Sekisui House could have written the book on Zen and the art of house building. One of Japan's leading homebuilders, Sekisui House designs, prefabricates, and builds steel, wooden, and concrete houses and condominiums. It is also involved in selling land, detached houses, and condominiums. Its real estate operations include leasing and managing houses, low-rise apartments, and commercial and retail buildings. Other operations include contract remodeling and landscaping. The company is also focusing on green building and sustainability in its new line of homes, and adds such features as fuel cells to its houses. Sekisui Chemical owns 15% of the company, which dates back to 1929.

Shea Homes builds communities in Arizona, California, Colorado, the Carolinas, Florida, and Washington. The company builds detached and attached residences, including condominiums, townhomes, luxury estates, and active adult housing (under the Trilogy brand). Shea Homes has master-planned communities and serves entry-level and move-up buyers. Its homes range in price from the low $100,000s to more than $1 million and feature two to seven bedrooms. The company's Design Center offers individual selection of tile, carpet, countertops, and other options. Its SheaMortgage unit provides mortgage financing services. Shea Homes is a member of the J.F. Shea group.

Shepherd Homes has tended its portfolio well. The company develops urban and rural properties for a diverse range of homebuyers, from one-bedroom apartments to five-bedroom executive homes. Shepherd Homes is a subsidiary of Shepherd Building Group Limited, one of the largest family-owned, private companies in the UK building industry.

Standard Pacific's foundation is built on single-family homes. The company, one of the US's top 20 builders, constructs homes in California and Florida (which combined generate more than half of its sales), as well as Arizona, the Carolinas, Colorado, Nevada, and Texas. Its homes typically range in size from 1,500 sq. ft. to more than 3,500 sq. ft. The average cost of a Standard Pacific home in 2009 was more than $300,000, from an average low of $190,000 in Florida to $434,000 in California. The company also builds condominiums, buys and develops land tracts (both alone and through joint ventures), and offers mortgage loans in all of its markets and title services in Texas.

Strata Homes Limited company, founded in 1919 and still family run, builds single-family houses, townhouses, and apartments in the northwestern UK. Strata currently has about 16 projects in various stages of development throughout South and West Yorkshire and the Midlands. The company sells more than 450 new homes annually, with an average selling price of approximately $298,000. Its goal is to sell 700 new homes in 2008. Challenges that could keep Strata from achieving this include the limited supply and subsequent rising cost of land in the UK. To address this, subsidiary Strata Regeneration identifies opportunities for land regeneration.

Strathclyde Homes is a builder of both residential and commercial properties. In addition, the company operates a home and apartment rental business, Strathclyde Homes Residential Letting. Since the company sold its first homes in 1988, it has ventured into a small portfolio of commercial developments with further plans to develop across the country.

Taylor Morrison, Inc. company, a wholly owned subsidiary of UK-based Taylor Wimpey, builds mid- to high-end homes and condominiums. Home prices range from the $100,000s to over $1 million. The company offers custom home designing options through its Design Studio and financing through Taylor Morrison Home Funding. The home builder has more than 280 communities under construction in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and Texas. It also operates under the Monarch brand in Canada. Taylor Morrison first began building in North America in 1936.

Telford Homes builds new and converted apartments in and around London. The company's annual mix of contracts includes about 225 open-market private homes, more than 145 affordable homes produced for housing associations, and a commercial unit. Its private homes sell at an average price of 245,000. The company split its operations into two segments in 2004 -- Telford Homes Alto (larger flagship developments) and Telford Homes Metro (infill sites with shorter construction periods). The company was formed in December 2000.

The Beechwood Organization is a residential developer in New York, primarily active on Long Island. The company has built more than 5,500 single- and multifamily residences in some 55 communities since it was founded in 1980. Among the developer's more notable projects is Nassau County's Meadowbrook Pointe Athletic Club & Spa, a $400 million gated, equestrian-themed, luxury community for residents aged 55 and up. The Beechwood Organization has built a number of homes in the Bronx and elsewhere in New York. Co-principals and founders Leslie Lerner and Michael Dubb own the company.

The Berkeley generation is all about urban regeneration. Berkeley Group Holdings is a major British urban regenerator and residential developer, operating through such divisions as Berkeley Homes, St. George, and St James Group. Berkeley develops residential and mixed-use projects throughout much of the UK. The group annually sells more than 3,000 units, averaging 295,000 (some $485,000). It has expanded its land bank and is taking advantage of government incentives to focus on redeveloping inner-city areas (dubbed brownfields), with projects ranging from luxury abodes to subsidized housing. The group controls land holdings of about 31,000 plots. Urban renewal sites make up more than 95% of its landholdings.

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