Ambleside, an English Village in Boise, holds open house June 20
Food, music, dignitaries to attend events marking neo-traditional development off Fairview Avenue

June 8, 2009
For more information, contact
Ted Mason, 338-0420
Martin Johncox, 658-9100
Facebook: http://groups.to/ambleside and http://groups.to/tedmasonhomes
Twitter: @tedmasonhomes
Web: www.tedmason.com

Fairview Avenue is a great place for shopping, services and food and, increasingly, for upscale developments. Just 1,000 feet away from Fairview, a traditionally-designed, European themed development called Ambleside is now under construction.

“It is a different kind of development, especially for this location, but we have built our reputation on doing things a bit differently than the competition and this will be a very desirable community,” said Ted Mason, owner of Ted Mason Signature Homes. “Because the concept is so new, we thought it would be a good idea to have an event to introduce it.”

The clubhouse, pool and two homes at Ambleside have been finished and furnished for tours. Ambleside is north of Fairview Avenue off Shamrock street, next to the Steelwood Enterprise Center.

Rollout events start at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 20 when the Boise Hawks will be at Ambleside until noon giving away tickets to anyone. Realtors will also be conducting tours of the model townhomes. The Grand Opening Garden Party runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. including gourmet catering by Chef Cordel Knight. The five-piece Glory Brass Band will play from 4 to 5 and Randy Coryell, pianist at Grove Hotel, will play from 5:30 to 8. A ribbon-cutting will be held at 5:15 and local dignitaries have been invited. The Garden Party will also feature product giveaways, such as Spa Days, Metro Express Car Washes, limo and dinner, personal trainer, and many others.

Ambleside will create the environment of an English village in Boise. Inspired by the art and architecture of the Georgian period, this sixty-seven townhome development is the result of a commitment to capturing the essence of the most beautiful towns in England, according to Mason. About 130 people are at work on the project and as of this writing, the first townhome building is nearing completion.

“We had a general idea of what we wanted to do at first, but we had trouble finding an architect/planner locally who could pull this off with sensitivity and style,” Mason said. “After some referrals, we met Sherry McKibben of McKibben+Cooper Architects.”

McKibben’s company is very highly regarded for urban planning and sustainable building design and she is an Assistant Professor of Architecture and Director of the University of Idaho’s Urban Research and Design Center in Boise. Mason and McKibben, who have traveled in England and studied its architecture, also took inspiration from the book “The Most Beautiful Country Towns of England” which served as a design guide.

Ambleside has a harmonious design, with townhomes near the entrance smaller, quainter and showing timber. Homes will progress in size and elaborateness as they near the far end, where a “manor house” will serve as the visual anchor. While having a stately appearance, the “manor house” is really a four-townhome building. That’s in keeping with the feel of an English village, but on a smaller scale.

“Having a grand entrance and focal point is a time-honored tradition in urban planning and we are pleased our development will feature it,” Mason said.

Ambleside will have all the modern conveniences, however, including a 2,500-square-foot clubhouse with fully equipped gym and pool. Buildings will have dormers, porches, siding and chimney pots. Rear-loaded garages mean no garage doors face the street. Homes range in size from 1,500 to 1,950 SF and start in the low $220’s. Each home will have a rear-loaded two-car garage, concrete slab storage room, barbecue-ready balcony, landscaped front yard with patio, fireplace, high ceilings, master suite, and more. The homes are Energy Star Certified and have a three-year warranty.

“This is the kind of development you might see in the North End, Southeast Boise or other desirable areas in our fair City,” Mason said. “High-energy Fairview Avenue is a great location for Ambleside and Boise residents appreciate attractive development.”

Mason said he got an unexpected endorsement: Bankers are a pretty conservative group and, like any developer, he has to justify the viability of the project to get funding. While Mason was giving them a tour of the site and explaining the development, one of the bankers said, “Wow, now I want to live here. I believe in this.”

While this might seem an unlikely time to launch a new development, Mason said there are advantages to building in a down economy. With a solid credit rating, financing is less expensive, as are building materials and labor costs.

“From a business perspective, we are building this when costs are low, then enter our sales mode as the economy recovers,” Mason said.

The Ambleside grand opening is part of a larger effort by Treasure Valley builders to encourage sales of new homes, called Home Run. Other developments holding tours on June 20 include Avimor, Strada Bellissima, Brownstone, Alpine Point and Hidden Springs. The developers have come together to pay for radio and television ads and promotions with the Boise Hawks. Met Life Home Loans representatives will at each of the communities June 20 to assist visitors with special financing. For more information, go to www.kivitv.com/homerun (the site will be up Thursday, June 11).

St. Patrick's Day Luncheon Photos

Enjoy St. Patrick's Day with us

The past year has been a rough one for us in the development industry but better times are ahead. In the spirit of looking forward, I would like to invite Realtors who have worked with me – and those who would like to work with me - to a St. Patrick’s Day lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17 at the Red Lion Riverside, 2900 Chinden Boulevard. In keeping with the theme of St. Patrick’s Day, we are serving traditional Irish fare, as well as live entertainment by contemporary Celtic band Beltane. Please RSVP to ted@tedmason.com. The luncheon is limited to 140 people.

Here's my current head scratcher: The professionals in the homebuilding industry, including myself, are puzzled as to why folks are buying foreclosed, short-saled, bank-owned, distressed-sale money-pits built by who-knows-who with who-knows-what kind of materials or standards of quality. When on the other hand they could be buying beautiful homes built by reputable builders who offer warranty and personal service into the future.

It's about price isn't it?

I am reminded of a quote that hung on the wall of the lumberyard where I did business many years ago when I was first starting out. It read, "The Pleasure of a Cheap Price is Usually Replaced by the Pain of a Poor Product".

Here are some items to consider in assessing quality: insulation values, grade of lumber products, sound attenuation, space planning, workmanship, warranty, spacing of framing members, attention to detail, grading. There are others.

Price is important. Prices have declined a lot, primarily because of land and lot price decreases. There is no disputing that for three years land and lot inflation created a monster. Fortunately, those days are behind us. I have been tracking the sales price of one of our most popular homes for a long time. Today it is priced the same as in 1997, adjusted for 3% p.a. appreciation.

A good many homes on the market today are priced below replacement cost. Someone (usually a bank) wants out real bad. Sadly, these properties are not well looked after and I worry about the buyers who end up stuck in a lemon.

An English Village in Boise.

Every now and then (like after you’ve developed several hundred homes), you get an itch to break out and try something different, to let loose and let the imagination guide the project. This actually happens to me every few years and one of those developments is underway at Ambleside. Ambleside is located next to my offices in the Steelwood Enteprise Center at Fairview Avenue and Wildwood Street.

About three years ago I partnered with some other people on a land purchase and I came out of it with 6¼ acres, a few hundred feet from Fairview and next to some homes. We could have put a typical “Tuscan” themed development but we wanted to build something new and different, something that had not yet been done in Boise.

Ambleside is basically an English village in Boise. Inspired by the art and architecture of the Georgian period, this sixty-seven townhome development is the result of a commitment to capturing the essence of the most beautiful towns in England. We had a general idea of what we wanted to do but we at first had trouble finding an architect/planner locally who could pull this off. After some referrals, we met Sherry McKibben of McKibben+Cooper Architects. This company is very highly regarded for urban planning and sustainable building design and Sherry is an Assistant Professor of Architecture and Director of the University of Idaho’s Urban Research and Design Center in Boise.

After a short discussion at her downtown office, Sherry showed us the book “The Most Beautiful Country Towns of England” and the illustrations showed us pretty much what we wanted to do.
After Sherry drew up some detailed conceptual drawings we were ready to move forward. We are now putting people to work building the development.

When you enter Ambleside, you will notice a “mansion” at the far end. This really isn’t a mansion, but a townhome building that will be disguised as a mansion and it provides a visual anchor for the rest of the development. Less elaborate (but still attractive) townhome buildings will start at the entrance and buildings will become more ornamented as one progresses to the back. This is fully in keeping with the feel of an English village. Having a grand entrance and focal point is a time-honored tradition in urban planning and we are pleased our development will feature it.

Ambleside will have all the modern conveniences, however, including a 2,500-square-foot clubhouse with fully equipped gym and pool. Buildings will have dormers, porches, siding, chimney pots. Rear-loaded garages mean no garage doors face the street. Homes range in size from 1,500 to 1,950 SF and start in the low $220’s. Each home will have a rear-loaded two-car garage, concrete slab storage room, barbecue-ready balcony, landscaped front yard with patio, fireplace, high ceilings, master suite, and more.

This is typically the kind of development you might see in the North End, Southeast Boise or other upscale areas. Fairview Avenue may seem like an unusual location for Ambleside, but we think attractive development will be supported wherever it is. We even got an unexpected endorsement: Bankers are a pretty conservative group and, like any developer, I have to justify the viability of my project to them to get funding. While we were giving them a tour of the site and explaining the development, one of the bankers said, “Wow, now I want to live here. I believe in this.”

Our end-of-the-year clearance sale

This year, 2008, has been a year the likes of which has not been seen for a long time. It has presented our company with challenges, opportunities and surprises. Notwithstanding the slowdown, Ted Mason Signature Homes is on track to close 40+ homes this calendar year.
Unfortunately we have had to make staff changes and other adjustments, but we continue to see an active market for our homes and we continue to prudently plan and build for our homebuyers.

We have opened three great new communities this year: Walnut Creek in Kuna, Chatham Towne in Boise, and Ambleside in Boise. These bring to 11 the number of communities in the Treasure Valley. As we introduce new homes in new communities and move into new areas of established communities we retire some model homes and furnish new models.

This year for the first time we are holding a year-end model home clearance sale. The homes are offered directly from my office and all contracts will be written by me personally. Naturally the Ted Mason Signature Homes 3 year warranty is on every home. We look after the folks that put their confidence in us. If you are interested, please visit our website and click the Year End Model Home Clearance area.

Thanks for visiting Chatham Towne

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Chatham Towne bazaar! It was a great way to start the holiday season. Around 500 people came during the two days. By the end, we were very tired, but we really enjoy putting on events and look for similar events in the future.

And have a great Thanksgiving!

Join us Friday and Saturday at Chatham Towne

If you're like me, you really enjoy Christmas and holiday season. This year, we have a couple of surprises for Boise.

For starters, we'll be holding a holiday boutique featuring holiday and everyday home decor, gourmet foods, ornaments, spa products and jewelry, all produced by local artists. The boutique will be held from noon to 6 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday at Chatham Towne. The Pie House will be offering free homemade pie and warm holiday drinks.

More importantly, Chatham Towne is a bold stylistic statement in the Boise market. We have modeled Chatham Towne on classic New England design principles, much like the kinds of homes seen in a Pottery Barn catalog. In fact, we didn't stop there - the Pottery Barn has accepted our inviation to furnish the model homes. If you've ever looked at a Pottery Barn catalog and wondered if you could live in a home like that, well, now you can.

Creating the Pottery Barn vibe is a matter of re-arranging details, not necessarily doing anything more expensively, and townhomes are priced competitively at $179,000 and $159,000 for three- and two-bedroom units. It consists of 15, two- and three-bedroom townhomes at the northeast corner of Meadowlark Drive and Five Mile in Boise.

Builders in this area tend to be pretty conservative and I'll admit the black doors took a little getting used to. Stylistic touches include built-in dining areas with upholstered bench seating and table; wallpapered areas; built-in entertainment center with LCD HDTV; shelving along the tops of the walls; trim; and beadboard paneling. There will be two model homes staged with Pottery Barn furniture. One model will have mint colored walls with white trim and black doors and white cabinets; the other model will have black cabinets and chrome hardware.

Designers, artists or related companies sometimes partner with or even design housing developments. More recently, Thomas Kincaid, the famous "Painter of Light," lent his name to a Northern California development. Chatham Towne homes carry the standard three-year warranty on his homes, longer than any other builder in the area.

I invite you to visit Chatham Towne this Friday and Saturday. At the very least, you'll get a jump on Christmas shopping and you might find a great place to live.

Getting by in tough times

A few weeks ago was the worst week in Wall Street's history. I thought it was a sign that things had dried up for a while. Given all the problems facing the housing market these days, sometimes it's hard to stay optimistic.

Then I came into the office Monday morning and there sits a contract to purchase a home that had been slid under my door sometime over the weekend. It was a good way to start the week and a reminder that no matter how bad things might seem in the financial markets, we're in the business of meeting a crucial need of good people.

I got another reminder later in the week. A retired husband and wife were to meet me at 1:00 pm for a walk-through of a home they were purchasing. Ten minutes passed... then twenty minutes passed and they still hadn't shown up. I began to worry that, amid all the news of financial disaster, they had had second thoughts and weren't interest at this time. To my relief, in walked the couple about thirty minutes late. In talking with them, I learned that a Ted Mason home is a way to for them to save money. For 18 years, they had lived on a half-acre in a large family home and they were looking to downsize, yet live in a community that took care of the yard work and snow removal.

Times are tough for all developers. In a typical month, I sell 10 to 12 homes. These days I'm doing about half that, which is enough to get by in a down economy. TMSH is in a good position to make it.

Due to retirement, health changes, economic conditions, or personal choices to simplify their lives, more people are drawn to smaller, well-built homes close to transportation corridors, employers, and shopping facilities. There are not a lot of builder/developers that offer what I do: lawn service, snow removal, three-year warranty, high quality construction and homes under 1800 square feet. As I told The Idaho Statesman, I have a niche that's managing to hold its own in this down market.

As long as we continue providing a valuable service to society, I believe people will continue to place their trust in us.

Wii have a winner!

Lisa Vanderwiel of Eagle is the winner of the Wii given away after the St. Luke's Women's Fitness Celebration! At the Virtual Home at last month's Women's Show, we invited people to fill out a raffle form and the Fitness Celebration staff pulled Lisa's entry at random out of a bag containing all 1,500 entry forms. Lisa is a Mortgage Loan Officer with US Bank and we hope she enjoys her Wii and Wii Fit package.

Congratulations, Lisa, from all of us at Ted Mason Signature homes!

See Spot Walk was a blast

Aside from block parties at my communities, I haven't sponsored events. In the last month, Ted Mason Signature Homes been a major sponsor of two: The St. Luke's Women's Fitness Show and See Spot Walk.

See Spot Walk is a major fundraiser for the Humane Society of Idaho and was held at July Davis Park last Saturday. Lisa Sawyer of DIY Planning and Consulting and friends made a human-size doghouse, which drew about 1,000 people during the day. I and other company representatives greeted people, gave them a dog biscuit, a chip clip and information on TMSH. Dogs are popular with our buyers and our developments have sidewalks, pathways, parks and fenced yards to make them pet friendly, so See Spot Walk was a great fit for us.


Doing events and meeting people is lots of fun. Here, Elle Starr with Alexander and Associates marketing helps me find enough chip clips.

I have built around 800 homes since 1991, but this is my first dog house!

Vinny Johncox helped lure people inside the house to pick up their dog bone.