Kathy Dumas designs and specifies all materials for R&K Custom Homes. When she checked out the recently introduced Old Brick House line, she homed in on Tufts House.
“When we saw it we loved it,” said Dumas.”There’s so much white brick out there, it’s nice to have a mixture of white and brown as an alternative.”
Dumas owns and manages the company with her husband Rich. The team recently completed this Tufts House home in the new Woodrose neighborhood in Northwest Greensboro and introduced it in the Greensboro Parade of Homes. Feedback from home buyers has been positive.
“We don’t always get compliments for the brick, but this was different,” said Dumas. “A lot of visitors told us what a good choice Tufts House is.”
R&K is big on brick and likes Pine Hall Brick for its wide selection of color and texture.
“We always start with the brick when we design and build,” said Dumas. “Then, we work around that with colors that compliment the brick.”
Tufts House offers a departure from whiter brick with lots of rich browns.
Kathy Dumas of R&K Custom Homes selected an ebony stain for shutters as a deeper contrast to Tufts House brick.
And outdoor living space ensconced in brick provides shade and easy access.
The new Tufts House home is right across the street from another Old Brick House home built by Don Mills. Mills chose Weeks House from the Old Brick House line. Mills also build a home using Pine Hall Brick Southport that is next to the R&K Tufts House project. So the new development is already showing a refreshing variety of colors and styles. There’s nothing repetitious about the Woodrose Lane.
“We steer away from repeating brick, to avoid having two of the same products side-by-side,” said Dumas. “There are so many to choose from and we find people what their home to be different.”
Ledge stone matched with Tufts House is reminiscent of Early American construction.
Stone and brick are a natural combination. Kathy Dumas specified natural mortar to go with the brown in Tufts House and it’s a little less expensive than white sand mortar.
Dumas has been in the business for about 26 years and one thing she’s noticed about home buyers is they’re both more knowledgeable and maybe a little more fickle. With all the media focused on homes, like HGTV, Houzz, and Pinterest, consumers have a lot more information about the home building process, from materials to floorplans. So they tend to come with very specific requirements. Dumas says this is great, but it can also be a challenge because all the options can have a home buyer changing their mind a few times.
This new Tufts House project was built on spec (as opposed to custom) and Dumas chose Tufts House for both the color and the texture. It’s made to look like Early American artisanal brick. She went with natural mortar because it just made sense with the color and the authentic brick theme, but natural mortar also costs a little less than colored mortars. Soffits and windows are sandy tan vinyl. Doors and shutters use an ebony stain, that, again, works well with the Old Brick House look of historic homes.
Tufts House is a good choice for a fresh look in an old-fashioned style.
Evening light makes Tufts House brick warm and inviting.