Turning a house into a home
Like “linoleum,” “escalator” and “zipper,” the term “semicustom house” infiltrated our language as a marketing term then stuck like caulk to a contractor’s boot.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary still does not acknowledge the term. (“Semiantique,” “semi-ionic” and “semi-infinite,” yes. But “semicustom house,” no.) Meanwhile, it has become the norm in new-house building.
It was not that long ago that new homes came in three varieties: production (tract), semicustom and custom. The custom builder built a house on the buyer’s lot and worked with the buyer’s architect. The production builder offered an off-the-rack house on a lot he had purchased. It came in Exterior A, B or C and gave the buyer little wiggle room on interior selections. The trade-off was a lower cost, which the builder passed on after buying building products in quantity. The semicustom builder was the happy medium, offering a greater range of floor plans and a host of product choices.
Now, few builders
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