Development’s own house — the only new home they have built so far. It’s obvious they haven’t used an architect to design it — but rather copied it from the sketch book of Greene & Greene.