Tri Pointe Homes dominated the 2021 Silver Nugget Awards, winning 17 of the 44 categories, including 13 of the 18 individual honors that ranged from sales to customer service.
Luxury homes played a central role in the awards this year as well with homes in excess of $1 million taking the Custom Home of the Year and Home of the Year.
Toll Brothers won eight of the 26 Silver Nugget Awards in the categories that recognized builders for their designs, interiors, outdoors, merchandising and amenities.
Toll Brothers won Home of the Year for its two-story luxury home in Oak Creek model in Mesa Ridge in Summerlin. It won a total of six of its eight Silver Nugget Awards in a community where homes are priced $1.3 million and above.
The recipients were honored Oct. 15 during the eighth annual Silver Nugget Awards dinner at the JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort presented by the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association and Las Vegas Review-Journal and Guide to Las Vegas New Homes. Nat Hodgson, CEO of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association was the emcee along with Claire DeJesus, publisher of the Guide to Las Vegas New Homes and strategic account executive with the Review-Journal.
“This program was created to promote competition and creativity of design in housing and to celebrate the achievements of individuals in the homebuilder industry here in Southern Nevada,” said Tom Heaton, senior advertising director at the Review-Journal.
The 2020 event was held virtually, and Hodgson said it was great the homebuilder community could get together in person to recognize their achievements over the past year.
“It was nice to be back in person,” Hodgson said. “It’s great to have the audience there to celebrate with the winners.”
The winners are determined by two sets of three-panel judges chosen by the SNHBA Silver Nugget Subcommittee. The judges review the nominations from builders for people awards and home awards. The judges reside out of state and have backgrounds in the housing industry.
The 2021 property judges for this year were: David Baird, UNLV professor, architecture; Paul Gortzig, director of sales, Colorado-based Bokka Group; and Amber Chadwick, project consultant, Reborn Cabinets. The judges for the people awards were: Christy Stratton, real estate expert, coach, speaker, instructor and Texas radio host; Carl Butler, real estate agent, United Real Estate, East Carolina; and Steve Bottfeld, Marketing Solutions.
Tri Pointe’s 17 Silver Nugget Awards in 2021 surpassed the 14 it had in 2020 to lead the pack over the five won by Toll Brothers and Richmond American Homes a year ago.
“We’re thrilled and super excited that so many of our people were recognized and that our communities were also awarded based on the excellence we’ve had over the past year,” said Klif Andrews, Tri Pointe division president.
“This is one of the best showings we’ve ever had and the fact that so many people won awards is really amazing. The recognition of the people is very rewarding for the company. Our people have never had a year as challenging as the past year has been with all of the obstacles they had to overcome (with the COVID-19 pandemic) and unfamiliar situations we had to deal with. For them to be successful in such a challenging year, is immensely rewarding.”
Following Tri Pointe and Toll Brothers in 2021 was Shea Homes with five Silver Nuggets. Richmond American was next with four Silver Nuggets. Pinnacle Homes, Merlin Custom Homes and Growth Holdings won two Silver Nugget Awards each. Forte Speciality Contractors, Summerlin, Inspirada and First American Title each won a Silver Nugget.
Luxury homes played a prominent role in this year’s awards with a big showing from private builders. Growth Holdings won for Custom Home of the Year and for Design & Architecture for its luxury home in Spanish Hills.
Forte Specialty Contractors was among the winners for its outdoor living space at its luxury home in The Summit Club in Summerlin. Merlin Custom Homes won for best Custom Home Kitchen and Primary Bathroom. Pinnacle Homes won for Luxury Detached Production Home priced between $750,000 and $1 million and for Best Indoor Living Space Or Architectural Feature for a single-family detached production home. Both wins came from The Element at Park Meadows home in the northwest valley.
Lonette Nagy, production manager at Pinnacle Homes, said the model was designed for the end of cul-de-sacs.
“If you look at the floor plan, the way it’s divided it’s an L-shaped home so that it can fit (on) a cul-de-sac,” Nagy said. “The bedroom side of the home is separate from the office or guest or multigen suite side of the home. You have two wings with the center being the great room and the kitchen.”
The home measures 4,022 square feet and is one story. It has four bedrooms and a home office. The office and a guest suite is on one side and the master bedroom and two other bedrooms are on the other side, Nagy said. It has a two-car and single-car garage.
“You enter the foyer and can go either left or right to either wing or you move forward to go to the great room, kitchen and dining room,” Nagy said. “We have an option for a multigen suite that takes the place of the home office and guest suite. We even won an award for the multigen for best interior living space. This one house won in two different categories.”
The multigen suite has its own entrance and garage with either one or two bays. The suite measures 936 square feet with a living room, kitchenette, dining nook and bedroom with a walk-in closet and bathroom, Nagy said.
“Since it takes up some existing interior space, it only adds about 227 additional square feet,” Nagy said. “It just pops the house forward a little bit.”
The design came from necessity. The other floor plans Pinnacle built on multiple sites didn’t fit well at the end of the cul-de-sac, Nagy said.
“We came up with a design that worked around a courtyard area in the front,” Nagy said. “A cul-de-sac has a circle that takes a big chunk out of the front yard of two lots. That’s why we needed a home that was more of an L-shape to get the maximum benefit of the lot.”
The other two finalists for the luxury detached home category were Richmond American Homes for its Rocco model at Scots Pine in Summerlin. Pinnacle had a second finalist with The Prism at Park Meadows.
In the luxury sales category of homes $1 million and higher, Fara Resnick-VanHorn won Salesperson of The Year. The other finalists were Jessica Lewis of Tri Pointe Homes and Elle Gaensslen of The Howard Hughes Corp.
Among some of the other categories, Inspirada won for Master Plan Marketing Campaign. Chelsea Covington of Trilogy by Shea Homes won for Marketing Professional of The Year. Leta High won for Lifestyle Coordinator of The Year for Trilogy by Shea Homes.
Trilogy is an age-qualified luxury condominium community for those 55 and older. It was also honored for Best Virtual Sales Process and Experience.
In other awards, Tri Pointe won for in-house Mortgage Company of the Year for its Tri Pointe Connect.
Kevin Newell of First American Title Homebuilder Services won for Title Company Representatives of The Year.
HOME OF THE YEAR
Mesa Ridge Sky View Collection — Oak Creek, Toll Brothers
CUSTOM HOME OF THE YEAR
Spanish Hills mansion, Phillipe Ziade, Growth Holdings
PEOPLE AWARDS
• Marketing Professional of the Year — Production Builder: Chelsea Covington, Trilogy by Shea Homes
• Sales Management Professional of The Year: Patricia Thielen, Tri Pointe Homes
• Customer Service Representative of the Year: Grant Harworth, Tri Pointe Homes
• Construction Superintendent of the Year: Chad Van Buskirk, Trilogy by Shea Homes
• Lifestyle Coordinator of the Year: Leta High, Trilogy by Shea Homes
• Young Leader of the Year: Justin McCrory, Tri Pointe Homes
• Sales Person of the Year — Homes Up to $500,000: Alida Diedrich, Tri Pointe Homes
• Sales Person of the Year — Homes $500,001 to $999,999: Amy Noto, Tri Pointe Homes
• Sales Person of the Year — Homes $1,000,000 and over: Fara Resnick-VanHorn, Tri Pointe Homes
• Sales Rookie of the Year: Kyle Burgess, Tri Pointe Homes
• Online Salesperson: Shannon Marler, Tri Pointe Homes
• Sales Team of the Year: Natalie Brown & Pascual “PJ” Ortiz, Tri Pointe Homes
• Online Sales Team of the Year (Local): Shannon Marler, Paris Bieber and Josh Selleck, Tri Pointe Homes
• Best Virtual Sales Process and Experience: Trilogy in Summerlin, Trilogy by Shea Homes
• Closing Service Person of the Year: Michele Bounds, Tri Pointe Homes
• Design Studio Consultant of the Year: Andrea Polednak, Tri Pointe Homes
• Mortgage Company of the Year — In House Affiliate: Tri Pointe Connect, Tri Pointe Homes
• Title Company Representative of the Year: Kevin Newell, First American Title Homebuilder Services
PROJECT AWARDS
• Best Master Planned Marketing Campaign: Inspirada
• Best Master Planned New Parks and Amenities: Stonebridge Park, Summerlin
• Best New Production Community Amenity: Mesa Ridge Amenity Center, Toll Brothers
• Best Attached Home — Priced Under $400,000: Capri Plan Three, Tri Pointe Homes
• Best Attached Home — Priced Over $400,000: Radiant, Trilogy by Shea Homes
• Best Single Family Luxury Detached Production Home — Priced $750,000 to $1,000,000: The Element at Park Meadows, Pinnacle Homes Inc.
• Best Single Family Luxury Detached Production Home — Priced Over $1,000,000: Mesa Ridge Sky View Collection — Oak Creek, Toll Brothers
• Best Design and Architecture, Single Family Detached Production Home — Under 2,000 Square Feet: Boxwood, Cortland at Sedona Ranch, Richmond American Homes
• Best Design and Architecture, Single Family Detached Production Home — 2,001 to 3,000 Square Feet and priced under $500,000: Arden Plan Three, Tri Pointe Homes
• Best Design and Architecture, Single Family Detached Production Home — 2,001 to 3,000 Square Feet and priced $500,001 to $750,000: Acadia Ridge — Torre Elite, Toll Brothers
• Best Design and Architecture, Single Family Detached Production Home — 3,001 to 4,000 Square Feet and priced under $750,000: Seth-Hartford, Richmond American Homes
• Best Design and Architecture, Single Family Detached Production Home — 3,001 to 4,000 Square Feet and priced over $750,000: Mesa Ridge Peak Collection — Cascade Toll Brothers
• Best Design and Architecture, Single Family Detached Production Home — Over 4,000 Square Feet: Mesa Ridge Sky View Collection — White Rock, Toll Brothers
• Best Indoor Living Space or Architectural Feature — Single Family Detached Production Home: The Element at Park Meadows, Pinnacle Homes Inc.
• Interior Merchandising — Home Sales Price under $500,000: Arden Plan Four, Tri Pointe Homes
• Interior Merchandising — Home Sales Price $500,001 to $750,000: Acadia Ridge — Alba Elite, Toll Brothers
• Interior Merchandising — Home Sales Price Over $1,000,000: Mesa Ridge Peak Collection — Boulder, Toll Brothers
• Model Primary Bathroom — Single Family Production Home — Sales Price Under $500,000: Arden Plan One, Tri Pointe Homes
• Model Primary Bathroom — Single Family Production Home — Sales Price $750,001 to $1,000,000: Rocco-Galway Grove, Richmond American Homes
• Model Home Kitchen — Single Family Production Home Sales Price Under $500,000: Paige-Windham, Richmond American Homes
• Custom Home — Best Design and Architecture: Philippe Ziade, Growth Holdings
• Custom Home — Best Primary Bathroom: Merlin Custom Home Builders
• Custom Home — Best Kitchen: Merlin Custom Home Builders
• Custom Home — Best Outdoor Living Space: The Fort at The Summit, Forte Specialty Contractors