Last week Mike Hampton took Chuck Gekas through a new-construction single-family home at Smykal Homes‘ Ashford Place community in southwest suburban Plainfield.

The home, priced at $249,900, offers a convenient, light-filled entertaining space consisting of a living room with 9-foot ceiling heights next to a kitchen with 42-inch maple cabinets and granite countertops, with an adjacent deck and space for a paver patio below. Its master suite features vaulted ceilings, a walk-in closet with a window, and a bath with separate tub and shower, double-bowl vanity, and towel pantry. The full, windowed basement is spacious enough to serve as one large open space, or can be finished and split up into multiple rooms.