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We would like to thank all of your for continued support throughout the past year. It’s been a privilege and honor to have had the opportunity to work with so many Iowa families over the past 10 years.

From all of us a Castle Pointe Homes, we wish you and your families happy holidays and best wishes for the coming New Year. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you on your new Iowa custom home 2013.

When it comes to building a Des Moines luxury custom home, the design advantages are almost limitless. With the ability to customize floor plans and select the materials and appliance you want, you can design a new custom Iowa home that fits your exact needs, wants and lifestyle.

Des Moines New Home: Taking Stock

One of the biggest advantages to Iowa new home construction is having the ability to create a luxury custom home that is completely centered on your lifestyle, wants and needs. So before you begin the build process, why not take time to inventory what it is you truly want and need in your Des Moines custom home?

First and foremost, where do you want to live? Examine factors such as office location, schools, activities and volunteer efforts you’re associated with to help you determine where you want to live. Once you have a few areas narrowed down, then you can work with your builder to find the perfect lot for your new home.

Now let’s take a look at your lifestyle. Are you a social butterfly that loves to entertain? Or do you prefer the quieter aspects of life like relaxing with a good book on a Saturday afternoon or spending your weekends outdoors lounging by the pool with your family? The answers questions like these will help guide and shape the design process for you and your builder.

Des Moines New Home: Create a Plan

Once you have your location and lifestyle questions answers, you’re ready to begin the planning process. Our online tools provide everything you need to get the job done right!

The first step is to download the home guide planner. Our design planner will guide you through the initial planning phase and help you create a design blueprint for the initial consultation with your builder.

Our online gallery has tons of fabulous ideas on how to make your new Iowa new home uniquely your own. With creative solutions for storage to ideas on how to create the ultimate kitchen for entertaining, our gallery has solutions for every taste and budget.

Des Moines New Home: Meet Your Builder

Being able to choose exactly where you want your new luxury custom home to be and designing a home that fits your lifestyle, wants and needs, is unmatched advantage to creating your own luxury Iowa custom home.

With your location identified and your completed planner in hand, you’re now ready to meet your builder. Contact us for an initial consultation and let us show you how to make 2013 the year of your new Des Moines custom home.

Building a luxury custom home based on the principles of Woman Centric Design is at the core of our design philosophy. Building Iowa new homes with high-quality products and materials is the foundation of our building philosophy.

Although not always visible, the elements of quality that belong in a luxury custom home can be found throughout the house from the foundation to the fixtures. Today we’ll look at just a few of the elements that can be found in every Castle Pointe Home and are apart of what sets us apart other Des Moines builders.

A Foundation of Quality

Often times the foundations of quality aren’t visible when you walk into a house; however, over time as the house ages, these elements of quality, or lack thereof, can become apparent.

Icynene spray foam insulation is a high-quality product that outperforms traditional fiber glass insulation by serving as a huge, often unseen, source of energy efficiency savings. When applied, this material expands on contact, spreading out to fill in gaps and crevices, creating a tighter, longer-lasting seal.

Another foundational element of quality you’ll discover in our homes is the AdvanTech flooring products used to create the sub-flooring. This high-quality material is moisture resistant and less prone to cupping or warping under the colder, wetter Iowa weather conditions.

A Vision of Quality

Unlike the foundation or insulation used in our homes, the windows and appliances are elements of quality you can see and touch. The Pella windows found throughout are not only visually stunning, but are also incredibly energy efficient. What’s more, the translucent screen coverings are virtually invisible from the street, allowing them to seamlessly blend into home’s overall aesthetics.

The same level of elevated quality can be seen in the Energy Star certified building standards and appliances found throughout our homes. Luxury custom homes built with these techniques and appliances may deliver energy efficiency savings of up to 30 percent compared to most uncertified homes; a savings which you’ll be able to see each month in your utility bills.

Quality of Design Throughout

With high-quality products, certified energy efficiency building standards and a seasoned design team that will work with you to create a luxury custom home that uniquely reflects your wants and needs, it’s easy to understand what sets Castle Pointe Homes apart from other Des Moines home builders.

Ready to experience the elements of quality of our luxury custom homes first-hand? Contact us for an initial consultation and take the first step towards creating the Iowa luxury home of your dreams.

As the dawn of a New Year often creates new opportunities, we know that for many of you that new opportunity will be a new Des Moines luxury home. For those considering making 2013 the year of a new custom home, we thought this would be the perfect time to walk through our build process.

Our process is broken down into three stages: pre-construction, construction and post-construction. From start to finish, you’ll work closely with our design and build team, developing a relationship of trust and open communication.

Building a new luxury custom home is an exciting event; and when you work with a Des Moines builder you trust who will guide and support you along the way, it makes the entire experience even more enjoyable.

Iowa New Homes: Pre-Construction

The initial stage of the building process centers on solidifying your vision: where you want to live, what type of house you want and what will be the design style used inside the home. From contract to blueprint, this is the phase where the initial groundwork for the entire project is laid out.

You and your building will work closely during this phase selecting the perfect materials for your new home. From marble and slate in the kitchens and bath to hardwood and stainless steel in the kitchen, you and your builder will choose the materials that will bring your luxury custom home vision to life.

Iowa New Homes: Construction

It’s during this second stage where vision begins to take shape into reality! During this phase the blueprints will come to life as the foundation and framing of your home are created.

After the foundation and framing are in place, your Des Moines home builder will tackle all the mechanical aspects of your home. Wiring and pipes are an intricate part of the home building process, so this step is typically done while the home is still open. Once this step is complete, you’ll begin to see the house take a more recognizable form as the insulation, walls and roof will be put into place.

Once the home’s exterior is in place, your Des Moines home builder will turn to the interior of the house and begin the interior build-out. This is typically the most exciting part for new home owners as it’s the first time you’ll really be able to see and touch the vision of your luxury custom home that began as a blueprint a few months earlier.

As the electricians and plumbers return to the home build site to finish out their jobs on the inside, your home builder shift focus to the exterior of your home. It’s during this final phase of the construction stage where decking, irrigation and landscaping will be put in to place.

Iowa New Homes: Post-Construction

Your wait is finally over as you enter the post-construction phase! During this final phase you’ll have the opportunity to walk through your beautifully finished home with your builder.

As any last minute repairs or changes you requested will have been completed by this point, you and your builder will take one last walk through the house together. This walk-through ensures that everything is absolutely perfect and just the way you imaged.

Experience Your Iowa New Home Build

Now that you have a better understanding of the three stages of the build process, you’re ready to take the next step towards creating the luxury custom home of your dreams.

Contact us for an initial consultation and let us show you how to make 2013 the year of your new Des Moines custom home!

You’ve been thinking about it for a while now, and finally, the time has come for you to take the first step towards your dream home. Before your initial consultation with your Des Moines home builder, why not pull some of your ideas together into your own idea book?

Having your own idea book chopped full of materials, designs and creative solutions that will make your dream house uniquely your own will help foster the communication between you and your builder and give him the perfect picture of your design desires.

To help you get started in the process of creating your idea book, we’ve pulled together 10 great online resources you can use to plan your luxury Iowa new home.

Building a Custom Home: Locate the Perfect Space

Begin your planning process by narrowing down your ideal locations and floor plans. Sites like Zillow.com will be able to help identify your ideal location based on lot price, daily commute time and neighbor activity reports.

Once you have an idea of where you’d like to build, then it’s time to try your hand at designing your ideal floor plan. Simply enter the dimensions of your target lot, select the number bedrooms and baths and choose the number of levels you prefer and you’ll have a floor plan concept you can use to get the process started.

Building a Custom Home: Create an Idea Book

An idea book is a fabulous way to capture your wants and must have design concepts. There’s no need to create a formal book, just capture screen prints, URLs or clippings for design ideas that reflect the components of your ideal luxury custom home.

Here are a few of our favorite online resources we’re sure will spark your creative juices and generate ideas galore for your Iowa new home:

• With thousands of ideas and the ability to search by room or design style, Houzz.com is an amazing resource for finding the perfect design solutions for your new custom home. You can also create your own online gallery to save your must have ideas!
• If you’re looking for something a little more out of the ordinary, comb the boards of Pinterest for unique and creative design solutions. You can even create your own boards by category and share them with friends.
• With weekly shows, online videos and a photo gallery full of ideas from some of your favorite designers, HGTV is a wonderful resource for finding those “must have” features.
• When you’re ready to see what that Mexican tile might look like against those supreme wood cabinets you saw on HGTV, it’s time to check out Design My Room. This free site lets you interchange flooring, cabinets and fixtures to find the combination that is exactly what you’re looking for.
• And what idea book would be complete without an outdoor section? When you’re ready to layout your perfect outdoor escape, visit this great online Garden Planner. You’ll be able to create your ideal oasis; the perfect accompaniment for your new luxury home.

Building a Custom Home: Utilize Our Online Tools

With your space, location and idea book ready to go, it’s time to begin working with your new Des Moines home builder. Before your initial consultation, utilize our suite of online tools to help prepare:

• With the Castle Pointe Homes mortgage calculator you’ll be able to create a reasonable budget that will allow for incorporating all those great ideas from your idea book and that perfect lot of land you found.
• The Castle Pointe Homes online video gallery has tons of great information on recent builds, client testimonials and home builder educational information.
• After reviewing the steps of the Castle Pointe Homes build process, you’ll have an expert understanding of the various phases of the build process and what to expect along the way.

Design Your Iowa Custom Home

Taking time to create an idea book and doing research on locations before you begin your home build process will not only make the initial consultation run smoother, but it will also provide your home builder with everything needed to create a design that most accurately reflects your wants and needs.

When you’re ready to begin the process, contact us for an initial consultation and take the first step towards creating the Iowa luxury home of your dreams.