The Cummins Family | Augusta Manor

Erica: We looked extensively for an existing home. Price points were essentially the same for the space we wanted. It was important to us to have a first-floor master suite. Once you factor in purchasing an existing home, most of them would have to have remodeled kitchens and or bathrooms. It just wasn't cost-effective to go that route. It made more sense to get exactly what we wanted with the floorplan layout and the finishes. 

 

Brett: We had actually done some looking around and checked with other companies and did some comparisons. We found that overall, people were most satisfied when they worked with Keystone. So, we wanted to continue that and looked forward to working with them and it was really great. 

Erica: We also found that the finish options and the quality of the build had much higher reviews from Keystone than some of the builders that are typical in the area. 

 

Erica: The Augusta was the one we settled on from the moment we looked at the website. It had the square footage we wanted. It had the primary bedroom and bathroom on the first floor. It was very important for me to have a separate dining space as I have some antique pieces that were my great-grandmother's. I liked the open concept of the kitchen and living areas being open to each other as well as the walk-in pantry. 

 

Erica: It was really amazing to go to the Design Center in Lancaster, and see all the various combinations of different pieces you could put together and styles. It was really great to have such a selection. For other builders you may have, four or five standard countertops to choose from whereas your choices seemed nearly endless with Keystone with what kind of finishes you wanted. We had a great, very responsive rep from the Design Center. She walked us through the entire way and helped us make sure that our selections would be cohesive looking. 

Brett: We also felt it was very beneficial to actually see and be able to touch the items because just having them in the abstract can only get you so far.  

Erica: So, we specifically chose the Gourmet Kitchen because I love to cook. Our son is six and he has several severe food allergies. So, we spend a lot of time cooking at home. It was really important to me to have a very large island and a double wall oven because it always seemed like I needed, or I was waiting for something to be done cooking at our previous home.  

Brett: The pantry is such a wonderful gift for us because we've had limited space for a number of years and being able to finally have places to store things is just wonderful. 

Erica: as for the Venetian Bath with the garage expansion, this added an additional four feet to the garage and the bathroom, and gave us the space we wanted. It gave us the double doors going into the bathroom. And it gave us a very large walk-in shower with a fairly low threshold. This was important to us because with Brett having MS if he were to ever be in a position where he was in a wheelchair, that setup facilitates him being able to be independent. 

 

Brett: We chose Kellerton because it is a prime location in Frederick. It's wonderful to be able to be where we are and have the feeling of being in a more rural area with virtually nothing around us. But yet, we can drive four or five minutes, and suddenly there are amenities left and right. Everything you possibly want is right there. 

Erica: You can be just about anywhere in Frederick in 10 to 15 minutes from this particular area. You get the feeling of being out in the country, you've got the view of the mountains, and yet, you've got the amenities of being close to town. 

 

Erica: Yeah, the most challenging part of the build, I think, was simply the timeline which was out of anybody’s control due to the delay in materials because of the pandemic. You know, those are all things that can't be controlled, backordered appliances, things like that. Our Construction Manager was absolutely amazing and very communicative and worked really hard to ensure that we could close when we were scheduled to close. 

Erica: I think for prospective buyers that are planning to build with Keystone, realistically expect your timeline to change. I think that was really hard for us. I personally am a planner, and so when our original completion list was uploaded to the Keystone app, it projected our closing date to be a certain time. It very rapidly was changed and pushed back as different materials became backordered. Those are things that Keystone can't control. So, keeping in mind that they're delivering the news, and they're just as disappointed as we are that the things are not able to be received in a timely manner that they were hoping. 

Erica: I think, for me the only thing that I would do differently is just a few tweaks to some of our finishes, you know, the location of the microwave, adding a few additional outlets, things of that nature. But generally, we love our house. We say multiple times a week, I love our house. Just because we enjoy being here and it is what we've wanted for so many years since we got together. 

Brett: I would maybe change the setup of the stairs leading up to our deck, we could probably orient them a little bit differently but essentially, not much. As she said, we love our home. And that's really the main focus. We're very happy with it.  

Erica: You know, one of the things we found that we really appreciated was the communicative and responsive staff that we worked with. Our Construction Manager was sending us pictures of how things were progressing with the build. Overall, just our experience in dealing with people has been really fantastic. 

Brett: Everyone that we dealt with at Keystone was wonderful.   

Erica: Even now, we are coming up on our 11-month, which is where everybody goes through and makes any small repairs or anything that’s necessary before your one-year warranty expires, and we've recently had another quality control gentleman come out. He's been very responsive, and very communicative, and it's really appreciated. You feel like they take as much pride in your home as you do and that's really important.