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Protect Your Home from Power Outages
Everyday life depends so much on electrical power. Refrigerators, lighting, central air conditioning and heat, telephones, security systems, and computers are no longer luxuries, but necessities. What happens to your home when the power goes out? If you have an automatic standby generator, your home will be well-equipped to weather power outages. Recent weather events …
Making Selections for a Custom Home
Whether you are planning to build a custom home one day or you’re in the middle of building one, it can be a daunting task just making the choices like stucco color or lighting fixtures. I’ve been guiding the team who makes the selections for our Show Homes and Spec Homes for over 8 years, …
Creating the Perfect Wine Room at Home
Private, custom built wine rooms add a finishing touch and elegance to a true custom home. Build a wine room into your next home by following these tips for building a wine room. Whether you are a collector, wine enthusiast or a novice, a custom-built wine room is the hot trend in custom home design, …
The Best Of…
Austin continues to make the news as one of the best places to live, work and play. So, don’t just take our word for it, take theirs: 1 Best Place to Buy a Home by Entrepreneur 1 Best Big City Places to Live by MSN House & Home 1 Fastest Growing Large Metro Areas by …
All for Hope Charity Gala
THANK YOU SO MUCH to all who attended the All for Hope Gala! With your help, we are thrilled to report that we raised over $23,000! This event exceeded all our expectations, and we owe a huge debt of gratitude to all the volunteers and sponsors who participated with us. Thank you to all. With …
Great Architecture
A few years ago when Texas A&M was playing Notre Dame, my father-in-law graciously offered to fly us in his Cessna 210 to South Bend Indiana. What I thought was going to be a long airplane ride to a football game turned into an education on great design, architecture, engineering, and construction. On our return …
A Designer’s look at Decking the Halls
This post was originally published on our affiliate blog site: The Home Blog. Today’s guest is Jessica Nixon of Jessica Nixon Interior Design, the company she founded in 1994. Jessica is a registered American Society of Interior Designers member and has earned the National Council for Interior Design Qualification certification. In addition to her tenure …
Hardscape in your Landscape
By Jason Allison, Landscape Designer, Elements Group Adding hardscape into a landscape is sometimes viewed as a contradiction of ideals. After all, landscapes are soft and organic while hardscapes are, well, hard and permanent, right? So, how can they work together? Well, beautifully. You see, when planned properly the hardscape can add great value to …
Hardscape in your Landscape-part 2
n his first post, Jason Allison introduced us to the concept of hardscape in our landscaping. In part two, Jason will conclude his article with issues that need to be addressed when bringing hardscape into your landscape. When adding hardscape to your landscaping, always consider your drainage. If this is not addressed properly from the …
A Designers Look at Decking the Halls-Part 2
Today’s guest is Jessica Nixon of Jessica Nixon Interior Design, the company she founded in 1994. Jessica is a registered American Society of Interior Designers member and has earned the National Council for Interior Design Qualification certification. In addition to her tenure as president of Austin’s ASID, she has held past positions with the association …
It’s Great to be in Texas!
Well, it’s great to be in Texas. All 5 of Texas’ larger Metro Areas reported positive job growth in 2008, putting all 5 of them in the nation’s Top 10 with El Paso coming in at No. 11. As job growth goes, so does the economy, so it’s no wonder that Forbes Magazine ranked Austin …
Interest Rates
We recently attended the Economic Housing Forecast for Austin, presented by Stewart Title. They do this annually, where they bring in Economists and Consultants from the industry who specialize in the Texas Housing market. This year, we were surprised to learn that these specialists expect interest rates to begin rising soon. In theory, I can …
Housing Starts
The NAHB just released the graph of housing starts in the United States. For the first time in 3 years, housing starts are up. Also, for the first time in 4 years, inventories are down: 2005: 4.5 months 2006: 6.5 months 2007: 8.9 months 2008: 10.5 months Today: 9.7 months It appears that the housing …
My Favorite Product
I LOVE the Sherwin Williams product called Illusions® Translucent Metallic Technique Finishes. The Pearl color adds so much pizazz to a small space like a Powder Bath wall or a barrel ceiling, and it requires no technique at all! You can just paint it on the space, and it gives the walls a pearl sheen. …
HGTV’s Million Dollar Rooms
The Game Room in our Million Dollar Space opens up to the Outdoor Living and has a pass-through to the dedicated Media Room. Here is a description about each space and list of amenities, starting with the Game Room itself: The function of the Game Room: From the nightcap after dinner to hosting a large …
Most Recent Blog Posts
Here, you can see what’s happening live in our design department, as well as in the field, along with interesting articles about what’s new and improved in our industry. James Bond Wishes He Had One James Bond has nothing on this automated hidden room in the Jenkins Custom Homes 2008 Parade Home. 1/25/2012 Green …
The Best In Luxury Appliances Joins The Best in Luxury Home Building
Perfected through seven decades of use in professional kitchens, Wolf appliances provide the ability to make any dish possible, while Sub-Zero, the innovative leaders in preservation, keep foods fresher longer – all while consuming less power than a 100 watt light bulb. You can experience both of these top-of-the-line appliances – hands on and in …
Austin Among Best Performing US Metros
Austin Business Journal Tuesday, September 15, 2009 Austin and San Antonio will be the first two U.S. cities to recover from the recession, according to a new national forecast from IHS Global Insight. The forecast from the Lexington, Mass. economic research firm suggests the two Texas cities will bounce back to their pre-recession job levels …
Thrill the Grill
Do you love cooking on the grill but are tired of the typical grilled fare? Are you planning a Memorial Day party but haven’t quite nailed down your menu? Then, you must join us for the Outdoor Cooking event of the season: T H R I L L the G R I L L ! …
Celebrating 20 Years!
Jenkins Custom Homes is celebrating 20 years in the custom home building business in 2012. To say thanks for 20 wonderful years, we are offering a complimentary copy of our “Luxury Home Idea Book” to anyone who signs up for our newsletter in the first half of 2012 (offer ends 6/1/2012). This beautiful “coffee table” …
Fire Sprinkler Mandate in Texas Homes?
Well, it is coming…fire sprinklers in every home. Here is the synopsis of the vote taken recently and how it happened. Fire sprinkler mandates will be part of the 2009 International Residential Code and will be required in all one- and two-family homes and townhouses that build to the code as of Jan. 1, 2011. …























