Press

Building Beautiful ArticleIf you’ve been thinking about that lifelong dream house in Northern Virginia horse country – the one you’ve been planning to have built to your precise specifications, customized to your every whim – then chances are you need someone to help guide you through the maze of local regulations, infrastructure planning and myriad other challenges inherent in building a highly customized home. Someone like Gretchen Yahn.

Click here to read the article (PDF)

Click here to read the article (PDF)

http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?EID=b57d2ac4-00ee-4138-876d-d51728b53516

Hume homebuilder Gretchen Yahn, who brought the property to the developers’ attention, serves as Chattins Run project manager.

Ms. Yahn, who builds luxury custom homes, plans to buy a 50-acre lot from the developers and build a speculative home.

Homes will feature natural exterior materials – stone, stucco and brick, for example, she said.“It’ll be very Cotswoldsy,” said Ms. Yahn, referring to a compact region in southwestern England famous for its historically and culturally rich towns and villages.

Homes on smaller lots might measure 3,800 to 4,200 square feet, she said. Excluding land, they would cost $1.2 million to $1.8

Builder Gretchen Yahn so skillfully recreated the rural character of a French country home in this 6838-square-foot masterpiece, that, from the outside, it literally appears to have existed on its site in the Virginia hills for centuries. “The client wanted a home that looked old – like it had been there for years,” says Yahn. She obliged, using a combination of stone, tinted stucco and reclaimed timbers to decorate a brand new residence with an aged appearance. The interior of the multi-level home retains a timeless ambiance while suiting the owners’ diverse tastes and collections. Reclaimed lumber, including white oak, chestnut and hemlock, deeply stained wood floors, highly-detailed millwork and reproduction fixtures are used extensively throughout the interior to maintain the style. The foyer features an impressive stone wall and a sweeping wrought-iron staircase that gives the entry the look of a villa, says Yahn. At the top, French doors open into the sole occupant of the upper level – the master suite – complete with its own luxurious bath and private balcony. A semi-circular gallery connects the kitchen/breakfast area with the home’s guest wing, which includes two secondary bedrooms, as well as the laundry and mud rooms. A circular stone terrace features a central post, which anchors a series of reclaimed timber spokes that extend into the interior gallery. The home features coffered ceilings with an average height of 13 feet. Located on a 160-acre estate west of Arlington, VA., the home is positioned on the site to make the most of the sweeping panoramas offered by the rolling foothills of the Shenandoah Mountains. A man-made lake on the site provides a home to two adopted swans. Yahn has an interesting construction tale to tell about this home. The newly constructed house was located on a site that had been occupied by an estate, which had burned down in 1898. “We had no floor plan of the original house, but in the midst of our excavation for the new kitchen, we unearthed pots, pans an utensils. The new kitchen was directly above where the first one had been! “The home was completed in April 1998. Hard construction costs were $263 per square foot.

Click here to read the article (PDF)

Delivering truly “custom-built” homes with an innovative “twist” is what Castlerock Enterprises is all about. From mahogany floors to polished brass plumbing fixtures and dramatic rooms with a view, CEI takes pride in filling a growing niche in the high-end home market. A recently completed $1.5 million home in Rappahannock, Virginia, is representative of the kind of quality CEI puts into a project. Among the many special features included in the house are wide-plank maple flooring, maple cabinetry, ceramic tile and Mexican tile – all custom installed. When you start getting into truly customized homes and people start spending $700,000 to $1 million, “they want to feel it’s a custom home,” said Gretchen Yahn. “We provide owners with the feeling that they are getting something for life, that this is kind of their ultimate dream home.” CEI’s devotion to quality construction and customer satisfaction is clearly evident in the exclusive Lake Manassas community, where the company is building a series of unique and innovative “corporate cottages” just off the fairways of the Robert Trent Jones International Golf Course. The cottage exteriors are highly traditional, featuring redwood siding, cedar shake roofs, and lots of customized millwork. Yahn explains. Inside, though, CEI has worked its magic, blending past and present into a highly specialized living environment crafted to meet the needs and desires of the homebuyer. The cottages incorporate what CEI proudly calls “Vintage Country,” a creative update to the traditional Center Hall Colonial design that optimizes floor plan use and gives home buyers the kind of user-friendly comfort they desire. “I think the most innovative approach in what we do is the ‘Vintage,’” Yahn said, “All of our designs are knock-offs of what we call the typical Center Hall Colonial, with updated exterior materials and dramatic interior views throughout the house.” To complement their unique and flexible floor plans, CEI offers homebuyers an impressive selection of interior finishings. Upgraded wood floors, marble tiling, freestanding glass block showers and designer lighting systems are just a few of the “extras” CEI routinely incorporates into its homes. “We like to do that little bit extra,” Yahn explains. “We use a lot of different types of materials.” Quality Control is paramount to CEI and the Virginia builder maintains its edge by keeping itself lean and focused. “We’ve made a conscientious effort to remain small in order to provide the highest level of finishes and personality in everything we do, “Yahn said.”

Click here to read the article (PDF)

Underneath a cool, quiet exterior lies an energy that defines Fawn Lake as a golf course community continually on the move. Already considered one of Virginia’s finest custom-home, gated properties, the 2,800 acres of luxurious real estate project is about to shift into an even higher gear to help propel its residents into the next century.

As featured in this Marvin Windows & Doors advertisement

Some readers may find it odd that Gretchen Yahn (Yahn), President of CEI, Inc., is a woman who runs a construction company. Yahn says that her being a woman gives her an advantage because she not only understands the building process – she can also fulfill the design needs of her clients. Yahn’s knowledge helps her to advise clients in all areas of building a custom home – the home design, product selection and the architectural details. Yahn say, “most people can not visualize from a blueprint – so I need to make it a fun and comfortable environment for the client – so they can ask me any question regarding their home. Anybody can help a client select fixtures, but, I can tell a client when to pick it and if it will or will not work well with their overall building structure and design. I look at the whole picture.”

Click here to read the article (PDF)