And the Winners Are...

Model-home sparkle can be blinding. Everything is new, stylish and clean. And then there are the intoxicating smells of new drywall and carpeting blended with pumped-in potpourri.

To a novice shopper, almost every home looks good. That's why it takes a team of professionals to pick the best from an array of great-looking homes.

Just such a team spent the spring evaluating builder models across the Southeast, choosing winners for the Southeast Building Conference's annual Aurora Awards.

The experts looked at a variety of criteria in the judging, including the quality of the architectural design, floor-plan function, curb appeal, landscape, livability, cost efficiency, interior décor and construction value.

They found seven model homes in the Jacksonville area to be among the best in 12 states. And, since almost all the local prize winners are open to the public, you too can visit these critically acclaimed homes.

Local homes in a wide array of prices and styles won Auroras. A condominium development with a novel exterior design and units priced at under $200,000 was one winner. So was a near mansion with soaring ceilings and a price tag approaching $750,000.

The builder of a downtown Springfield model with millwork hearkening back to a style popular nearly 100 years ago won an Aurora. So did the builder and decorator of an ultra-posh Ponte Vedra condominium that feels more like a spacious estate than a multi-family project with shared walls.

Coppenbarger Homes/A Standard Pacific Company was the biggest local winner. In fact, the company garnered three Auroras for one projec—Meditierra, a luxurious 28-unit condominium development in Ponte Vedra Beach. Meditierra won a Grand Aurora as best attached for-sale home priced at more than $500,000. The Meditierra's kitchen, as well as its interior merchandising by Rita Williams of Interior Merchandising Plus, were also winners.

Merchandising Plus did the interiors for five of the seven winning homes in the Jacksonville area, including all of Coppenbarger's winning entries.

ESTATES, CONDO STYLE

The Meditierra, at 101 Cuello Court off A1A near S.R. 210, looks more like a Mediterranean-style mansion built during Florida's 1920s real estate boom than a condominium complex, both inside and out.

Stepping inside the model's marble foyer is like walking into a cool, classy penthouse. The ceilings are startlingly high and detailed with molding. The foyer is wide, and the overall look is formal elegance softened by some beachy touches and colors. The palate is a soothing vanilla and soft sea blue-green with accents of coral. The furniture is a mixture, ranging from rich coffee browns to cool, slightly distressed seaside whites.

With 2,775 square feet in the first-floor units, including a large master suite with a luxe bath, a granite and stainless kitchen, and two other bedrooms or a study and bedroom option, the only thing downsizing empty nesters will be giving up will be land. And, with the option of an outdoor kitchen and a courtyard swimming pool, the loss is hardly noticeable.

Downstairs Meditierra units are priced starting at $690,000, while upstairs units are priced starting at $745,000.

Another Standard Pacific model in Jacksonville" target="_blank">Clay County's OakLeaf Plantation finished in a tie as best single-family, for-sale home in the $300,000 to $500,000 category.

The Regent, located in the Oak Brook neighborhood, has 3,264 square feet, five bedrooms and four bathrooms.

The home's floor plan is split, with the master suite separated from the family room and other bedrooms by a living room and a dining room with elaborate ceiling details. The Regent, priced at more than $520,000 in the spring, can be seen at 3664 Oakworth Court.

Just down the road in Jacksonville" target="_blank">Clay County, Stone Creek, a Coppenbarger town-home development in Eagle Harbor, won as best attached for-sale home priced at under $200,000.

Since the judging, all of Stone Creek's 1,732-square-foot town homes have been sold.

FABULOUS FLOOR PLAN

Rosewood Homes has been building its Devereaux design for several years. But a recent tweaking by the renowned neotraditional architecture firm of Bloodgood Sharp Buster was enough to earn the company's Fleming Island Plantation model in River Hills Reserve an Aurora as best single-family, for-sale home priced at $500,000 to $750,000.

The nearly 4,000-square-foot home has a bit of a farmhouse look on the outside, with a front porch, dormered gable and touches of stone. Inside, the house is all about drama, with a two-story-tall family room ceiling and oversized palladium windows overlooking a golf course lake.

The home has five bedrooms, a game room loft overlooking the family room and a media room over the garage. The interior, also done by Merchandising Plus, is in soft neutral tones. While the home's view is grand, the furnishings are relatively casual.

Fleming Island Plantation is located off U.S. 17 in Jacksonville" target="_blank">Clay County, just south of C.R. 210.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

SRG Homes & Neighborhoods is working to revitalize Jacksonville's historic Springfield neighborhood near downtown by building homes that look old but function well for 21st-century families.

SRG's Saxelbye model won an Aurora for its Craftsman-era interior detailing. The two-story home, which was designed to blend in with surrounding homes built nearly 100 years ago, is loaded with millwork.

A series of square coffers march across the living room and dining room ceilings. Two glass built-ins divide the two spaces in a functional and stately manner. And all the home's windows and doors are framed with deep molding.

While the Saxelbye has all the character and warmth of a vintage home, it also contains all the most modern conveniences combined with clean, contemporary furnishings and finishes. For example, black granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances highlight the kitchen, which also has cabinetry with such modern features as a pull-out pantry.

The home's décor is contemporary, with straight, unfussy lines, yet still warm and comfortable. Neutral mocha and cream tones are punched up with colorful accessories and art.

The Saxelbye model, with 1,989 square feet and three bedrooms, is priced from the low $200s to the mid-$300s. It can be seen at 139 W. Third St.

SRG, with more than 150 home sites in Springfield, is also building homes on owner-owned lots in the resurgent community.

COUNTRY-CLUB CRAFTSMAN

Buyers looking for a home with a Craftsman-style exterior in a country club environment should check out Richard R. Dostie/A Toll Brothers Company's San Marco model in Palm Coast's Grand Haven community.

The San Marco, located near Jacksonville" target="_blank">Flagler County's uncluttered beaches, tied with Coppenbarger's Regent as best single-family, for-sale home in the $300,000 to $500,000 category.

The exterior of the San Marco features tapered columns sitting atop stacked stone.

Inside, the home takes on a more tropical air, with a gathering room, sunroom, breakfast nook and master bedroom overlooking a lanai and pool. Merchandising Plus designed the interior.

The 2,614-square-foot, three-bedroom floor plan turns around a dramatic central gallery that opens onto a formal living room and dining room as well as the gathering room and a bedroom.

AMAZING AMENITIES

A condominium complex that started life as an apartment complex took home two Auroras. Williams Walk of Bartram Park won as best rental apartment with less than 15 units per acre, as well as for its landscape design.

The Contravest project, located off St. Augustine Road, features a resort-style pool and a lodge-style clubhouse.

Charlan Brock & Associates in Maitland was the designer, Jeff Dix of Dix Lathrop in Longwood designed the landscape and Carnegis & Company of Houston designed the interiors.