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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