Evesdropping on Key Awards judges

Eavesdropping on judges at work is always fun.

So we rode along with a team touring new-home communities to decide what rankings they should get in the annual Key Awards.

A total of 125 volunteers in 45 teams judge homes and communities for the awards given by the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago.

Joe Safin, senior partner at BSB Design in Palatine, led a team whose other members are all employed by Wiseman-Hughes, a builder based in Wheaton. They are Gail Payonk, director of marketing; Don Zierer, director of field operations, and Teresa Bateman, director of contracts.

Organizers of the awards program wanted Safin's team to represent mixed expertise. They visited developments and homes to determine crystal keys for innovation and keys ranging from bronze to gold for best overall community.

Other teams focused on categories such as architecture and interior design.

"For overall community, you see the hardscape, the landscape, the signs," Safin said. "Is it a nice place to live?"

A crystal key for remodeling went to Imagine Your Home by Orren Pickell, the custom builder's showrooms in Northfield.

The team was impressed with features like the curves and angles, antique travertine flooring, the walnut staircase, custom stained glass, onyx countertops and copper dome.

Two kitchens, a dining room/library and a wine cellar give examples of the upscale materials, styles and workmanship available from Pickell for new homes or remodelings.

"There are so many great ideas in there," Payonk said. "High-end is boiled down to street level where it's attainable. You're not afraid to walk in there."

Zierer was impressed with the quality of workmanship.

"Money's no object," he said. "You get anything you want in that place. They're not selling product, they're selling ideas."

At Cambridge Lakes, a mega community in Pingree Grove by Cambridge Homes, the team awarded a gold key after spending much of its time in the community center, which features gathering rooms and athletic spaces including a huge gymnasium.

"It's for families and kids," Payonk said, "so they downplayed decoration and went for functionality. Is it pretty? It works really well, and I don't think the people buying here really care."

Zierer said the foyer was oversized.

"Count the number of people sitting in those bleachers, and they wouldn't fill the foyer," he said.

From someone who's in charge of merchandising, Payonk said she would have done things a little differently.

"They could have done better things with murals and paint," she said. "I would never have designed a clubhouse where you didn't get a big impact of the pool when you open the main door."

Bateman pointed out there is a variety of housing in the community.

"How cool is it to live in a lower-end starter home and get a facility like this?" she said.

Cambridge Lakes shows a great vision of land planning, Bateman said, and the team was impressed with the community's landscaping.

"The streetscape looks nice," Payonk said. "The homes are not as attractive. I'm more impressed with the townhouses than the single-family (homes)."

Safin even mentioned that the berms of trees and plantings around the outside of the community undulate to avoid looking like dikes.

At Kimball Hill's Settlers Ridge in Sugar Grove, the team found the opposite. They liked the looks of the houses, but not the landscaping.

"That's a great front porch, but expensive," Payonk said. "They threw money into architecture and skimped on landscaping. The parks are great and get high marks."

Zierer said he did not like the way the setting mimicked a natural look.

At a small, upscale community on the North Shore, the judges complained the developer overdid the home designs.

"There are all different architectural styles, some beautiful and some out of character," Payonk said.

That community ended up with a bronze key.

Each member of the judging team fills out his or her own form about each candidate home, but they do share comments.

"We have people from architecture, marketing, costing and production," Safin said. "We are hoping each member looks at each project differently."