Twin Lakes Homes’ work to show at home and garden expo

Yorkshire’s Twin Lakes Homes is in the business of ensuring that everyone who walks through its doors is able to live in the home of his or her dreams.

Attendees at the upcoming WNY Home and Garden Expo will be able to take a walk through a full-size Twin Lakes house complete with landscaping and decor and imagine coming home to that house every day.

Twin Lakes Homes Sales Representative Jennifer Hoffman designed this year’s house, just as she did for last year’s expo - and the year’s before. Each of the three homes has been named after one of General Manager Kody Sprague’s three children and has been designed with attendees’ comments from the year before in mind.

“Everything that the people walking through the home on display said, I incorporated into my design,” said Hoffman. “The primary design was begun a year ago and I got many ideas just by listening to the customers.” Although most homes take, at the very least several, weeks to completely erect, the company gets just three days to set up the house for the expo - including painting, decorating and landscaping.

The “Colton,” this year’s 1,876-square-foot, three bedroom, two bathroom model, will be built by Marlette Homes and will be complete with landscaping by Beyond the Basics and full interior decor provided by Carolina Furniture. “What we’re showing them is that we have a ton of flexibility in the homes we offer,” said Sprague, whose grandfather Bill began the business 45 years ago. “People were amazed that it was a modular home.”

Modular buildings, which are created in two or more sections and then finished on-site, are fully customizable and built according to New York state code. According to Sheri Koones in her book “Prefabulous + Sustainable,” building a modular home produces approximately 20 cubic yards of waste, as opposed to the 75 cubic yards of waste created by traditional stick-built houses, which are assembled completely on-site.

“We are trying to educate people as to why it’s a better alternative,” Sprague said. To inform expo attendees about the benefits of modular homes, he will be giving four seminars titled “Making Modular Mainstream” during the event at the Hamburg Fairgrounds. “In every floor plan, the savings can be substantial,” he added. “We want people to know that they can afford a great home without sacrificing quality or their desires.”

Modular houses are built on a carrier and then transported to the location of the homeowner’s choice. The house, which will eventually be on a foundation, is not considered mobile and will be a permanent fixture; many have basements.

While modular homes are built according to state standards, manufactured houses, which are also available through Twin Lakes Homes, are built according to federal guidelines and do not have basements.

Twin Lakes Homes does everything from coordinating site work to constructing the houses themselves. The company owns developments Twin Lakes Park, Arcade Valley, Shady Acres and Hillview; inside these communities, homeowners own their houses and rent their lots from Twin Lakes. “That means they don’t have to worry about property taxes,” Hoffman said.

The company also has a full parts department (interested parties can buy items directly from Twin Lakes), as well as service offered on every aspect of the modular home.

Ten houses, including the “Bristol,” last year’s expo offering, are available for viewing at the company’s Yorkshire location. Twin Lakes Homes utilizes four companies to manufacture its homes, and each has a group of standard floor plans interested customers can look through. “We get a feel for what someone expects and then show them a builder we think fits them,” Sprague said.

“We encourage people to come look at the model home to help redefine how modular housing is defined,” he added. “People are realizing they can get just as much for less - and do just as well financially. And they can be just as energy efficient and green - and for less.”

After the expo, the “Colton” will be brought back to Yorkshire.

The WNY Home and Garden Expo will be held at the Hamburg Fairgrounds Agricenter from Feb. 9 - 12. Hours are Thursday from 4 - 9 p.m., Friday from 2 - 9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Twin Lakes Homes is located at 11958 Route 16 in Yorkshire and can be reached by calling 492-1480 or visiting twinlakeshomes.com. Hours are Mondays - Fridays from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. or by appointment.