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Green Home Builder, Collins Design-Build, Inc. was recently honored with a STARS Award presented by the North Carolina Home Builders Association, at the annual STARS Awards Gala. Awarded Best Accessible Residential Home. This award is a strong testament to green Home Builder, Chad’s commitment for home plans and features that are accessible to all.

The Rutherford Manor Castle is just under 5,000 heated square feet. Dubbed Durham’s First Castle, the social photos during construction were a hit. The exterior architecture style is French Country. Like a real castle with turrets, all stone exterior, dark bronze casement windows and an oversized three bay courtyard style garage.

The interior architecture style of this home is inviting, modern and open. The Rutherford Manor castle is built on a maturely wooded 10 acre estate overlooking the South Fork Little River. A Certified Natural Wildlife Habitat, the home is an ENERGY STAR Qualified home and met the stringent National Green Building Standard earning a Silver Certification. The HERS Index Score for this home is 62. Green home features include Sealed Crawl Space, Advanced Framing Practices, Manual J Calculated HVAC Systems, Energy Recovery Ventilator and Spray Foam Insulation.

The design appeal of the home, aside from the wow factor of the exterior, are the open rooms. The family room boasts twenty-five foot tall ceilings, a wrought iron balcony railing and oversized windows for natural light.

The home features Creative use of Interior Space in many ways. One feature that is growing in popularity and allowed us to be recently featured in a national publication is the pet washing station. It’s basically an elevated shower that allows you to wash your pets with ease. …All castles have one.

Creative integration of plan design includes the clients love for plants. So much so, we installed a hose bib in the interior rooms to allow for an interior means of watering plants.

Sites considerations include the Aging in Place zero entry design. The no step design is almost an engineering marvel with a house plan seventy feet wide and over a hundred feet long. The home is custom designed into the land as if the foundation blossomed up from the Earth non-invasively and perfectly blending in with the surrounding lay of the land preserving the indigenous surrounding trees and plants on the river.

Aging in Place building practices are design elements that allow one to have a full range of mobility no matter the task. The core “basic” elements are incorporated; items like wider doorways, level style door handles, and bathroom grab bar blocking.

Collins Design-Build is an Aging In Place Specialist in Durham.

For many seniors, making the decision to move or downsize to a smaller home can be emotionally challenging. After raising a family or spending a good portion of their adult lives in one home, it is often difficult to think about leaving it. Yet, practically, it may be easier to live in a home that better accommodates their changing lifestyle.

To meet the growing need of these baby boomers, a new industry of “senior move managers” was created to help with the transition to the next phase of their lives. Senior move managers handle many aspects of a senior move. From setting up floor plans and helping determine what furniture to take, to packing the house and helping seniors sell or donate things they no longer want.

The National Association of Senior Move Managers provides resources and a directory of senior move managers across the country. Here are the three key things seniors should consider before they begin the downsizing process:

• It takes time. It is hard to imagine moving out of a home you have lived in for so long. Likewise, organizing all of the steps involved in a move can be overwhelming. Be sure to give yourself enough time to process the changes that will be taking place.

• It is important to have support. Downsizing can be physically and emotionally draining for both you and your family. Make sure you have a support system in place before you begin the process. This task is too arduous to take on alone. If family or friends are not available, senior move managers can be a great option to consider.

• Don’t let your belongings hold you back. It can be challenging to decide what to keep and what to part with, but you should not let that process be a burden. You can take the most important items with you, and your support system can help you decide what should be sold, donated or given to another family member. And remember, it is very possible to recreate your favorite living space in your new home.

Plus, many new senior communities offer amenities that will make moving a little more enticing.
These communities often feature swimming pools, fitness centers, movie theaters and social events. And, the floor plans are designed to accommodate seniors’ changing needs.

About the Builder:

Chad & Emilee Collins

Chad Collins is an Unlimited Licensed General Contractor, Licensed Home Inspector, and award-winning custom home builder based in Hillsborough, North Carolina. As the founder of Collins Design-Build, Chad has earned a reputation for creating luxury, timeless custom homes throughout Orange County, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, and the surrounding Triangle region. His projects are known for exceptional craftsmanship, high-performance construction, universal design, and premium client experience.

Recognized as one of the Triangle Business Journal’s top custom home builders, Chad blends extensive construction expertise with thoughtful design to build homes that are beautiful, durable, healthy, and highly energy efficient. His credentials include Accredited Master Builder, Master Certified Green Professional, and Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist—distinctions held by only a select group of builders statewide.

Chad’s 30 plus year career began in building materials, retail, and field operations, quickly earning him leadership roles with local, regional, and national home builders. His ability to streamline operations, lead high-performing teams, and deliver luxury homes with exceptional quality helped him close more than $6 million in custom home projects in a single year and win the 2001 Builder of the Year award.

As the founder of Collins Design-Build, Chad has earned numerous industry honors, including National Certified Green Professional Builder of the Year, Home Builder of the Year for Durham, Orange & Chatham Counties, MAME Building Company of the Year, multiple STARS Awards, Parade of Homes Gold Awards, and multiple Best Green Built Home recognitions. His firm also builds certified green homes and ENERGY STAR homes as a standard—not an upgrade.

Chad is widely respected as a leader in North Carolina’s building community. He has served as President of the Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange & Chatham Counties, Regional Vice President for the North Carolina Home Builders Association, and President of the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce. In 2018, he was appointed by the Governor to the North Carolina Home Inspectors Licensing Board.

In addition to building award-winning custom homes, Chad is a residential construction expert witness, assisting attorneys, homeowners, and insurers in cases involving construction defects, building standards, and accessibility issues. His professional background and extensive field experience make him a trusted authority in courtroom, arbitration, and litigation support.

Chad is also an approved Continuing Education Instructor for the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors and a recognized speaker for the National Association of Home Builders. He has written and taught courses on green building, construction management, and aging-in-place for contractors and university programs, including Duke University’s OLLI Continuing Education Program.

Categorized in: Awards, Collins Design Build News

This post was written by Collins Design Build