After a year of construction, the site of Orlando’s last New American Home showcase is organized chaos, but Alair Homes Partner Daniel Kennerly insists that everything is absolutely on schedule.
“We broke ground Oct. 4 of last year on a 16,000-square-foot house, and on Nov. 10, we expect to be picture-ready,” Kennerly told GrowthSpotter.
The ultra-modern estate overlooking Lake Osceola in Winter Park will be unveiled in February at the International Builders Show, and during the show, up to 5,000 people will tour the property. The 43rd edition of the National Association of Home Builders’ The New American Home will be the last in Orlando. The IBS will relocate permanently to Las Vegas after next year’s convention.
Right now, multiple crews are working simultaneously throughout the house in a race to meet the approaching deadline. In the kitchen, they’re installing cabinets, while the tile is going up in the bathrooms and on the infinity pool. Glass railings are being attached to all the stairways and balconies, and slatted wood cladding is going up on the walls, with siding on the exterior.
Daniel Kennerly stands in the foyer of the home as crew members work in the area that will feature a glass-enclosed library and conference room. The 15,176-square-foot estate is being built by Alair Homes Orlando and will be the centerpiece showcase home for the 2026 International Builders’ Show. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Down in the basement — the 6,200-square-foot basement — welders are installing the HVAC ductwork while two more crews work in the theater room and home gym. The lift mechanisms are in place, ready for the completion of the city’s only residential car elevator and turntable. Pallets of Kentucky bourbon barrel wood are piled in the center, soon to become a unique wall feature in the game room.
It’s a cacophony of noise and activity.
“We have over 50 people on site every day, working,” Kennerly said. “It is an insane amount of coordination and teamwork. Most of the time, a house of this nature takes about 2½ years to build, and we’ll have built this house in 14 months.”
Even the landscaping will be ready in two weeks. But being photo-ready doesn’t mean the job is finished. The house is loaded with smart features that must be tested before it’s open for public tours.
“There are things that you can’t see in pictures,” Kennerly explained. “We’ll still have some work to get those completed, meaning all the electronics, everything working correctly. The fire pits turning on when the system says turn them on. The lights and all the scenes working correctly — all that takes programming and just tons of hours of making sure that those things are done correctly. And so there’s a lot that will happen between it being picture-ready and it being show-ready.”
A 15,176-square-foot estate on Winter Park’s Lake Osceola, being built by Alair Homes Orlando on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, will be the centerpiece showcase home for the 2026 International Builders’ Show in Orlando. This year’s New American Home for the National Association of Home Builders is being constructed for a private owner and features an 18-car underground garage reached by a car elevator. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Alair Homes Orlando project manager Daniel Kennerly points out details in the bar just off the kitchen and the technology in the countertops that can charge smartphones and other devices resting on it. The 15,176-square-foot estate in Winter Park is being built by Alair Homes Orlando and will be the centerpiece showcase home for the 2026 International Builders’ Show in Orlando. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
A worker installs AC ductwork in the underground garage fitness room. The 15,176-square-foot estate is being built by Alair Homes Orlando and will be the centerpiece showcase home for the 2026 International Builders’ Show. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
A worker measures for the placement of the glass balcony wall that will overlook the great room. The 15,176-square-foot Winter Park estate is being built by Alair Homes Orlando and will be the centerpiece showcase home for the 2026 International Builders’ Show. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
A crew begins placing walnut cabinets in the kitchen and bar area of the home. The 15,176-square-foot estate is being built by Alair Homes Orlando and will be the centerpiece showcase home for the 2026 International Builders’ Show. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Workers measure the wood paneling to be installed in the theater room, which sits adjacent to the underground garage. The 15,176-square-foot Winter Park estate is being built by Alair Homes Orlando and will be the centerpiece showcase home for the 2026 International Builders’ Show. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Crew members work in the foyer area that will feature a glass-enclosed library and conference room. The 15,176-square-foot estate is being built by Alair Homes Orlando and will be the centerpiece showcase home for the 2026 International Builders’ Show. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
The opening for the car elevator will lower the owner’s cars to an underground garage with storage for 18 vehicles. The 15,176-square-foot estate is being built by Alair Homes Orlando and will be the centerpiece showcase home for the 2026 International Builders’ Show. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel
The 6,000-square-foot basement will utilize a turntable to load cars from the elevator to the stackable storage along the back wall. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
The outdoor entertaining space will feature an infinity pool, summer kitchen, and a sunken living room overlooking Lake Osceola. The 15,176-square-foot Winter Park estate is being built by Alair Homes Orlando and will be the centerpiece showcase home for the 2026 International Builders’ Show. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
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A 15,176-square-foot estate on Winter Park’s Lake Osceola, being built by Alair Homes Orlando on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, will be the centerpiece showcase home for the 2026 International Builders’ Show in Orlando. This year’s New American Home for the National Association of Home Builders is being constructed for a private owner and features an 18-car underground garage reached by a car elevator. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
The ultimate deadline is March 1, when homeowner Jason Eichenholz and his family plan to move in.
Getting there has been a team effort, starting with the vision of the homeowner and architect Michael Wenrich, who translated the ideas into a blueprint. The rest of the development team includes interior design firm Steele Street Studios, and landscape architect Mills Design Group. Sustainability consultant Two Trails is ensuring that the house will be so energy-efficient — thanks in part to 108 solar panels on the roof — that it actually generates more power than it consumes.
The NAHB created the New American Home program to showcase innovations in home design. The Eichenholz residence will introduce dozens of products that will be released for the first time at the IBS, including wireless charging devices by FreePower that are built into the kitchen counters and office desk.
“And so you’ll literally just set your phone down on the countertop in certain areas, and it will automatically charge underneath the countertop in that area,” Kennerly said. “There will be a couple of countertops that an actual lighted ring will show up underneath, in the countertop that can be turned on and off, and so people will know where they can set their phone down. And they’re actually releasing a new product that’s actually more powerful — that you’ll actually be able to set your computer down on it, and your computer will charge.”
The garage doors from Clopay will transform from translucent to opaque at the touch of a button. The changeable glass isn’t new, but it’s never been used on a movable garage door before.
Lutron’s new Lumaris lighting system, featuring tunable and dimmable lights, along with a highly customizable smart home lighting system, runs throughout the house. And the home gym will feature Kohler’s new KFLAS sauna and Remedy Place cold plunge system, which will debut at the IBS.
“We will get the first one off the production line,” Kennerly said. “Literally, pretty amazing.”
The value of building products supplied for TNAH is over $2 million, and Eichenholz is matching the cost of all contributions from manufacturers and suppliers dollar-for-dollar to support his non-profit Jonathan’s Landing Foundation.
Even though the whole point of the project is to splurge, Kennerly said the value of the finished home will be comparable to other luxury estates on Winter Park’s Chain of Lakes. The team has made an effort to rein in costs when possible. “We have actually said no to quite a few things,” Kennerly said. “So there’s always a budget — it’s just some people’s budgets are larger than other people’s budgets.”
Exterior rendering of The New American Home 2026, located in Winter Park, FL. Built by Alair Homes Orlando, this 43rd edition of the program will showcase leading innovations in residential design and construction. Rendering by Mills Design Group. (CNW Group/Alair Enterprises Ltd.)
Rendering by Mills Design Group
The sloping lot presented a challenge to the design team because the retaining wall and infinity pool could not be more than 5 feet above grade. (Rendering by Mills Design Group)
The living space over the garage will have a skybridge connecting it to the main house. A car elevator will lower the owner’s cars to an underground garage with storage for 18 vehicles. (Rendering by Michael Wenrich Architects)
A separate 3-car garage with a second-story apartment will be placed in front of the main house on the narrow, .7-acre lot. The building will be adorned with a living wall and accented by a sculpture. (Rendering by Mills Design Group)
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Exterior rendering of The New American Home 2026, located in Winter Park, FL. Built by Alair Homes Orlando, this 43rd edition of the program will showcase leading innovations in residential design and construction. Rendering by Mills Design Group. (CNW Group/Alair Enterprises Ltd.)
A camera mounted on a tree in the backyard has been filming the construction project from day one to create a time-lapse video that will compress the 14-month build into two minutes.
What Alair brings to the project is attention to detail — such as making sure the grommets holding the glass railings on all the balconies and stairs are inset in the walls and floor, so there’s nothing to interrupt the view. Even the French drain along the length of the pool deck will be covered with tile that has laser-cut slats, almost imperceptible to the eye, to collect rainwater.
“One of the things a luxury builder tries to do is to create spaces that have a seamless transition from one space or one product to another product, so that everything, just the beauty of the house, is not taken away by seeing an ugly seem between one area and the next, and an enormous amount of planning goes down on the back end to make sure that we create the structure behind and underneath so that each area can be seamless when we finish it,” Kennerly said.
For Alair, a national homebuilder that only recently entered the Orlando market, TNAH is a marketing bonanza. The company recently hired three new project managers to ramp up its business in 2026.
“My hope is that this shows a lot of people what we can do, shows them our level of coordination and communication, and really sets the tone for our next 10 years in Winter Park,” Kennerly said.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-6261. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.