Past Homes 1984 - 2009
The New American Home program celebrated its 25th anniversary with the 2008 home in Orlando. Looking back, the idea of an annual Idea Home in the host city of the Builders’ Show has paid off handsomely when you consider its widespread impact on the evolution of housing design, performance, and products.
In this special commemorative section devoted to the New American Home’s legacy, you’ll discover (or remember) how the program introduced new yet attainable ideas to the mainstream of the industry, nudging the envelope and inspiring builders and design professionals to apply those ideas to new projects across the country. While each house is certainly a product of its time, or perhaps a bit ahead of it, there are concepts, products, and applications that have proven timeless.
In describing the inaugural New American Home in the pages of Builder magazine’s December 1983 issue, prior to the home’s debut at the 1984 Builders’ Show in Houston, editor Frank Anton wrote: “It is not a far-fetched house of the future [nor] a panacea … or a single solution to the affordability problem. More than another model home, yet not a prototype loaded with gadgets, this would be an idea house, a source for the housing industry and consumers alike …”
To view a profile of each house, including its innovative features, photos, floor plans, video, and the members of the National Council of the Housing Industry/The Leading Suppliers of NAHB that have contributed and supported those projects, click here … and enjoy a ride through housing history with lessons that still resonate today and beyond.
Click from the years below to read more about that past home
Other Documents
