Beazer Homes Spices Up SMARTDESIGN(TM) Team With Top Chef Winner

Beazer Homes Spices Up SMARTDESIGN(TM) Team With Top Chef Winner

Harold Dieterle Brings Unique Kitchen Expertise to Homebuilding Arena

ATLANTA, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH), a top-10 national homebuilder, is infusing a fresh ingredient into its planning and design process, adding the culinary talents of television's Top Chef Harold Dieterle to its SMARTDESIGN(TM) team of experts.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080811/NEM042LOGO )

The restaurateur, who won the first season of the popular Bravo network program, also will be dishing up haute cuisine in select communities as Beazer showcases its sleek, innovative and highly efficient Chef's Dream Kitchen.

Dieterle is the latest addition to Beazer's growing lineup of experts it calls upon to help refine and redefine how homes are designed and built so they are more livable, well organized, increasingly eco-friendly and better constructed. Beazer refers to the process as SMARTDESIGN, which unites forward-thinking ideas and inspiration from a skillful mix of in-house architects, designers and builders with outside professionals.

"In addition to his celebrity status, creativity and high energy, Dieterle brings with him the insight of a restaurant owner and chef who has overseen the preparation of thousands of meals in fast-paced settings," said Kathi James, chief marketing officer for Beazer Homes. "We're looking forward to him running our Chef's Dream Kitchen through a rigorous workout and offering his expertise to our design team."

Beazer's SMARTDESIGN Chef's Dream Kitchen is a true workhorse of a space with all the whistles and bells that chefs demand and home cooking enthusiasts aspire to enjoy. It is chock full of abundant storage, built-in organizers, chef-grade appliances and includes a generous center island that takes the chore out of food prep.

"I'm excited about cooking up some of my favorite recipes in Beazer's model homes," said Dieterle, who grew up cooking with his family and has worked his way through some of the country's top kitchens before winning the Top Chef challenge in 2006. "Beazer's spacious and thoughtfully planned kitchens are designed to support everything from food preparation to family gatherings."

Thanks to the popularity of cooking shows in recent years, Beazer recognizes, and its research confirms, that more homebuyers want to duplicate the look and functionality of the professional kitchen. A recent survey conducted by Market Tools on behalf of Beazer Homes found that nearly half of respondents agreed that a kitchen designed with the help of a professional chef like Dieterle would increase their likelihood to cook at home.

According to Beazer's research, 70 percent of respondents consider upgraded kitchen features like chef-grade appliances, a walk-in-pantry, solid-surface countertops and a center island of utmost importance in making their next home purchase, with 29 percent saying it is their top priority.

Aside from food prep and cooking, nearly 60 percent of respondents said they use the kitchen as a hub for socializing or to catch up on daily activities with family members. And, it doesn't stop there; one in five said reading newspapers, processing mail, scrap booking, watching TV and doing homework are some of the non-food related activities taking place in their kitchen.

"Today's kitchens serve a command central role in the home," said James. "There's got to be plenty of room and functionality built in to accommodate cooking plus entertaining, socializing and more mundane tasks like processing mail or doing homework."

When it comes to their dream kitchen, bigger is indeed better. Twenty-two percent of survey respondents said the kitchen is the one room in their home they would most like to add more storage space, edging out both the master closet (19 percent) and the garage (16 percent). In fact, 69 percent of respondents said they prefer a larger kitchen over more space in the garage.

About Harold Dieterle

Best known to millions of Americans as the winner of the inaugural season of Bravo TV's Top Chef, Dieterle has a long history of experience and success in the culinary industry. A 1997 graduate of New York's Culinary Institute of America, he honed his skills at several top kitchens in Spain and later immersed himself in the culture and cuisine of Southeast Asia. Dieterle served as chef at The Harrison before opening his own Greenwich Village restaurant, Perilla, to rave reviews in 2007.

About Beazer Homes

Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE:BZH), headquartered in Atlanta, is one of the country's 10 largest single-family homebuilders. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "BZH." For more information, visit Beazer.com.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080811/NEM042LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Beazer Homes USA, Inc.

CONTACT: Elizabeth Walker of Imre Communications, Inc. for Beazer Homes
USA Inc., +1-856-988-0170, elizabethw@imrecommunications.com; or Mandy Brooks
of Beazer Homes USA Inc., +1-770-829-3755, mbrooks@beazer.com

Web site: http://www.beazer.com/

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