Pogo 20— SupptoniQnt to Tho Brunswick Beacon. June. 1987
How Builders
Build For Themselves
(Continued From Page IS)
P»U said, **and wc have lots of people
in and out. This is easy to clean. I
sometimes think we could just bring
a garden hose and hose down the
whole house.*’
Ironically, Murphy, one of the
aircdales responsible for the choice
of tile, slipped on it recently and
broke his leg.
Only one aspect of the tiling pro
cess displeased Pati. “I did ever>' bit
of the grouting m>’self, and I’d never,
never do it again," she declared.
The l^wellyn’s mo\*ed to C^^bash
in 1973 from Boone, just after their
manldgc, ami iiaii long headstarts
on their present careers. Lewellyn
did house construction projects back
in High Point College, and Pali began
work as a realtor when she was 19.
"When we came here there was
just dirt roads, no subdivisions, no
gift stores, not even a stop light."
Pati recalled.
When the couple decided to "try
out" the Calabash area, they said,
"If we didn't like it we could go to
some exotic place, like Colorado,"
Pati laughed.
They Liked it, and have now
become an integral part of their com
munity. Pati serves as a town com
missioner and officer of the
Brunswick Islands Board of
Realtors; Darius is on the Calabash
Alcoholic Beverage Control board
and is an officer in the Calabash Elks
Lodge.
For the first time in their marriage
they’re building a home for
themselves, one in which they've
tried some new products and
methods.
Many of these experiments show
up in the homes they build for other
people. "We build ateut 20 per year,"
Pati estimated, “and strictly for
retirees. These are people who are
very concerned about electric bills.
They build smaller homes, but they
often put nicer things in them, such
as Jacuzzis and hardw*ood floors."
For this clientele, energy-saving
tricks are important in house corv-
struction. "We tried the water-toair
heat pump that came out about t^n
years ago, and found it more
economical than the old aii^to-air
type," Pati noted.
Other experiments have included
the ceiling fans. "We use lots of them
to save on the heating biU, because
most heat loss is in the ceiling," she
said.
Solar heating, according to Pati, is
still expensive. "And the panels
aren't attractive. But we do a lot with
passive solar, orienting windows the
right way and using skylights to get
the western sun."
Demands of their businesses have
kept the Lewellyn’s own house in an
unfinished state for several months.
Their busy lives dictated the design
of that house, too. "We don't have
lime to enjoy a screened porch, so the
foyer lakes the place of it," Pati
observed.
“And we’re both earthy people, so
we wanted a house where people
could put their feet on anything and
not worry."
The ability to fit house plans to
lifestyle serves them well in meeting
the needs of clients. "People now are
more sophisticated about building,"
Pati said, "They read building
magazines and know about new pro
ducts; they (rften know what they
want."
Making use of experiments in the
Lewellyn home, what people want
could soon be those carefree tiles
from top to bottoiTL Only fast-moving
dogs could possibly object