At Spiritas Ranch in Little Elm, Texas, First Texas Homes is designing homes around the way people want to live — with abundant natural light, flexible spaces and a stronger connection to the outdoors.
That experience is on full display in The Maverick, a roughly 4,000-square-foot model home with five bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a game room, media room and study. But one of its most striking features becomes apparent almost immediately: an expansive wall of glass that opens the living space to the outdoors.
“When you walk in, and you’ve got the wall of windows, it just brings the outdoors in,” says Keith Hardesty, division president for First Texas Homes. “It’s just got that ‘wow factor.’”
Making homes live bigger
For Hardesty, indoor-outdoor living is a natural fit for the North Texas lifestyle.
“Most Texans, they like to live large,” Hardesty says. “And the way you live large is you live outside and you take the outside and bring it in.”
At The Maverick, the MI VX4500 stacking glass wall helps make that connection possible. Hardesty says the expansive glass changes the experience of the room, making it look and feel larger.
“It just lives larger than what it really is,” he says.
Kenyon Browning, senior sales representative for MI Windows & Doors, sees the demand for indoor-outdoor living growing throughout the market. Connecting those spaces expands the livable square footage within the same footprint, he says, giving homeowners more room to live and entertain.
“Indoor-outdoor living is picking up like wildfire right now in the market,” Browning says. “We think a lot of it is due to just being able to bring multiple spaces together.”
Designing with more glass
The Maverick pairs the VX4500 stacking glass wall with MI 3500 Series windows throughout the home, creating an emphasis on expanded glass and natural light.
“What’s unique about this VX4500 is its super thin lines — so thin sightlines, really thin profile,” Browning says. “And what that does, it’s actually going to give you more glass in your home, which then is going to bring more light in.”
First Texas Homes carries that approach throughout its designs. Hardesty says the company typically incorporates more windows than many production builders because buyers value natural light. The 3500 Series windows’ smaller sightlines help maximize that light.
“We feel that buyers want that natural light coming in,” Hardesty says. “It just makes the home feel more open and more livable.”
Building around the homeowner
The emphasis on indoor-outdoor living fits into First Texas Homes’ larger focus on customization. While it is a production builder, the company allows buyers to modify homes around their lifestyles, from small changes to substantial additions.
“We make customizations to make this home whatever the buyer’s needs are to fit their lifestyle,” Hardesty says.
Delivering those personalized experiences also requires quality products and trusted relationships. Some of First Texas Homes’ vendor relationships stretch back 25 to 30 years, Hardesty says, and dependable partners help the company keep projects moving.
Browning says MI develops products such as the 3500 Series and VX4500 with both builders and homeowners in mind, considering installation and service alongside the homeowner’s long-term experience.
For Hardesty, that combination has made MI a trusted partner.
“If there’s someone thinking about or looking at a window manufacturer to partner up with, I would highly recommend MI Windows & Doors,” he says, citing quality, efficiency and service.
At Spiritas Ranch, the result is a home where customization, expansive glass and natural light come together to create spaces that extend beyond four walls — and simply live bigger.
