Brylen Homes is building houses with innovative windows

Brylen Homes is building houses with innovative windows in Amelia Park, a traditional neighborhood development (TND) in Fernandina Beach, Florida. Using a technique that makes aluminum windows appear similar to traditional wood windows, Brylen improves the windows’ aesthetic appeal while cutting costs. Aluminum windows, appropriate for the Florida climate, save between $12,000 and $17,000 on construction per unit, says Bryan Lendry, chief executive officer of Brylen. Typically, aluminum windows are surface mounted and flush with the exterior wall, which contributes to a tacky appearance. So in Amelia Park, the windows are set back three to four inches with the aid of an L-flange, attached to the window. A normal wood frame and sill is then mounted around the window. Lendry worked with Kinco, a Jacksonville, Florida, window manufacturer, to develop the flange. The windows have very vertical proportions. On the ground floor, where the Amelia Park houses have 10-foot ceilings, windows measure approximately 2.5 feet wide by six feet tall. On the second floor, windows are approximately 2.5 feet wide by five feet tall. Houses in Amelia Park, designed by Don Evans of Orlando, Florida, have modern floor plans and a strictly traditional exterior appearance. Evans also designed homes in Avalon Park, a neotraditional development near Orlando which recently started presales. The project, where homes are starting at $110,000, posted 50 presales for the builder, American Heritage Homes.