Cherryville, North Carolina, April 15, 2009 – R-Anell Homes has won the 2009 award for a modular production home design over 2,200 square feet from the National Modular Housing Council. The home, part of R-Anell’s Forever Living collection, utilizes universal design components to allow homeowners to remain in their homes throughout their life span and to accommodate present and future needs that may arise through existing features and flexible options easily added later.

The history of the Forever Living family of homes began when R-Anell partnered with the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. The center was founded by Ron Mace, who devised the term “universal design” and originated the concept more than 20 years ago. Universal design incorporates design elements that provide for the numerous and very different needs that people have, particularly those in the age 50-plus market. Another familiar term that describes the home concept is “aging in place” — the ability to buy this R-Anell home and remain there during every stage of life because it will never “outgrow” the owner in providing amenities that make navigating in the home possible no matter what a person’s age or physical constraints.

This particular 4,286-square-foot production home was built for Keith Suits, his wife Darlene and their two children. Mr. Suits, whose family is a long-time builder partner for R-Anell, was tragically injured in a work-related accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down and wheel chair bound. As a young and vigorous man, Mr. Suits helped R-Anell to develop the specific standards he required for a home to meet his family’s lifestyle. A few of the universal design elements include rollout shelves in the kitchen for easy access, adjustable countertops, raised dishwasher area, wider doorways for mobility device navigation, vanity cabinets with roll-under design, stepless entryways and open floor plan throughout to ensure easily movement.

“The design of this house for one of our long time partners was one of the true pleasures of being in the homebuilding business over my 40-year career,” said R-Anell President Dennis Jones. “The Suits family has been with us the greatest part of that time with Eddie and Shirley Suits handing the business operation over to the next generation as was done at R-Anell by my parents as well. I am proud to accept this award and do it on behalf of Keith and his wife who played a big part in the design of this particular home.”

Keith and Darlene Suits were pleased to learn that their home model won a national award.

“My wife and I are extremely happy with our new R-Anell custom home. We have really enjoyed working with R-Anell on every level from the design process to the actual building process,” Keith Suits said. “The universal design has proved to be a wonderful concept for my family and me. The entire building process only took about three months, but we will enjoy our new modular home for many years to come.”

R-Anell, which has captured numerous design awards over the years, also won the 2008 NMHC design award in the multi-family category for its Asheville, North Carolina, Lexington Station project.

This year’s award will be presented Wednesday, April 15, at the 2009 National Congress and Expo for Manufactured and Modular Housing during the National Awards Luncheon. The event is in Las Vegas, Nevada.

R-Anell, the oldest and most established manufacturer of custom homes in the Southeast since 1972, has its headquarters and manufacturing operations based in Cherryville, North Carolina. The privately owned company is a long-time employer in the Southeast.