“The Homestead” is a fitting name for this luxury retreat, a true homestead in the fullest sense of the word. This new modular mansion is BSN’s largest luxury “systems-built” modular home, appraised at $695,000 with 6,800 square feet of living space over 3,000-plus square feet of basement. Behind the main house is a matching garden house, complete with an oak-trimmed front porch, children’s playroom, garden room, and woodworking shop. A detached, three-car garage with an 1,100 square feet guest apartment sets adjacent to the main house.

The Homestead was designed and built to compliment the lay of the land on the softly rolling hills of its picturesque lot in Squirrel Creek Subdivision off Highway 60. Now that the Homestead has been set on its foundation, BSN crews are rapidly completing its construction, interior finishes, and landscaping.

BSN describes the Homestead as a “blend of mountain retreat-American heritage-Craftsman design” with an elegantly rustic, boldly square styling, and details borrowed from the past. Set against the historic backdrop of Highway 60’s Squirrel Creek area, the site of the Homestead was the home of an early 1900s oak barn. In keeping with the Craftsman-style motive—to design and construct in honest handcrafted traditions—BSN crews carefully disassembled the barn’s oak timbers and preserved them for use in the Homestead’s interior as well as exterior trims.

The main house offers a retreat-type lifestyle infused with luxury finishes and handcrafted details. Natural materials suggesting “heritage” are found throughout, including hand-hewn Amish hardwood floors, and handcrafted oak trims. The design features granite kitchen counters, two fireplaces, a state-of-the-art theatre room, craft room, teen suite, and cozy finished porches. A highlight of this retreat is the homeowner’s suite with a 600 square foot master bedroom, and elegant marble finishes throughout the master bath.

The blending of hand-craftsmanship and heritage materials with the industrialized, modular home building process is a significant example of how home construction technology has evolved in general. The Homestead represents a trend in American homebuilding as an example of what can be accomplished through the advanced technologies of the modular building process combined with custom finishes.

Future owners of modular homes like the Homestead can reap benefits of the cost savings provided by the industrialized process. These include significantly reduced construction time, which saves interest on construction loans, as well as considerable savings in materials costs due to the high-volume purchasing abilities of systems-built production facilities.

Smereczynsky is an award-winning builder, honored with three first-place awards in the national Building Systems Council 2003 Excellence in Marketing & Model Home Design Awards for his commitment and contributions to the modular home industry. He encourages homebuyers and consumers in general to “keep current with the trends in home construction, and to not let their thinking or education become obsolete.” Smereczynsky suggests homebuyers “take advantage of the fact that modular home construction projects are being implemented here in the Gainesville area and across Atlanta, so they can find out all about them.”

BSN provides information about the construction process of industrialized, modular homes. They are constructed under optimum building conditions within controlled environments, at fractions of the cost and time of traditional site-built or “stick-built” homes. Unlike modular homes, site-built homes are exposed to unfavorable weather conditions during the construction process. The interior of a modular home won’t be rained on during construction like site-built homes whose interior framing, insulation, flooring, electrical, and even finishes are subject to rain or weather damage during the building process.

Smereczynsky invites the community to come see The Homestead during its finishing stages. From Gainesville, take 60 west toward Murrayville, past Cherokee Forest Subdivision on the right. Turn left into Squirrel Creek Subdivision. Look for signs on the left for lot four. BSN plans to announce the grand opening of the finished product soon, when the community will be invited for a full tour of the property.

“See for yourself why modular homes are so sensible,” Smereczynsky says. Contact the BSN offices in Gainesville for more information about systems-built homes at 770-888-2761.