Finished houses sit next to empty lots for sale in Forsyth, Ga.
The Commerce Department said that builders broke ground on 965,000 housing units on an annualized basis. That was down from a pace of 1.08 million in June and the weakest showing since March 1991. Map: Dallas-area home sales and prices
Centex typically puts the wine room under the front stairs.
Wine rooms, or grottos, have come up in the world, at least in floor level, from fancy limestone cellars beneath $600,000 custom homes to elegant storage near the dining rooms or stairways in less pricy digs.
The first units in the Ross Avenue Brownstones at Hall Street may be ready next month.
A surplus of unsold townhouses in some close-in Dallas neighborhoods has caused developers to pull the plug on a few deals. But some projects are moving ahead and still attracting buyers.
Countrywide Financial Corp., under pressure to help stem growing home loan defaults, says it will expand programs to help borrowers manage their mortgage payments regardless of the type of subprime loan they have or whether they have already fallen behind on payments.
Today's mudrooms, such as this one in a Centex home, can be designed with hooks, cubbies and other storage units to keep gear stowed out of the way.
Closets to store cleaning supplies and vacuums. Drawers custom-made for curling irons. New-home builders are creating stations to serve specific functions.
Architect Hoang Dang, wife Thao and son Nathan live in the contemporary Cedar Hill home he designed.
All around architect Hoang Dang's Cedar Hill house you see roadrunners and turkey buzzards, swallows and cardinals, prairie grasses, and yellow and purple wildflowers. Plus, dozens upon dozens of empty homes and abandoned construction sites. But the Dang family still loves where they live in their contemporary masterpiece. Photos More Home Tours
