Indiana dream homes; yes, they're still building them the way they used to.

• Author: Kaelble, Steve

You might have thought that they just don't put up homes this way anymore.

These are homes that are more crafted than built. They're remarkably solid and sturdy, they're full of luxurious and expensive materials, they're ornate and extremely comfortable. They're not all that different from the mansions of yesteryear that people today buy and restore, except that these homes are being built today.

Indiana's executive homes are an entirely different breed from all the others on the market, and so are the people who build them. Many of the homebuilders behind the state's most prestigious homes build only a handful of residences a year, but each home sells for maybe 10 or more times the median home price.

"We specialize in what we classify as one-of-a-kind, architectural-quality homes," says Will Wright, owner of the Will Wright Building Corp. in Carmel.

"Our houses are very much classic homes, with quality detail work and beautiful woodwork," agrees Robert Vondracek, president of the Drake Companies in Valparaiso.

"People want all the luxuries," adds Rocky May of Rocky May Homes in Evansville, "and that's even more important to them than the square-footage."

The people who build Indiana's prestigious homes agree that money seems to be no object for their clients. Buyers are willing to spend $500,000 or $1 million or more to have their homes done right. May's homes, for example, have sold for as much as $650,000, and homes in the Evansville area don't get much more expensive than that. Wright's homes average at least $750,000. Aaron Cohen, president of Indianapolis-based Centaur Consulting Inc., has built $6 million homes. Needless to say, these buyers can get just about anything they ask for in a home.

What exactly are they asking for? That varies, of course, but there are some generalities. "They want most all the modern conveniences: steam showers, kitchens that do everything but make reservations for you at the local gourmet restaurant, marble floors, lots of open space and glass," says Wright.

"They really want big kitchens," agrees Joe Sullivan, owner of Joe Sullivan Homes Inc. in Fort Wayne. "They want custom woodwork and cabinetry, a three- or four-car garage, an all-masonry exterior. Another thing that's commonplace is having the master bedroom on the first floor, with maybe three more bedrooms upstairs, all with private bathrooms."

"The bathrooms are large," adds Roger Delagrange, a partner in Fort Wayne-based Colonial Homes. "You're talking bathrooms the size of bedrooms, and whirlpools or Jacuzzis."

"People also want an office, or study or library," says May, "which is something we hadn't seen as much before." Vondracek says his company also fields numerous requests for separate libraries.

Builders find continually changing tastes regarding home layout. "A concept popular through the '80s was the great-room concept," notes Gary McNutt, executive vice president of the Paul Estridge Building Corp. in Carmel. "But now we're seeing movement toward smaller, more intimate rooms, and more of them. It isn't as important that the rooms be so big. And there's been a real movement to the family-kitchen concept."

That concept, says Hero Tameling of Highland-based Precision Construction, actually is similar to the great-room concept except that it revolves more around the kitchen than the living room. The kitchen area becomes one of the main gathering...