State-of-the-art development in Stamford

NRDC Residential, the recently formed residential subsidiary of Purchase, N.Y.-based National Realty & Development Corporation, has unveiled the first model home for its Windermere on the Lake community in the Long Ridge area of Stamford. The blueprint features some of the most environmentally advanced community plans ever in Connecticut, the company says.

Windermere on the Lake is the inaugural community for NRDC and is designed by the Norwalk architectural firm, Bartels-Pagliaro. It will consist of 24 homes on 75 acres of land. The second house is scheduled to open in early spring 2008 and the third by the summer.

“We”™ve developed a green and sustainable site,” said Mark Robbins, president of NRDC Residential. “In connection with the overall site development, of the 75 acres, 50 acres have been put into a resource protection plan, 25 of which are being gifted to the Stamford Land Conservation Trust, which is the largest gift in their history. It”™s a unique gift because we give them the fee interest in the land and we have a stewardship responsibility to maintain the land and remove invasive species.”

The community”™s habitat-management plan includes wetland restoration interests that improve water quality through natural filtration and prevent erosion. Windermere”™s extensive storm-water management alleges that runoff water discharged from the site into the Mianus River is cleaner than runoff entering the site.

Where necessary, invasive plants have been removed and replaced with native species. For wildlife, there are bluebird nesting boxes and log-crib habitat structures in the ponds as fish habitat.

Robbins described Windermere as the start of a renaissance in the housing group. His initiative with the project was to do something special and truly create a sense of place.

All of the project”™s developing and general contracting is done by the construction division of NRDC leaving only the specialized trades hired out. By using Javelin software, NRDC was able to cut waste in construction by up to 15 percent. The wood used to create each home”™s framing was laser cut, resulting in less than 5 percent wood waste, as compared with the average wood waste of 10 percent to 20 percent for a typical home. Buyers at Windermere are given the option of incorporating geothermal heating in their homes, which has an upfront cost of approximately $120,000 with a projected pay back on initial investment of five to seven years.

The first model home to open is known as the Cumbria design, whose exterior features a faÃ§ade of twin tiered triangles and a front-facing courtyard. The Cumbria is considered the most formal expression of Arts and Crafts design at Windermere. The floor plan organizes ground-floor common areas ”“ kitchen and living, family, dining, and breakfast rooms ”“ around a grand central staircase. On the second floor, there is a master suite, flanked by four bedrooms with three additional baths and a study.

Robbins said the community is the result of three years of planning.

Windermere on the Lake is in the process of becoming LEED-certified (leadership in energy and environmental design), making it the first LEED-certified luxury planned community in Connecticut. The United States Green Building Council created the LEED rating system to serve as the benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings.

“AIA totally supports this type of construction,” said Diane Harp Jones, executive vice president and CEO, of the American Institute of Architectures, Connecticut. “LEED is one of the resources of sustainable, environmentally sensitive design. One-hundred percent of the LEED standards can be applied to this kind of construction.”

The hardwood flooring in every Windermere home is Forestry Stewardship Council-certified, which is the only certification for wood recognized by the Green Builders Council, the organization responsible for overseeing LEED-certification. Windermere”™s flooring is part of the sustainable forestry green initiative, which ensures that for every one tree cut down for its production, 1,000 seedlings have been planted in its place.

The community”™s architectural plans are inspired by the architect C. F. A. Voysey who was part of England”™s 19th-century Arts & Crafts movement. The style features uninterrupted rooftops that blend in with one another and the landscape.

Windermere on the Lake has four home styles, each named for locales in England”™s Lake District; Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire, and Westmorland. Each has four to six bedrooms, three-car garages, porches, stone walls, cedar roofs, convertible in-law suites, masonry fireplaces and sports-equipment rooms. Additional options include a landmark tower, light monitor, outdoor entertainment area, balconies, exercise rooms and his-and-her studies. The homes are Energy Star-qualified to meet efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The development features a six-acre lake.

NRDC retained Simon Johnson, English landscape architect, to design the gardens. Over 45 percent of the plants included in the custom garden plans for each home at Windermere are certified by the University of Massachusetts as drought tolerant, reducing the amount of watering that must occur to maintain their upkeep.

The resort-style community includes a swimming pool, tennis court, clubhouse with fitness room, walking trail and lakefront fishing dock. The semi-custom homes offer optional features including elevators, steam showers, wine cellars, generators, cedar closets, heated garages, home theaters, and state-of-the-art sound and security systems.