Finally got to walk a few of the Pavilion Park models yesterday. One nice thing was bumping into a salesperson at the Lennar tract whom I had done business with back in the mid 1990's.
1) It's too bad all of the homes don't have the lot sizes that Sagewood has. I can't see paying $1m for a Lyon Whistler home - because that's what it will end up costing with upgrades - and only get a 5,000 SF lot. 1 less home per phase would equal 1,000 extra SF in lot size and any "loss" likely get made up in higher price points for the homes.
2) There was a high degree of "same-ness" to the floor plans. Big room down stairs, everyone up stairs, until you get into the $1.1m price range.
3) Calling a 2 car tandem a 3 car garage. Please.
4) The ever present "Wall-O-Showers" in every model was a bit jarring. Sagewood, Plan 2's WOS was ridiculous. A 15+ ft long shower stall? (That's going to hold quite the party!) After 4-5 showers with the hard water we've got here in OC, you'll rue the day the builder put those in as you try to scrub the lime scale off.
5) That little Lennar single story had a "manufactured home" feel to it. Blegh.
6) If I see one more panda picture, bamboo used in landscaping, or Wok in the kitchen, I'm going to use that Wok like Thor's Hammer and smite someone with it. We get it...OK!
On the plus side, it was nice to see TIC re-use the Great Park trees. Surprised to see how many of the mature trees from the El Toro Marine Base were in the development.
The exterior home style variance between the builders is a strong selling point. I live in Rancho Santa Margarita. When the area was constructed builders had a very narrow set of styles to work with and my home looks like everyone else house. I get that same feeling when going through the majority of Portola Springs. The group that built RSM learned from their mistake building Ladera Ranch with a wide variety of home styles. Pavilion Park seems to have grabbed hold of that same idea and should be a successful venture.
