Individual efforts
In 2017, standouts draw attention in Oklahoma City-area housing
The waning year was a winning one in general for housing in central Oklahoma, especially for some standout individuals.
In January, Tony Foust, owner of Da Vinci Homes in Norman, was awarded one of the National Association of Homes Builders’ highest professional designations, Graduate Master Builder, during the annual International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Florida.
He already held the trade group’s certifications in green building, aging-in-place and had qualified to be a Certified Graduate Builder. He now teaches those classes. Also in January, Michelle
Wunder debuted her company, Tiny Homes of Oklahoma, and its prototype, the 220-squarefoot Splendor, at the Oklahoma City Home + Garden Show. The Wheeler District rolled out plans allowing for some tiny houses. Others are going tiny.
Tiny houses grew in popularity among both unconventional developers and nontraditional buyers, as local government worked on ways to accommodate the mostly wheeled residences while maintaining safety and other standards.
In February, Central
Oklahoma Habitat for
Humanity got attention for the first of several accomplishments in its 30th year. The Christian charity homebuilder introduced “Fortified” homes with the first one in Blanchard.
Habitat’s Fortified Gold Standard Homes meet specialized standards meant to blunt damage from violent storms. Fortified is a program of the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety in Tampa, Florida.
In March, Jessica
Thompson, an agent with Loxwood Real Estate, became the first member of the Oklahoma City Metro Association of Realtors to receive one of the National Association of Realtors’ 30 Under 30 Awards — only the second Realtor from the state to be so honored.
She is a resident and dedicated promoter of homeownership in the Classen Ten Penn neighborhood.
In April, Rebuilding Together OKC had its 25th Rebuilding Day, concentrating for the second time on a single neighborhood, Heronville, but with a broader, longerterm approach.
The organization expanded the scope to include younger homeowners and organized an agency fair at Heronville Elementary, bringing together employment, youth mentoring, family planning and other organizations to meet with neighborhood residents.
The Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association threw open the doors to new houses all
over the metro area for the 2017 Parade of Homes
Spring Festival the last weekend of April and first weekend of May.
The Symphony Show
House, May 6-21, went on for its 44th year as the main fundraiser for the Oklahoma City Orchestra League and its music education programs, with “Adventure in Rose Rock,” a 9,943-squarefoot home in the Adventure District.
It was the usual blur of planning and volunteering. But Chairman Jo Meacham, a kitchen and bath designer, said she worked to improve coordination between the two sets of individuals who have made it successful for more than four decades: the league volunteers and the designers.