09 August . 2021
8 things to love about Taylor Morrison’s new Alabaster model home in Sweetwater
Taylor Morrison has opened two beautiful, fully furnished model homes in Sweetwater, and we’re spotlighting our favorite features in each of them.
In this blog, we go inside the Alabaster, a stunning 1.5-story model home with flexible options including two home offices and up to five bedrooms plus four full baths. It was hard to pick just eight, but here are the features that impressed us most in the Alabaster.
That view!
From the front of this model home, you can catch a glimpse of the gently rolling Hill Country terrain rising in the background. With an outdoor living area down and a covered balcony up, this home has been thoughtfully designed to take full advantage of its beautiful surroundings. Sweetwater has homesites that border on greenbelts and offer spectacular Hill Country views. Even for homesites that are a little more secluded, you’re never far away from Hill Country beauty and adventure at Sweetwater, where we dedicate more than 700 acres to parks, trails and natural open space.
Home office(s)
Since 2020, more of us than ever are working from home, and that’s a trend that’s only going to get stronger. With two home office areas, the Alabaster is a perfect plan for our times. Located off the foyer, the first home office is spacious enough for a lengthy corner desk with plenty of work and storage space. A cozy sofa is ideal for meetings and brainstorming – or a creative break. The second home office is in the flex area, next to the rear staircase. With its abundant natural light and Hill Country views, this work area offers plenty of inspiration. Another great thing about these office areas is that they are both flexible. The front study, for example, can also be built as an extra bedroom with a full bath.
Convivial kitchen
The Alabaster’s open kitchen is both beautiful and sociable. The oversized table island offers counter seating for four, with plenty more seating at the table in the adjoining casual dining area. Add in the spacious table for eight in the formal dining room, and this home can easily handle a hungry crowd. This gourmet kitchen is a cook’s dream, with expanses of countertop and cabinet space stretching from the furthest corner of the kitchen to the edge of the casual dining area.
Homey hearth
The Alabaster’s stone fireplace is the fitting focal point for the open family room. The rock is both rustic and sophisticated, harmonizing with the clean, contemporary interior. The warm grayish stone sets a natural neutral palette that’s picked up by the hardwood floors and furnishings, which carry a hint of Mid Century Modern. Reaching from floor to ceiling, the scale of this fireplace is both intimate and monumental, a delicate balance that this model home pulls off with ease.
Hill Country architecture
All of Taylor Morrison’s plans in Sweetwater are offered in several exterior styles, and we love the one they chose for the Alabaster model. Let’s call it “Hill Country contemporary,” with its nuanced blend of rustic stone and soft pastel stucco. The roofline pays homage to elements of traditional Hill Country vernacular architecture, and every detail is carefully considered, down to the timber eave brackets and vintage-style coach lighting. The thoughtful setback and other details for the garage doors allows the Alabaster to provide plenty of parking and storage space while keeping its curb appeal.
Spacious bedrooms
Bedrooms are a strong suit for the Alabaster, which can be built with up to five. The downstairs primary suite is a luxurious retreat, with an optional bow-bay window that frames the green vista outside. The primary bath is equally sumptuous. Secondary bedrooms are spacious and flexible. This 1.5-story plan has the primary suite plus three secondary bedrooms on the main floor. The model shows a couple of options for how buyers can tailor the Alabaster to fit their lives. The bedroom off the foyer is built as a study with French doors. Upstairs, this model has the optional fifth bedroom and fourth bath.
Smart staircase
We mean smart in both senses – intelligent and stylish. Thoughtfully located at the rear of the home, the staircase draws the eye to the rear of the home, past the more intimate volume of the foyer and back to the dramatic two-story ceiling height of the flex room. Double-stacked windows flood this area with green views and natural light as the staircase extends gracefully upward. This is also a smart placement for traffic flow, since most of the Alabaster’s living space is on the main floor. As for smart in the stylish sense, we love the subtle contemporary feel of the horizontal railings.
Upstairs options
Many buyers like 1.5-story homes because they combine the best qualities of one- and two-story plans – most of the space on the main floor, with a room or two up. We’re also a fan of these “best of both” plans, with extra credit to the Alabaster for its flexibility. The original plan includes a large gameroom and storage area upstairs. Our Sweetwater model is shown with several upstairs options, including an extra bedroom with a walk-in closet, a fourth full bath, and a spacious covered balcony. A media room is another option.
See all home plans and model homes from our best-in-class Sweetwater homebuilders.