Reimagining the New Home Sales Experience: Elara by Melia Homes
The model home has long been the centerpiece of the new home sales experience. Watch the floor plans come to life, explore the finishes, experience the quality in person. Let the space do the selling.
With only a small number of homes being built, a traditional model complex wasn’t in the cards for Elara. Melia Homes took that as an opportunity to do something different.
For Elara, a boutique collection of 24 townhomes in the heart of Whittier, Melia Homes chose to rethink the sales experience from the start. Rather than defaulting to a model complex, they partnered with Gunn Jerkens to build something that could generate genuine emotional connection before a single unit was move-in ready.
The Location
We positioned Elara’s sales operation as a retail storefront embedded directly in Uptown Whittier, a walkable, design-forward neighborhood with the kind of local character that resonates with target buyers. The location wasn’t a workaround; it was a proof point. If Elara is about living in Whittier, there’s no better place to sell that than within the city itself.
The story starts before you walk in. The exterior storefront makes a statement with a bold window graphic celebrating Uptown Living and Melia’s signature “Made in Whittier” stamp—an immediate signal that this isn’t a typical sales office.
What’s Inside
Every inch is designed with intention. The entry wall uses a brick texture as a nod to Whittier’s history while feeling unmistakably modern, with layered graphics and bright colors that pull you in. From there, the space unfolds across a 60-foot wall, broken into distinct moments.
A local art section showcases artwork inspired by Whittier. The POI map reframes the neighborhood not as a list of nearby amenities but as a living, compelling reason to be here. Even the background graphic earns its place, with pop-up words like HAPPY and WELCOME that don’t just decorate the wall but actually make you smile. The Melia Homes section tells the builder’s story and puts the product in context. Even the seating area carries the local spirit through, so the environment stays consistent all the way to the conversation.
The Outcome
The result is a sales environment calibrated to answer the question buyers are actually asking. It’s not “What does this home look like?” but rather “Is this the life I want?“
That shift matters. Without finished homes to walk through, every element of the sales experience has to work harder. The lifestyle has to be felt. The trust in Melia Homes as a builder has to be established.
Elara is one of the clearer examples we’ve seen of experience design functioning as a sales tool—not as atmosphere, but as strategy. Because if the product isn’t ready to be walked through, the brand must be ready to be felt.
That’s the work.
Looking to rethink your sales strategy?