When you think of brick, you may think durability. You think of historic buildings. You might even think of the smartest of the three little pigs. But if you're building homes with predominantly brick exteriors these days, you could be hitting a wall with new homebuyers.

Home designer Wesley Harder should know. He is the go-to design guru for some of the nation's most successful homebuilders, including D.R. Horton, Pulte, Ryland, Toll Brothers and others. He and his team constantly strive to anticipate what future customers will want in a home. Harder also resides in Dallas, Texas-one of the most brick-centric cities on the map.

"Buyers are looking for something just a little bit different," Harder says, noting that people are tired of the look of one hundred percent brick. Ironically, many cities still restrict alternative materials such as siding-despite new fiber cement technology that quickly puts to rest old stereotypes of shady salesmen and inferior quality. The unintended result of an outdated building code: a sea of brick that's "not environmentally pleasing," he concludes.

Indeed, figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show that since 1999, the use of "other" principal exterior materials (a category that includes fiber cement and stone) has doubled from 7 percent to 14 percent, while brick has declined two points, to 19 percent of new single-family homes. By last year, approximately 82 percent of homes were using something other than brick as their primary exterior material.

Harder knows that homebuyers will gravitate toward more eclectic architecture and exteriors if given the choice. To prove his point with dubious Dallas city officials, Harder teamed with builders Joyce Alsup and Jim Cole to create a spec home in the M streets area of Dallas, a comeback neighborhood under assault by brick McMansions. The new Arts and Crafts-style home features wraparound porches, ornate gables and HardiePlank® fiber cement siding from James Hardie.

The home quickly generated buzz in the neighborhood (and also among curious builders), attracting three purchase offers on the very first day he put it on the market. Harder says that six additional buyers lined up behind that, prompting him to start construction on three more similar homes. Pretty good sales numbers for someone who doesn't actually build houses.

"People literally are calling us to this day asking us to build that same house somewhere else," he proudly explains. Harder even recalls how a builder contacted him about creating a design that mimics the spec home-not aware that he was the original designer.

Homebuilder D.R. Horton, also thinking outside the box, gave Harder's design team the green light to design an Italianate home for Savannah, a master-planned community in Denton, Texas. Incorporating tall windows, archways and large covered porches-all wrapped with HardiePlank® siding-the revolutionary design has become the runaway best seller.

"It's the look that's making it turn so well," he says, pointing out that there is nothing like it in the region. Harder senses that buyers are more conscious of design.

He says that today's home shopper is also seeking out more "green" products in the home. "We've been really, really strong with the HardiePlank® siding," Harder comments, since "it is not a lumber. It's a product that is more friendly." Tree-hugging aside, buyers also know that HardiePlank® siding will require less maintenance. He admits surprise at just how knowledgeable the typical prospective buyer is about HardiePlank® siding. "Buyers are really aware of it."

Harder hopes that builders and city planners will begin educating themselves about the siding product, too. He believes that communities need greater flexibility in curb appeal to build neighborhood character. In the meantime, his Harder Organization is doing what it can to change old attitudes-and turn heads-one home at a time.

For more information on Savannah, visit dfw.drhorton.com.

Streetscapes Online, Volume 1 <