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(Providence, Rhode Island, December 23,
2007)–
The Providence Journal / Bill Murphy
Most home builders are men, and as a rule, they are
not known for being in touch with their feminine
side, according to War wick developer Hugh Fisher.
Over the years, Fisher estimates, he has built about 1,000 houses
in Rhode Island — in Warwick, Coventry, South Kingstown, Narragansett, Cranston and Johnston.
Fisher said he has always aimed to develop attractive houses with modern amenities in desirable locations.
But it wasn’t until this summer, when he was well along with
his new project, Deer Brook Estates, in Exeter, that Fisher decided to reapproach the design process with
one primary question: What do women want?
Fisher
said he was introduced to the concept of “woman-centric” home
design at a two-day workshop, called a “think tank,” held by an Omaha, Neb., company,
Design Basics Inc. Fisher said his wife, Vera Fisher, first heard about the woman-led company and urged him
to attend the session.
Even though Fisher “had already started
pouring the foundations” for
the first new houses in Exeter, he was so impressed
with the seminar that he immediately hired Design Basics to reconfigure
his designs using woman-centric principles.
“
I was blown away,” he said.
Fisher said all the units at Deer Brook, which
is off South Country Trail, near the Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery,
will be woman-centric. Plans call for 64 single-family houses,
and 66 “age-qualified” [55- plus] condominiums.
According to Design Basics president Linda Reimer,
women drive most of the decisions about new home
buying. “Women make 85 percent or more of the decisions
in anything having to do with a home,” she
said. In addition to making the choice of a house plan 90 percent
of the time, “she is also the influencing
factor in how to change the home,” — that
is, the options or upgrades buyers choose when builders
offer them the chance to customize their new homes. “She
generally makes those decisions, too,” Reimer said.
But even though home builders have long known
that women are their target customers, “we’ve never asked
them what they want,” Reimer said. She said her company
did its own research and assembled focus groups to determine what things most women want in a
new home. Design Basics started licensing the “Woman-centric” logo last year, and Reimer said
the company has more than 70 licensees, which she said is proof that the company is filling a need in this
male-dominated industry. “
No one had really told them how to design and sell to women,” she
said. Reimer said the company is now refining the Woman-centric product
to cater to different types of women. She said women are turned off when they are approached
by salespeople who assume all women have the same needs and desires. Reimer, whose father was a home builder, had a first career as
an educator; she was a preschool director for more than 20 years. She started working at Design Basics
in an entry-level, part-time position, copying blueprints, in 1992. She transferred to a part-time marketing
job in 1993. In September 2003 she launched Her Home, a quarterly home-building magazine aimed
at women. Not everyone thought it was a great idea. “They said, ‘You can’t do
that. You’ll alienate men,’ ” she said. Unlike
home decorating magazines, Her Home focuses on women’s ideas
about home design and construction. By 1995, Reimer was running the human resources department of
Design Basics Inc., and she became president in 1997.
Fisher’s model single-family home at Deer Brook, in Exeter,
which will be opened to the public next month, incorporates the core woman-centric principles, which
include having areas for entertaining and de-stressing, ample storage and flexible design. And even though
the model house at Deer Brook is not a McMansion — it is under 2,000 square feet and priced in
the $300,000s — there is an attention to detail not often seen at this relatively moderate price point. At the model, the entry into the house from the garage (in the
model, the garage space is finished and will be used as a sales
center) features an important element in woman-centric homes:
what Reimer calls “
the drop zone.” This is a place for the homeowner to drop
everything she might be carrying when she arrives
home with or without children — keys, handbag,
mail, and groceries — that is distinctly not the
kitchen counter. The “woman-centric” point here
is that clutter is stressful, and the kitchen should be a place
to prepare food and gather with family and friends. In the Deer Brook model, the “drop zone” consists
of a granite-topped counter and a cabinet with cubbyholes for mail. An outlet above the counter gives the owner
a place to recharge up to four electronic devices such as cell phones, mp3 players, laptops,
and Blackberries. Across from the “drop zone” is a walk-in pantry with built-in shelving with plenty
of space for storage of dry goods. So if the owner buys a 12-pack of paper towels, that’s where it goes;
she doesn’t have to put 11 rolls in the basement. “
Women love pantries,” Fisher said. The downstairs living area is designed as an open space, to give
owners the option to use different areas for different purposes. There is an option to install French
doors on a room to make it more private or closed-off, if, for instance, an owner wanted to use the space
as a home office, Fisher said. The model house has a laundry room on the second floor, near
the bedrooms. This room also has shelving and cabinet storage, and an area for ironing clothes. “Women
hate going to the basement to do the laundry,” he said. Other details at the model house include a window seat, a window
box, a driveway made with stone pavers rather than plain asphalt, a front porch with mahogany
decking and thick pillars, and a front door framed by small windows. The doorbell surround is black with
a floral motif. Every counter in the model is granite-topped; the downstairs
floors are oak, with boards a bit wider than standard; the walls are painted in soft yellows and blues, are
bordered with 5¼-inch crown molding, and have curved archways. The interior lighting fixtures and chandeliers
are stylish; even the metal lawn light fixtures, shaped like tulips, have an unusual twist. All
the closets are fitted with shelves and cubbies, not just one hanging rod and one overhead shelf. Upstairs, the master bedroom has a vaulted ceiling, and the walk-in
closet is accessed through the master bathroom. The master bath has a shower stall big enough for two,
and another closet for bath items. Women notice all these details, and appreciate them, Fisher
said. “
These are things my wife has been telling me for 30 years,” he
said with a laugh. “But we [men] don’t listen.” cdunn@projo.com
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Hugh Fisher, Deer Brook Development
401-681-2538
email: hugh.fisher@nemoves.com
Melissa Arnold, PR Coordinator
Design Basics / Woman-Centric Matters
402-331-9223
Melissa@quantabasics.com
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