As you may recall, Jerry and I decided to purchase our townhouse without seeing a model at Venango Trails. We drove to DC to see the models in Virginia and Maryland (and visit Stephanie!). But that was in November! It was really hard to remember how the townhouse was laid out and how much space there was in each room. So we were VERY excited when the JJA model opened for us to revisit.
The onsite model is different than our townhouse in that they have the street entrance on the second floor. You enter into the Living Room. The model has the Rec room in the basement. Our townhouse has the street entrance on the ground level and you enter into the Rec Room. I’m not really sure which layout I prefer. I guess it really doesn’t matter at this point! With the exception of the entrance, the layout of both townhouses is the same.
Obviously the model has ALL of the upgrades. And the designers did an amazing job outfitting the house. The color palate is mainly aqua and lime green and it flows into into every room. These vibrant colors aren’t for everyone, including us. At least not on this scale. But it’s still pretty stunning!
So let’s take a tour!
The exterior of the model is all brick. Ours is partially brick. But the doors, railings and landing are the same.

They did a great job with Rec Room! There is a wet bar and a powder room on this floor. We roughed in the plumbing for the powder room but didn’t bother with the wet bar. Our intention is to use this room as a Media Room (aka Jerry’s mancave).

The living room has tons of light and is very spacious. There are 3 windows in this living room, plus the light that comes in from the front door. So almost 4 windows. We have 2. Grrrrrrrrrrrr…. But we also have that side window so I’m sure it’ll be fine. This entire floor has hardwood, as does ours.

There is a powder room on this floor as well. The model also has a small closet. It would be perfect for the vacuum and cleaning supplies. We don’t have anything like this in our place. Guess I just won’t clean this floor.

Right off the living room is my baby…the kitchen! Boy oh boy, I can’t wait to put on my apron and get to work in here!!

We chose these exact cabinets…same style, same color. But our granite has more grey and the tiles in our back splash are smaller. It’s hard to tell in this crappy light (it was sunny and there are too many pictures to edit…sorry), but the granite in the model has a lot of brown in it.

We do not have the French door fridge. Ours is side by side. But the rest of these appliances mimic ours.

This floor is so open and airy. Everything flows from one end to the other.

Parallel to the kitchen is the dining room. They have a six foot table in here, but they also have a fireplace in the family room. We do not so we will have a larger dining area. So we’re planning on a 7 foot table. It’s still up in the air if Jerry is going to make one. He has until November 15st to complete it or we’re buying one.

The family room is right off the kitchen/dining area. Those French doors lead out to the deck. The silly 4×18 I mentioned in a previous post.

And I mentioned we didn’t get the fireplace in the family room and here’s why. See that little box in the wall. Yeah, that’s it. So dumb. And it was really expensive! We opted for more room in the dining room.

Upstairs are the bedrooms. They have one staged as an office, as we intend to use it.

The other is the guest room. Ditto.

They didn’t even give us the option of these tiles in the guest bath. Bummer because I love them. We chose the standard 8×8 square tiles and I’m sure it will be lovely.

And then we move on to our behemoth of a master bedroom. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Not at all! It’s gorgeous and so. much. room. I love the sitting area! We did not get the side windows…it’s just one big wall. I think that gives us more furniture arranging options.


The master bath is amazing. You can’t tell but we have TWO showerheads in our enormous shower. What the what?!?! I think next to the kitchen, this is my favorite part of the whole house.

His and her closets.

The model has the 3rd floor and it’s unreal. There is a full bath AND a roof deck, in addition to this living/bedroom/office/playroom.

So there you have it! I can’t wait to be settled in our place and see how different it is.
Jerry talked to our project manager tonight and it looks like our pre-settlement meeting is August 1st. We should close within a week from that meeting. Yippeeee!