Casa de Eble at Red Fox Woods

In 2011 we again started thinking about moving. Holly looked at some box builders. M/I had a floorplan with several of the features that we had designed into our dream home. We loaded up the kids one weekend afternoon and went out to look at this M/I home and homes in other custom/semicustom neighborhoods. I liked the M/I home layout but was less than impressed with some of the materials.

During that trip we happened upon Red Fox Woods in the Southport Rd/Arlington Rd area of Franklin township. I’m unsure how Holly found it actually since it had no public land listings on Mibor.com. There was a builder that had a model there that we had decided to see, Gorman Builders. Owner-Mike Gorman. Holly and I strolled into Mike’s model home on a Saturday without calling ahead and looked around. The materials and fit/finish were awesome!

Now during the New Bethel planning I had asked a builder up in the Carmel area to quote my floorplans. He reviewed them (in fact was kind enough to sit down with the designer and us and provide some input) but NEVER gave me a quote to build it. Every question I had about anything seemed to be answered with “well that will cost extra…”

We discussed the “dream home” versus M/I home plan and asked Mike to quote both. I emailed him floor plans that evening but didn’t really expect much. You could have knocked me over with a feather when Mike called me a week later with prices on both! I was really starting to get excited! Living in our current house if fine but as most homeowners likely know, the little things start to get to you. The price was right, so we jumped in. “Dream Home” on Lot 30 in RFW built by Mike Gorman. It was a plan!

Through the summer I worked to find a Construction Loan provider (decided on National Bank of Indianapolis) and get pre-approved. On a Saturday in August we sat down with Mike and signed a contract and provided a deposit on lot 30 and a builders deposit. This would be awesome! St Jude was close, Roncalli was next to St Jude and I was just a hop off the interstate on my way to work in Columbus. The euphoria lasted precisely 6 days. The following Friday, Mike called me and said he wanted to talk to me and Holly and he could come up to our place if need be…uh oh.

Turns out, ½ of the RFW neighborhood was going to be sold to a box builder, Pulte. This has been in the news since the economy started sliding. Large parts of Viking Meadows and the Village of West Clay have been sold off to Pulte and boy are those homeowners ticked off! Mike was first class and proved why we chose him to build with. First off, he told us that this was happening rather than moving forward on our home but secondly, he offered a full refund if we didn’t want to build in Red Fox Woods.

We told Mike that we still wanted to build but perhaps not at Red Fox Woods and the search for land continued……….

Another plan that was not to be. Plot Plan for Lot #30 at Red Fox Woods: