Chatham Hills

What initially made you want to build in Chatham Hills?

Jim: We’re transitioning from Chicago and we’re looking for a fresh start, and we just felt that moving to Chatham Hills, everybody is in the same position, building a house or just built a home. [We felt that] it would be a great way to meet a lot of people and share the same experience.

Maureen: Right. The last home that we built, we moved in all at once as a community, and they’ve become our lifelong friends. So, we’re hoping that that will happen here in Chatham as well. Jim does love to play golf, so it seemed like a perfect fit.

What was the building process like being the Home-A-Rama home owner?

Maureen: It was fabulous. Wendy and Amanda worked with us from day one, from conception to completion and it was a fun experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it couldn’t be any better.

Jim: It was beyond my expectation. When you build a house, there’s a lot of emotional and financial decisions to be made and working with the Old Town team and Wendy Langston and her team, it made it effortless. I could not be more pleased or impressed with the teamwork that took place to help us build more than our dream home.

Tell us about the building experience with Old Town. Was it different this time, having built with us previously?

Jim: Well the first time that we built with Old Town, I was very impressed just with everybody’s professionalism and their ability to work with the homeowners. Now with Home-A-Rama, it just stepped up to another entire level. The precision, the quality control, the teamwork, the communication, working through buildertrend, it made the process just so easy and effortless. What I really appreciate is that there was never a problem, whatever situation arose with the Old Town team, it was discussed and resolved. Again, as a new home owner, I could not be more happy with the end result.

Maureen: I agree. I’d say that after our first experience building with Old Town, we got to know many of the Old Town team, and they have just become part of our family. It has been just a wonderful experience. Anything that we needed, they couldn’t be happier to help us.

What’s your favorite thing about your home?

Jim: I think from the moment you walk in the house and you see the beautiful trees, the golf course and the way that Old Town designed the house with its location on our lot, there’s a wow factor to it that I never ever expected. I can’t be more thankful for the work that they did to bring this house about.

Maureen: For me, the favorite thing, if I could say the whole thing I would. If I had to pick one thing, I would say the livability of it. It just is comfortable, it’s just the perfect home for us for family and friends. I love our outdoor living space and how it flows into the main house, it’s just going to be wonderful for entertaining.

In what ways did Old Town exceed your expectations?

Jim: Without question, the quality of the work and their perspective on finding these little minor imperfections, that Maureen and I never notice, that they brought to our attention, that I was just amazed. Having worked in the building industry for many years, I just feel that they take this personally and that they want their clients to be so satisfied, that the quality control is beyond my wildest dreams. The fact that they take it to such an extreme was really appreciated by Maureen and myself.

Maureen: Everything Home did an equally wonderful job, their time and when things would come up and we would have to take a different route on a design decision, they were there to pick up the slack and help us come to a beautiful end conclusion.

Is there anything else that you’d like to add?

Maureen: I would just like to add a big thank you to Jeff, Wendy and their teams at Old Town and Everything Home, for a dream home that we cannot wait to move in and start enjoying it. Thank you so much.

What initially made you want to build in Chatham Hills?

Andy: We were in the process of downsizing, we lived in a much larger house than what we have here in Chatham. So we were looking for an interesting subdivision in which to build, one that had rolling terrain. We didn’t really want a flat surface on which to build. So we looked at other areas that were being developed and Chatham basically was the one we chose.

What do you like most about living in Chatham Hills?

Karen: Social Interaction, I’d say is really key. Our former neighborhood was nice, but it didn’t have the amenities – they had a club house, but it was basically a pool type environment – and here they have so many events and activities that make it very enjoyable. We’ve met more families here than we met at our old neighborhood that we lived at since 2004.

Andy: Old Town basically has been instrumental in that, they have little gatherings every once in a while, where we get to meet people that are going through the same process that we just completed, so we have things to talk about in common.

What’s your favorite thing about your home?

Karen: Boy I don’t know if I could narrow it down to one thing! But I think the open airiness and welcoming, it’s relaxed yet it’s a little sophisticated. It’s just comfortable!

Could you describe the feeling when you both walked into your finished home?

Karen: Besides the fear and anxiety, it was how are we going to make this a home. You built us a beautiful house, but then converting it to a home can be very intimidating.

Andy: Our problem was that we went from a 7,000 SQ FT house that was furnished, to one that is over 4,000 SQ FT. So we had pieces from the old house that we knew weren’t going to be able to be here.

Karen: It was a little intimidating, we were very anxious because you wanted some things to work and something it didn’t work. But the partnership with everything home, it just made everything work. When you’re picking out all of the elements, all of the selections for a new home it is just overwhelming. Ellen, everything home designer, created inspiration boards from conversations with us as to what we like, what we didn’t like, and she was able to narrow our focus… We have a family member who is an architect who always says, “You have to marry the house to the ground”, and we worked really hard to make sure that it felt right where it was sitting.

Tell us about the building experience with Old Town Design Group.

Karen: Excellent. We built in 2004 the last time and this experience was lightyears ahead of what we went through before. Buildertrend made it so easy to see where we were and what was on schedule, when we had to make selections. It was just wonderful, everyone we worked with became part of the family, they’re a part of us now.

Andy: Basically, Karen did a lot of research and she found a floor plan that Old Town had built at Sagamore that most closely fit how we saw our new house going. But we wanted to make some changes to personalize it. So we worked with Nate our architect and he delivered. We got extra windows, a larger closet for the Master Bedroom and he helped us with the lower level, we’ve been very pleased. During the construction process, it was a lot of fun because we didn’t live that far away from Chatham – we were able to come almost every day to view the progress on the house. We got to introduce ourselves to the subcontractors, the framers, the trim carpenters, all the subcontractors, and we would come on property and I would always say, “I hope you don’t mind a stupid question, explain why you’re doing it this way”. I learned a lot and I learned why things turned out the way they did. It was very good for me and for the subcontractors.

Karen: I think Andy’s famous line was, “Well what if…”.

Do you have to be an avid golfer to live at Chatham Hills?

Karen: We’re not avid golfers, but we own clubs, we’ll put it that way.

Andy: Knowing my accuracy with my golf shots, I didn’t want to meet my neighbors by bombarding their houses with golf balls, so no. You don’t have to be an avid golfer. There’s a wonderful club house that’s being built that has a gym, swimming pools, restaurants, again there are things to do here and with the Monon trail there are other activities outside that we’ll look forward to using.

Is there anything you’d like to add?

Karen: I feel like we’re a part of the Old Town Design Group family now.

What initially made you want to build in Chatham Hills?

Brian: Really, it was the unique scenery when you hit the neighborhood. All of the different architecture and houses.

Nina: The neighborhood amenities were also a big influence in our decision to build. The aspect of having the clubhouse, pool, playground, dog park and easy access to the Monon Trail in the neighborhood was really appealing to our family. The community of Westfield itself is rapidly expanding and we wanted to be a part of that.

Now that you live here , what do you like most about living in Chatham Hills?

Brian: The golf course views and the endless different nature trails around the neighborhood. We liked the look of the golf course and the ability to have a large backyard with distance between the homes. It was a good feeling once we got here and saw kids running around the neighborhood and the clubhouse.

Nina: We like that there are families of all different ages that live here. The clubhouse has a lot of activities that are dedicated to kids and families which we really appreciate since we have a toddler. We love the fitness center and the childcare that the clubhouse offers.

What’s your favorite thing about your home?

Brian: Definitely the open concept floor plan. Our last house was more closed off and we couldn’t entertain much in it, but here we can all be in the kitchen / great room area. The entertainment ability on the first floor is great.

Nina: My favorite thing is the kitchen – I love the way our waterfall island turned out. Whenever we have friends and family over, everyone is able to gather on the main level thanks to the open concept.

Tell us about the building experience with Old Town.

Brian: It was extremely enjoyable. Right from the beginning, we felt that Old Town holds your hand but not too tight – you can do what you want at the end of the day, but they help to guide you through. It was really painless. You always hear horror stories about building a home, ‘I’ll never do it again’ type of thing, but everyone at Old Town has a dedicated role; it’s a very structured organization. Everything was carried out on time, which was important to us. I fully anticipated having a huge punch list at the end of the build, but Carey and Alex took care of every little detail prior to closing.

Nina: We really loved being connected to the progress of our home through BuilderTrend. It was nice to see the live updates and receive daily photos. The project management was excellent. We lived 45 minutes away at the time, so visiting the site weekly wasn’t an option for us. Thanks to the updates from BuilderTrend we were able to stay informed about what was happening.

Would you recommend us to your friends?

Brian: Absolutely. We haven’t had the chance to yet, but people know that we have built, and we always speak very highly of Old Town. Given the opportunity, if someone we knew was looking to build in Carmel or Westfield, we’d highly recommend that they build with Old Town.

Nina: While we were looking at the builders in Chatham Hills, we kept seeing a lot of Old Town signs throughout the community and we’d heard a lot of good things about Old Town. It seems that they have a high volume of homes in the neighborhood, which is always a good thing!

The Templeman family found the home design and location that was right for them. Make the move and write your own building story with Old Town Design Group at Chatham Hills.

What initially made you want to build in Chatham Hills?

Bill: Well, we had been looking for a couple years for where we wanted to go when we retired, and we were kind of tired of where we used to live; tired of the traffic and how long it took to get to work. So, I started looking around and I saw a sign for Chatham Hills and I thought, ‘well I’ll just go over and check it out’. I’d always wanted to live on a golf course, that certainly checked that box with the course and the beautiful homes. Westfields’ a growing community, there’s a lot of new restaurants and new retail going in on 32, but it still has the feel of a rural, quiet area; we were looking for that. That was what really got us to Chatham Hills initially

What do you like most about living in Chatham Hills?

Amy: I just love the community that we live in- the diversity of folks that live in this community. The natural beauty. It’s so quiet and serene out in Chatham Hills, it really feels like you’re living in a whole different area in Indiana. That was one of the big drawing cards for me to live here.

What’s your favorite thing about your home?

Amy: There is nothing I dislike about our home. Every room has a real great vibe to it. I enjoy every part of the home. That’s what makes building with Old Town special is that every room and every area has a special touch. I would describe my home as very eclectic; bringing in different elements into the home. I really love the state of Indiana, so I really wanted to incorporate limestone, the woods, the feel that makes it Indiana-special. And what was really important to me was that Old Town was really able to listen, to hear what elements, that I wanted to put into the home to make our vision come true. When I walk around the house, it just reminds me so much of this area that we live in and just Indiana in general; that’s what I’m most appreciative about.

Could you describe the feeling when you both walked into your finished home?

Amy: I just felt so overwhelmed with joy. I really felt like all the elements, all the things that we picked out, all the selections really came together. When we walked in and saw the finished product, it just felt so overwhelmingly joyful. I felt, too, that all the team members, from Old Town, take a lot of pride in their work. They were equally as happy, for the product, for the home as we were. I really felt that Old Town was just thrilled and sincere about the house being a home as we were and that’s what made it so important to the both of us.

Bill: Overwhelmed with joy. It was like our dream house. We couldn’t have asked for a better finished home. Every day, I swear, I say to Amy, “Did I ever tell you that I love our house?”. I say that almost every day because it’s true. We love every bit of it, every room. It’s hard to pick out a favorite room because every room is special, and it turned out exactly the way that we envisioned it.

Tell us about the building experience with Old Town Design Group.

Bill: We started out by visiting the model and met with Tammi. After that point, we looked at different Old Town models and figured out that Old Town was a builder that we wanted to work with. We decided after seeing the Maple Ridge model, that we wanted to build a house very similar to that. So, we started working with Nate, we got the plans and started making a few modifications that made the home perfect for us. Most of the model home plan was perfect as is, but we just had some tweaks that we wanted to make that personalized it for us. Nate did a terrific job, and all your staff, during the entire building process.

Amy: I absolutely loved the building experience with Old Town. Initially, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to build a house. I really thought about finding an existing home, but Old Town makes the process so seamless. They’re so organized in the way that they take you through the process, step-by-step. All of their team members are there to support you, to see your vision. I’m really excited, because they already have so many great models, in place but they’re very opened minded about taking your vision and making adjustments to it, to fit your living style. I love that. Every one of the team members make the experience so special. It felt like they were a part of our family, during the whole building process and even after the building process they did a great job, staying in touch and making sure that everything was the way that we wanted it to be. The whole experience has really been so important to Bill and I.

Would you recommend building with us to a friend or family?

Bill: Absolutely. This was such a great building experience. Friends of ours that have seen are home are extremely impressed. So not only physically does it look impressive, but also the building process for us, because Old Town was so great to work with. Everyone took such a sincere interest in making sure that our home ended up the way that we wanted it. We would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to build a home.

Is there anything you’d like to add?

Amy: I just want to end by saying, you know, at the end of the home process Old Town has a closing party in the home. That was just so cool because they came in, set up hors d’oeuvres and wine, brought all the folks that were involved in the building of the house, to celebrate the new home. I thought that was so cool that they took a genuine interest, in our home and the outcome of our home. It didn’t feel like once they built it, they hand you the keys and they disappear. They were here with us in the closing and even after the fact, Old Town doesn’t forget their clients. They continue to invite you to parties and events that they’re having. It may sound corny, but Old Town feels like our family – an extension of our family. That’s why it was such a great experience.

The McDowell family found the home design and location that was right for them. Make the move and write your own building story with Old Town Design Group at Chatham Hills.