We Build More Than New Homes....We Build Friendships Too

Possible Albany Grove 'homeowner', Kayla, with her new BFF Albany Grove's mascot Parker in our sales office this weekend. They make a cute couple.

Just in Time for the 2010 Winter Olimpics

If you think your child can be the next Alexander Ovechkin or Michelle Kwan then you are in luck when moving to Albany Grove in Silver Spring! Nearby (just 2 miles) you will find The Gardens Ice House, where skating is always in season! This state-of-the-art ice center offers everything one could want in a training facility from lessons for beginners and not so beginners to the excitement of hockey matches and figure skating shows like The Little Mirmaid On Ice. For the more 'mature' The Ice House is also the National Capitol Curling Center and also offers a terrific Wellness & Fitness Center.
For hours and an event calender learn more at http://www.thegardensicehouse.com/

TAX CREDITS FOR EVERYONE....ALMOST

Yesterday the House of Representatives passed the long awaited extension of the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers AND added a $6,500 tax credit for current home owners; additionally income limits were raised to $125,000 and $225,000 respectively. President Obama is expected to sign the extension and increases into law today, November 6th, 2009. We now have until April 2010 to purchase a new home and June 2010 to settle on the home. Just perfect for delivery of our final townhome building at Albany Grove. With just a few homes remaining...tax credits may be on your side but time is not.Now get out there and buy a house!

Commander-in-Chief Visits Silver Spring Elementary School

How did we miss the motorcade passing Albany Grove on Briggs Chaney Road yesterday? President Obama's motorcades are impossible to miss: roads closed, 12 motorcycles, 6 black Suburbans, a few military vehicles, 2 traditional limos, the Presidential limo / tank, followed by more of the same and at the end of the group a single ambulance. Another day in the National Capitol Region. After visiting their daughter's school the First Couple visited an elementary school in Silver Spring to congratulate the children their reading scores. Montgomery County has long boasted some of the best schools in the nation and now President Obama knows first hand how great they are. How exciting!

Pumkins, Gourds & Mums...Oh My!

Once again our home owners have been a source of a great referral. Albany Grove home owner, Liz Eberhardt and her mom, wanted us to let everyone know about Fehr's Nursery & Garden Center just around the corner from Albany Grove in Burtsonville. Located at 4340 Sandy Spring Road they are open Sunday-Monday 9-5 and Saturday 8-6. You'll find a huge selection of pumpkins & gourds in all sizes, colorful mums & pansies and loads of chatter about the woes of the Redskins with the owners, Miriam & Walter, especially Miriam. What a great way to spend the afternoon?

A Special Lombard Court Resident with an Amazing Talent

Gina Finelli from Lombard Court took these terrific photos of the neighborhood surrounding the community. I noticed these black and white photos perfectly matted and framed in her foyer on bright white wainscot and thought everyone would love to see them.

Great job Gina! Who knew you were a Professor and a Photographer? Watch out Annie Leibovitz.

5 for 5 GREAT AMERICAN LIVING AWARDS 2009

WOW, what a night at the Ritz! OPaL and P Four won all four design awards we were nominated for. Best of all the fifth award won by our very own Christina Coulter for Sales Person of the Year 2009 for her work at Albany Grove. Later the judges told us what a tough group she was up against with new home sales professionals from Richmond to Baltimore and DC to West Virginia. No one deserves to be honored for her efforts more than Christina.
Pictured above: Shawn & Jill of P Four Interiors, the ladies of OPaL & P Four and Sean & Christina.

Silver Spring's Best Kept Secret....A Farmer's Market

Who knew that just a few miles from Albany Grove in the heart of Silver Spring would be a terrific Farmer's Market? Well if you can get up and going early on Saturday mornings you mustn't miss it. You'll find all sorts of great produce ofcourse but also fresh cheeses and even home made bread & honey. The market is located at Ellsworth Drive & Fenton Street. But don't dilly dally as the market ends just past noon. Free parking is available adjacent the market.
Photos above provided by an Aspen Ridge homeowner, Enjoy!

New Jersey Transplant Steve Roe Moves To Lombard Court

New Lombard Court resident and my personal Facebook friend Steve Roe just moved to Bmore and has been busy exploring already.

Pictured above on his roof terrace at Lombard Court with Matt, and in head to toe Yankee garb at Camden Yards with his BFF, Lauren.

Welcome to the OPaL Blog

Thanks for visiting the OPaL blog!  Which is really my work journal, so I hope you enjoy it.

   Look, this blog wont win a Pulitzer anytime soon. You'll see plenty spelling and gammer errors and maybe even some slang. However, you'll learn a little about why we build the homes we build in the areas we build them. You might also see what makes an OPaL home so special. I think it's an intangible quality; maybe even an energy that just feels good as you walk through our homes. The reading nooks. The interesting site lines. The use of sunlight. These are just a smidgeon of what makes our homes so very unique.  This is why our tag line reads: Homes as Unique as You Are. 
   Over the years I've met thousands of people in our model homes and the one thing that stays with me is the vocabulary people use to describe an OPaL home. Of course people give compliments; that's the polite thing to do. However, the words people use in our homes are not just a bunch of adjectives strung together. People use thoughtful, kind, and emotive expressions. Sometimes I even hear people gasp as they enter a kitchen or reach the top of the stairs. Quite often people will say our homes feel like a vacation home. Good. That's the point. I think you should live your life in surroundings that make you feel like your on vacation.

   OPaL homes are very much an expression and extension of who we are as builders, architects, designers and people. I hope our homes can also be an expression and extension of who our home owners are too.  That would be nice.  

Sean