Nine individuals were honored at the banquet for their performance  in the multifamily housing industry this past year. They include:

WILLIAM E. ROACH, JR.

Bill Roach passed away on Sunday, September 2, 2012. He joined Superior Equipment Sales in 1980 as Sales and Marketing Manager, and played a very important role in Superior’s success working with builders through the Tidewater Builders Association.

Formerly, Bill was National Sales Manager for two major HVAC manufacturers: Mueller Climatrol, Division of Fedders Corp., and Chrysler Air Temp, Division of Chrysler Corp., and was Regional Sales Manager for Worthington Corp. He was well-known and respected by all who knew him throughout the HVAC industry.

A memorial service for family and friends will be held on Friday, December 7, 10:00 am at St. Nicholas Catholic Church, 712 Little Neck Road, Virginia Beach, VA. 23452-5807.

A bayfront home constructed by Seaside Homes and the Sweet Virginia Breeze, constructed by Richardson/Viridian Homes took best of show honors in their categories at Tidewater Builders Association’s Homearama showcase of homes at the Critics Choice Awards ceremony Friday, Oct. 12, in Norfolk’s East Beach community.

The “Exotic Seaside Retreat” swept most of the top awards in the over 3,200-square-feet category, winning best home in show, best craftsmanship, most creative and best interior design among others. It also garnered The Pilot Media Excellence in Building Award and the Hampton Realtors Association’s Most Livable Home. The home takes advantage of 120 feet of unobstructed Chesapeake Bay living with wrap-around views, three covered porches and a two-story cupola.

Richardson/Viridian Homes was awarded best home in show award in the under 3,200-square-foot category for its entry, “Sweet Virginia Breeze: The Norfolk House. “ It also captured best craftsmanship, most creative, best kitchen and best outdoor living among others, The home features a two-story wraparound porch and a finished carriage house above the garage.
The Best in Show silver awards went to Stephen Alexander Homes in the over 3,200-quare-foot category for “Blue River Cottage: The Coastal Idea House” and to Definitive Homes for “Sea Sister” in the under 3,200-quare-foot category.

Homearama, open through Sunday, Oct. 28, features 10 fully furnished and landscaped custom showcase homes ranging from 2,200 square feet to more than 3,800 square feet. Prices range from the mid-$600’s to $1.7 million. The annual event, presented by TowneBank, is designed to stimulate interest in new housing and products for the home.

East Beach is a new urbanist community along the Chesapeake Bay featuring narrow streets, pocket parks and porches, designed to bring neighbors together.

The complete list of the winners follows:

Pilot Media Excellence in Building Award
Over 3,200 square feet
Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes

Under 3,200 square feet
Get Pink with Sentara by ABT Custom Homes

Hampton Roads Realtors Association’s Most Livable Home
Over 3,200 square feet
Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes

Under 3,200 square feet
The Coastal Haven by Charles A. Schmitt Contractor

Tidewater Builders Association Past Presidents’ Favorite Home
Over 3,200 square feet
Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes

Under 3,200 square feet
Sea Sister by Definitive Homes

The Critics Choice Awards were selected by out-of-town judges with professional experience in the home building industry.

Best Home in Show
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold: Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes
Silver: Blue River Cottage by Stephen Alexander Homes

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: Sweet Virginia Breeze by Richardson/Viridian Homes
Silver: Sea Sister by Definitive Homes

Best Craftsmanship
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold: Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes
Silver: Blue River Cottage by Stephen Alexander Homes

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: Sweet Virginia Breeze by Richardson/Viridian Homes
Silver: East Beach Retreat by Simpson Builders

Best Kitchen
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold: Blue River Cottage by Stephen Alexander Homes
Silver: Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: Sweet Virginia Breeze by Richardson/Viridian Homes
Silver: East Beach Retreat by Simpson Builders

Best Master Bath
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold: Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes
Silver: Blue River Cottage by Stephen Alexander Homes

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: Sea Sister by Definitive Homes
Silver: Sweet Virginia Breeze by Richardson/Viridian Homes

Best Closet
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold: Blue River Cottage by Stephen Alexander Homes, closet by The Closet Factory
Silver: Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes, closet by Seaside Homes

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: Sweet Virginia Breeze by Richardson/Viridian Homes, closet by Chuck’s Construction
Silver: Get Pink with Sentara by ABT Custom Homes, closet by Closet Factory

Best Master Suite
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold: Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes
Silver: EVMS Healthy House by L.R. Hill Custom Builders

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: The Coastal Haven by Charles A. Schmitt Contractor
Silver: Get Pink with Sentara by ABT Custom Homes

Best Outdoor Living
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold: Blue River Cottage by Stephen Alexander Homes, outdoor space by Renaissance Outdoor Contracting Inc.
Silver: The Globe by Strickland Homes, outdoor space by Outdoor Impressions Inc.

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: Sweet Virginia Breeze by Richardson/Viridian Homes, landscaping by K&D Rounds
Silver: Get Pink with Sentara by ABT Custom Homes, outdoor space by ABT Custom Homes

Best Use of Technology
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold: Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes, technology by The Sound Shop
Silver: The Globe by Strickland Homes, technology by Masters Security

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: Sea Sister by Definitive Homes, technology by Definitive Concepts
Silver: Get Pink with Sentara by ABT Custom Homes, technology by Avast

Best Family Room
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold: Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes
Silver: Blue River Cottage by Stephen Alexander Homes

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: Seas Sister by Definitive Homes
Silver: The Coastal Haven by Charles A. Schmitt Contractor

Best Floor Plan
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold: Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes
Silver: Blue River Cottage by Stephen Alexander Homes

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: East Beach Retreat by Simpson Builders
Silver: Get Pink with Sentara by ABT Custom Homes

Best Curb Appeal
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold: The Globe by Strickland Homes, with landscaping by Outdoor Impressions
Silver: Blue River Cottage by Stephen Alexander Homes, with landscaping by Renaissance Outdoor Contracting

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: Sweet Virginia Breeze by Richardson/Viridian Homes, with landscaping by Winn Nursery
Silver: Sea Sister by Definitive Homes, with landscaping by Bryan Ramsey Design

Best Home Furnishings
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold (Tie): Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes, with furnishings by Exotic Home
Gold: Blue River Cottage by Stephen Alexander Homes, with furnishings by Furniture Classics and La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries
Silver: The EVMS Healthy House by L.R. Hill Custom Builders, with furnishings by Furniture Classics, Smith Interiors, Kenian Imports, Shades of Light, Artee Fabrics and Home, The Globe, Decorum and Designers Workshop

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: The Coastal Haven by Charles A. Schmitt Contractor, with furnishings by Esprit Décor, Daniels Homeport and Curious Cargo
Silver: Sea Sister by Definitive Homes, with furnishings by Amish Originals and Artee Fabrics and Home

Most Creative
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold: Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes
Silver: Blue River Cottage by Stephen Alexander Homes

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: Sweet Virginia Breeze by Richardson/Viridian Homes
Silver: Sea Sister by Definitive Homes

Best Interior Design
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold: Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes, with interior design by Exotic Home
Silver: Blue River Cottage by Stephen Alexander Homes, with interior design by Goodwin Interiors

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: Definitive Homes for Sea Sister, with interior design by Batten Interiors
Silver: The Coastal Haven by Charles A. Schmitt Contractor, with interior design by Complete Interiors

Best Landscaping
Over 3,200 square feet
Gold: The Globe by Strickland Homes, with landscaping by Outdoor Impressions
Silver (tie):Exotic Seaside Retreat by Seaside Homes, with landscaping by Coastal Landscape and design by Jane Cantin
Silver: Blue River Cottage by Stephen Alexander Homes, with landscaping by Renaissance Outdoor Contracting

Under 3,200 square feet
Gold: Sweet Virginia Breeze by Richardson/Viridian Homes, with landscaping by Winn Nursery
Silver: Sea Sister by Definitive Homes, with landscaping by Bryan Ramsey Design

Homearama is open from noon to 9 p.m. Oct. 13-27 and from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28. Gates open at 10 a.m. Wed., Oct. 24, for Mothers Day Out. Admission is $10 or $17 for a two-day pass. Children 12 and under are free. Military and seniors (62 or better) get a $1 discount Monday-Thursday. Only one discount applies.

Presenting sponsor is TowneBank. Official sponsors are the city of Norfolk, Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Sentara, Franciscus Homes, Audi Virginia Beach, Cox Communications, Dominion Virginia Power, Virginia Natural Gas, James Hardie, K&D Rounds and Belgard. Promotional co-sponsors are Hampton Roads Magazine, RSVP publications, ValPak and Pilot Media.

Steven E. “Steve” Lawson, president of The Lawson Cos., a developer of single- and multifamily housing communities based in Virginia Beach, took office as Tidewater Builders Association’s 2013 president in an evening ceremony Dec. 5.  His father, Robert A. Lawson Jr., who served as TBA president in 1982, conducted the installation.  Steve Lawson is the fifth TBA president to follow in his father’s footsteps as leader of the trade association.

Lawson joined TBA in 1993 and was named to the TBA board of directors in 2007.  He has served as a member of NAHB’s Housing Finance Committee and Mortgage Roundtable. He has also served as chairman of the NAHB Housing Credit Group, the NAHB Multifamily Finance Subcommittee and the NAHB Affordable Housing Subcommittee. The Virginia Beach resident earned a bachelor of science degree in engineering and an MBA from Duke University.

He will serve on the boards of directors of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the Home Builders Association of Virginia (HBAV).
 
Also installed as 2013 officers were:
 
Dennis M. Graf, president of Graf Construction, is serving as vice president. Graf has been a member of the TBA board since 2002. He built in the 1999, 2000 and 2002 Homearamas and also built the 2001 Homearama Charity House. Graf served six consecutive terms as co-chair of the Charity Golf Tournament Committee and has served as chair since 2009. The Chesapeake resident earned his mechanical engineering degree from Virginia Tech.
 
William “Toby” Harris , president of New American Mortgage, is serving as associate vice president. He has been a TBA board member for many years and has been very involved with TBA’s membership committee, serving as vice chair in 2012. He also served as a NAHB director in 2012.  Harris received the TBA Extra Mile Award at the installation ceremony for his support of TBA and its Homearama awards program.
 
Eric J. Sasser, managing member of Sasser Construction LC, a Portsmouth-based custom home builder, is serving as treasurer. Sasser was first appointed to the board in 2010. He has served as Spring 2010 Homearama Committee chair. He built the Charity House to benefit The Boys & Girls Club in 2010, and has since built two additional houses in the 2011 Fall Homearama.
 
I. Reese Smith Jr., owner of Reese Smith Construction and co-owner of Builder Solutions, is serving as secretary. He has been a TBA member since 2001 and was appointed to the board in 2007.  He has been co-chair of the association’s Suffolk Municipal Affairs Committee and chair of the TBA Scholarship Selection Committee. A graduate of George Mason University, with an MBA from Old Dominion University, Smith currently sits on the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act Board.
 
The TBA Board’s elected builder directors are: Richard L. “Tuck” Bowie, president and CEO of Terry/Peterson Residential; Scott L. Crumley, president of Crumley Group;  Timothy S. Culpepper, vice president of Robinson Development Group; Christopher J. Ettel, partner of VB Homes; Lana L. O’Meara, president of Designs of Distinction;  Lucky C. Peterson, senior vice president of operations of Terry/Peterson Residential; Douglas C. Smith, vice president of construction and sales at Hearndon Construction; and Erin Widener Speckhart, president and CEO of The Widener Corp.  Peterson and Speckhart will also serve on the Executive Committee as appointees.

Elected associate directors include: Thomas W. Dye, branch manager of Ferguson Enterprises; James R. Ferber, president of Monarch Bank’s Real  Estate and Construction Group; Michael P. Healy, president and COO of Superior Equipment Sales;  Joseph W. Kesterson; senior vice president of TowneBank; Brenda K. Reid, managing broker and director of the New Homes Division of William E. Wood and Associates; Stephen Rockefeller, residential mortgage officer with SunTrust Mortgage; R. Steve Tinkham, director of outside sales for Cox Communications; and Edward O. “Ted” Yoder, managing director of Equity Development Inc..

Serving as NAHB Directors are: Jeffrey W. Ainslie, president and CEO of Ainslie Group; Scott M. Gandy, president of Kempsville Building Materials; John W. “Chip” Iuliano III, president and CEO of ABT Custom Homes; and Steven E. Lawson.

Serving as NAHB Alternate Directors are: Larry R. Hill, president and CEO of L.R. Hill Custom Builders; Basil O. Kotarides, vice president of Kotarides Builders; Joseph N. Pushak; Mid-Atlantic sales and marketing director of Bonded Builders Warranty Group; and Gary L. Werner, president of Franciscus Homes.

Serving as HBAV Builder Directors are: John W. Ainslie Jr., president of construction for Ainslie Group; Steven E. Lawson; John C. Napolitano, senior vice president of Napolitano Homes; John Olivieri, president of Associated Development; and Richard E. Olivieri, president and CEO of Pembroke Enterprises.  

Paulette M. Frantz, customer trade specialist with Dominion Virginia Power, will serve as HBAV Associate Director and TBA Past President William H. “Bill” Halprin of S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. will serve as HBAV regional vice president.

Katharine B. Scott, executive vice president of Signature Management Corp., will be serving as chair of the Tidewater Multifamily Housing Council and Lana O’Meara, president of Designs of Distinction, will be serving as chair of the Remodelers Council. Jack Lane, president of Monarch Mortgage, will be serving as chair of the TBA Membership Committee, and Stephen B. Quick IV is returning as Homearama Committee chair.

Also installed were Michael D. Newsome, Clark Whitehill Enterprises Inc., who will serve a tenth term as TBA Scholarship Foundation chair, and C. Grigsby Scifres, Williams Mullen, who will serve as TBA general counsel for the 13th year.

Paul J. Farrell, president of Rosewell Corp. and TBA President in 1988, was installed as a director emeritus.
 
Member of the Year awarded
 
Monarch Bank & Mortgage was named TBA’s 2012 Member of the Year, an annual honor that recognizes a company or individual for outstanding contributions to the association.
 
Jim Ferber, president of Monarch Bank’s Real Estate and Construction Group, and Jack Lane, president of Monarch Mortgage, accepted the award and were praised for their achievements throughout the year.  
 
Most notable among those were the 30 new members recruited by Lane and his Monarch team during a spring membership drive and the record number of companies recruited by Ferber for the TBA Cornerstone Foundation.  
 
“It’s hard to know where to start when talking about this member.  From the annual meeting to Homearama to the charity golf tournament, I can’t think of any TBA function that they haven’t very generously supported,” said Sam Cohen, 2012 President. “They even spearheaded a Happy Hour this fall that turned out to be one of the most popular events we’ve held recently.”
 
Both Ferber and Lane join the TBA Board of Directors for the first time in 2013.

A contingent of local food critics and professional culinarians, led by Hampton Roads Magazine’s food editor, Chef Patrick Evans-Hylton, determined the Critics’ Choice Award and hundreds of Homearama visitors voted for their favorite for the People’s Choice Award.

“We enjoyed each and every bite,” says Evans-Hylton. “Our team visited the hard-working chefs and sampled their labor of love; it took quite a bit of deliberating, as there were so many wonderful dishes served that evening to us and to guests of Homearama.”

Other participating restaurants included:

• The Hubcap Grill – the event’s first food truck – with “bomb me” pork sandwiches
• Veneziano, with mini meat and cheese lasagna
• Rajput Indian Cuisine, with chicken biryani and potato patties
• La Bella in Ghent, with mini chicken meatballs and Tuscan whitebean brucshetta
• Bardo, with shrimp and grits
• 905 Café & Grill, with rum glazed salmon on crostini with mango salsa and she-crab soup
• Bite Restaurant, with duck confit, beef short ribs, and macaroni and Humboldt fog cheese sauce
• Carolina Cupcakery, with assorted mini-cupcakes
• Baker’s Crust, with mini desserts 

Evans-Hylton’s panel noted Bite restaurant as a second-place contender and LaBella in Ghent as third-place winner.

Homearama is open from noon to 9 p.m. though Oct. 27 and from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28. Admission is $10. Children 12 and under are free. Military and seniors (62 or better) get a $1 discount Monday-Thursday. Only one discount applies. More information and a discount coupon are available at www.homearama.tv or by calling (757) 420-2434.