Most new homes in Victoria, and especially those built in 2005, are not carbon copies of each other.  When a Victoria husband or teenager drives in late at night, they probably won't drive up to the wrong house by accident.  Visitors will seldom ring the wrong doorbell.
Tom Gray, whose job is to inspect new Victoria homes so they meet high safety and construction standards, said that most of the city's new homes are two-story with a full basement below the two-story.  They average 3,000 square feet of finished space (not including the base-ment level) and include a variety of architectural styles.
Still, there is other commonality in desired home features in 2005.  Families want a two-story foyer and a great room with a ceiling open to two stories.  They want 9-foot and 10-foot ceilings rather than 8-foot ceilings, said Tom.  More head space gives the illusion of more foot space.
Victoria families today want a Jacuzzi whirlpool tub in the master bath and walk-in closets.  They want at least four bathrooms in the house; some want six.  Young families are having more children today and want more bedrooms. 
Three-stall garages are a given, but they are bigger than in the past.  A single stall is no longer 8 feet wide; it's 9 and 10 feet wide.  A double stall is no longer 16 feet wide; it's 18 feet wide.  SUVs are bigger than average vehicles.
Victoria families today want two fireplaces, one of them sometimes located in a screened porch.  Formica countertops are ancient history.  Victoria families want corian, granite, and cambria countertops.
Electrical wiring today goes way beyond supplying juice to refrigerators, washers, and dryers.  Said Tom, "It's unbelievable the amount of low voltage in houses today.  Every room has a bundle of low voltage plug-ins."  These low-voltage areas of new homes service the internet, satellite TV's, and equipment not yet on the market.
The exterior of new homes in Victoria has changed a lot over the last couple of decades.  Tom Gray said that a popular siding in 2005, and probably into the future, is a manmade product called  Hardi-Plank.  It's a concrete lapsiding, a cement and fiberglass board that overlaps as it's installed.  "It lasts forever and only needs paint every 15 years," said Tom.
Vinyl is still popular, he said, because of lower cost.  Vinyl is normally installed, however, on the sides and backs of new homes.  There will be brick on the fronts of many new homes planned for the Gallery, a new Victoria neighborhood.
Cultured stone, also a manmade pro-duct, has become a popular accent siding on new Victoria homes.  Today very little stucco or cedar is used as exterior mat-erial.  Stucco has developed a bad reputa-tion.  Cedar requires more maintenance.

As we review new homes in Victoria in 2005, we should not neglect the story of the past five years, for the snowball has been rolling for at least that long in Victoria.  Some of the bigger developers rolling that ball included Hartman, Rottlund, and Centex.
The busiest neighborhoods for home construction in these last five years included Applewood (30+ homes), Wood-lands (80+), Garden Path (60+), Allegheny Grove (139), Savanna Valley (60+), Sunnymeade (24), Parkview Estates (15), and Tristan Heights (30+). 
Lovely neighborhood names continue to define this peaceful and picturesque village of bedrooms and bathrooms.
As this edition of the Victoria Gazette goes to press, 21 new single family homes are being built in Victoria by Lundgren; 33 townhomes are being built in Victoria by Lennar; 8 two-dwelling homes are being built in Victoria by Lennar.
The Gallery will be the next new neighborhood in Victoria by builder-developer K. Hovnanian.  Projected to bring about 20 new families to Victoria in 2006, the Gallery is located on the east side of County Road 43, between Watermark and Deer Run, just a few yards north of the upcoming new church.  (Waterbrooke Fellowship is slated to begin construction this summer on the north shore of Lake Wasserman.)
Also coming soon to a neighborhood near you … Rhapsody and Krey Lakes.  The New Year will be busy.

None of the above comes without a price tag.  According to Tom Gray, the average construction cost of a new home in Victoria in 2005 was about $350,000 and this does not include the cost of the lot on which the home was built. 
Lots in Victoria range in price from $150,000 up to $260,000 which means a total price tag that begins, minimally, at a half million to build or buy in Victoria.  Lot size does not necessarily determine its price.  Natural amenities contribute to the desirability to locate and build in Victoria.  "City of Lakes and Parks" is not a misnomer.
But now we know, more than ever before, that Victoria is also a city of growing families, a city of birds and bees, a city of bedrooms and bathrooms.  Happy  New Year to everyone, young and old, fresh or frozen.