Rendering of a home to be built in Century at RounTrey, a new 17- lot section of modern homes that’s slated for completion in late 2021. Rendering courtesy of Danny Sowers
On multiple trips to visit a college friend in Portland, Oregon, over the past eight years, Danny Sowers couldn’t help but marvel at all the modern-style homes he saw being built in the city.
“The more I went out there, the more I saw of it,” says Sowers, vice president of RounTrey Development Corporation and owner of River City Custom Homes. “I started scheduling times with builders to walk through their homes.”
Enamored by these brushes with modern architecture – known for its clean lines, minimalist aesthetic and emphasis on functionality over ornamentation – Sowers set out to bring a dose of the design back to Chesterfield, a county where recent homebuilding has been dominated by more traditional styles like Craftsman and farmhouse.
The result is Century at RounTrey, a 17-lot section of modern homes off of Woolridge Road in Midlothian that will see its first unit come online in late April. If these initial offerings are successful, Sowers says some of the 109 undeveloped lots behind this initial section may also get the modern treatment.
Rendering of another home to be built in Century at RounTrey. Rendering courtesy of Danny Sowers
“I think that Richmond has been ready for it,” Sowers says. “You’re going to see materials that you don’t [usually] see. You’re going to see the design trends that are a little bit different, you’re going to see a lot of clean lines.”
Set on narrow, deep lots that are roughly a quarter-acre in size, Sowers’ hope is that these 2,500-3,000-square-foot homes will stay in the $600,000 price range. In the realm of new modern homes, he says this is relatively affordable.
“The idea around this is not to build $1.5 million modern homes,” Sowers says. “That was never the goal. The goal was to show people that you can do this in a relatively approachable price point.”
Presently, four builders are working to open modern homes in the 17-lot pilot: Covenant Building & Design, River City Custom Homes, LeGault Homes and Homesmith Construction. As the four model homes come online over the next few months, Sowers says they’ll have staggered openings for public visitation. The first home to open is one Covenant is building for a client; Sowers says the client has agreed to open it to the public for a week or two before moving in. Total buildout of the 17-lot pilot is anticipated by the end of 2021.
Though the design style might be called modern, for Sowers it’s a throwback of sorts. In the mid-1950s, Sowers’ grandfather George “Bruce” Sowers and great-uncle James “Jim” Sowers developed Highland Hills, a mid-century housing development in Bon Air. Designed by lauded architect Charles M. Goodman, these roughly 80 prefab homes stand out for their clean lines, floor-to-ceiling windows and being offset from the road.
In recent years, Miranda Wilhelm, marketing director for RounTrey, says modern homes have popped up locally as infill – particularly in Richmond – but that there hasn’t been a full-fledged modern development like Century in quite some time.
“Richmond is certainly ready for modern,” says Wilhelm. “There’s little snippets of modern around the city. We think it’s really going to take off like it has in other cities.”
