28
Texas Association of Builders
May/June 2016
Featured Project
A
ndrewTraylor builds homes to fit
the land they sit upon. He never
shies away from a challenging lot
and uses the existing landscape
as inspiration for his design. His building
company, Andrew Traylor Custom Homes,
has two new houses in the East Texas
BA’s 2016 Spring Parade of Homes. Both
homes are located in the Champions
Ridge subdivision, a new development on
the Challenge at Oak Forest golf course in
Longview. One is a custom home at about
3,300 square feet. The other is a spec house
at about 3,800 square feet. Traylor was
involved in each project from the start
and made the majority of the decisions on
the spec house. On the custom house, he
worked with the homeowners, helping
guide them while ensuring they had a say in
all the important decisions. The existing lots
played a crucial role in the design of each of
these homes from the ground up.
The custom house project posed a unique set
of challenges from the outset. The owners
chose the lot for its excellent view, but there
was a big drop-off in the back. Fortunately,
Traylor also owns an excavation company.
“I have excavators, bull dozers, and dump
trucks, so we do our own dirt work,” said
Traylor. “There’s really no place I can’t build
a house.” Traylor hauled in hundreds of dirt
loads to stabilize the backyard, but that still
left a huge drop-off down to the creek below.
“The owners wanted a big, outside living area
with a pool, outdoor kitchen, and gazebo,
so I did a dropped ledge on the back of the
house,” said Traylor. “We dropped it four feet,
used the slab as a retaining wall, and put steps
down to the pool. It’s a negative edge pool, so
the backside is also a retaining wall that drops
down another three feet, so we used a lot of
little tricks to step the lot of the house down.”
On the front side, the owners wanted the
house’s exterior to look like a stately castle
with round turrets. “I told them we can do
it, but of course it’s more difficult to build
a round room than a square room,” said
Traylor. “Everything in construction is
designed to be flat and square, so it brings a
lot of challenges, and you have to know what
you’re doing.” The owners were confident in
the abilities of Traylor and his team. They
ANDREW TRAYLOR
CUSTOM HOMES
a n d r e w t r ay l o r c o n s t r u c t i o n
.
c o m
Local Affiliation:
East Texas Builders Association
Featured Project:
Champions Ridge—Parade Homes
Project Location:
Longview, TX
Owner:
Andrew Traylor
Two New Traylor Homes
By Chad Andycha