News

Local Builder Awarded Best in the State of North Carolina for the Ebenezer Residence. The award for Best Accessible Residential Home in North Carolina went to Hillsborough NC’s Collins Design-Build.

The North Carolina Home Builders Association presented more than 75 prestigious STARS awards at the annual STARS Awards Gala  at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in Concord, NC. The STARS Awards program honors the achievements of home building industry professionals from across North Carolina. Winners receive recognition in areas such as marketing and advertising, web design, sales/information center, landscape design, interior merchandising, architecture/floor plan, remodeling/renovation and special projects.

As a Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS), we strive to meet all of our client’s accessibility requirements. We want our homes to be as adaptable as possible. We strive for our homes to reduce physical effort to conduct routine daily functions. Our philosophy in this practice allows for our homeowners to adapt and modify their homes easily should mobility issues arise.

The Ebenezer Residence was focused on immediate accessibility needs. We wanted the home to be 100% accessible both inside and out to allow any individual that is seated in a wheelchair complete freedom to live and maintain the home without assistance.

The design has many entrance considerations. For the front entrance we installed a properly sloped parking pad with adequate clearances and an ADA concrete ramp to the front porch. The front porch has smooth paver stone flooring, wall sconce lighting (to allow for easier maintenance), and a zero-entry mahogany double door.

Once inside the spacious foyer your eye is immediately drawn to the twenty-four-foot-tall ceilings in the family room flanked by walls of window clear glass overlooking they exterior hardscapes including the hot tub, oversize swimming pool, and mature landscaping.

The user-friendly kitchen allows for daily activities such as cooking and cleaning to be conducted from a seated position. The breakfast nook with oversized sliding glass doors transitions smoothly and to the cozy screen porch with stain grade one by four tongue and groove ceilings, brick wall and exterior television.

The primary bedroom features a warm and ambient fireplace, site finished hardwood floors, remote controlled window shades and a true barrel ceiling. The primary bathroom has a zero-entry oversized shower with temperature control shower faucets, a handheld sprayer with extra-long hose for optimal use from a seated position and full glass.

The ceilings on the main floor are twelve feet with eight foot tall and three-foot-wide doors. The home has two powder rooms, an exercise gym, an oversized four car garage, built-in’s galore, twenty-foot-tall ceilings in the office with handmade open trusses, a media room, and an exterior shower. The home has eight bathrooms, a wood-burning fireplace and two natural gas fueled fireplaces. The oversize dining room features twenty-foot-tall ceilings with handmade open trusses, custom made wainscoting and ambient sconce lighting.

The heated square footage of the home is 6524 heated square feet and is centrally located on 40 acres within minutes of Duke University. The home is Certified Green under the standards of the National Green Building Standard and is ENERGY STAR Qualified. A few Green features in this home included a closed crawlspace, engineered framing, spray foam insulation, high performance variable speed multi zone HVAC systems, on demand water heater with recirculating loop and an energy recovery ventilator to allow fresh air into the home as controlled by the owner.

The Ebenezer Residence was over a two-year period just in the design process. A well planned and thought-out home!

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